Welcome to Handprints Childcare Infant Program!
It is our belief and our objective that every infant deserves the very best in care and loving interactions! In our Infant Program, our degreed / experienced teachers plan fun, educational activities that meet the needs of the every changing infant. Our planned activities are not only developmentally appropriate, but also individualized for your child, and all of the activities follow the Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three Year Old Early Learning Guidelines?. Infants 0-12 months are at a crucial learning time in their lives.
Our curriculum Strong Foundations is theme based for infants, focusing on the five learning domains:
Sensory, Social/Emotional, Cognitive, Motor Skills, Language
Sensory development is gained through activities that promote the exploration of all five senses. We recognize that young children learn best using their five senses. For example, the one sense that sends information directly to the brain is the sense of smell. Another example would be holding and touching a baby, it is like sensory nourishment or food for the brain.
Social & Emotional development is about relationships. Children need loving interaction to help them build their self-esteem. Emotions play an important role in memory and motivation.
Cognitive development involves activities that promote thinking skills. Anything new causes the body to release adrenaline, which acts as a memory fixative, therefore unfamiliar activities are the brain’s best friends. Problem solving naturally fuels our self-esteem.
Gross Motor activities help develop the large muscles of the body. Children need to be given opportunities to develop these skills. Doing arm and leg movements that cross over from one side of the body to the other (cross-lateral movement) can have a dramatic effect on learning, because both sides of the brain are forced to communicate.
Fine motor activities not only stimulate children’s hands, but also stimulate their brains.
Language development begins with talking to an infant. Talking helps to shape their brain for language. Responding to and understanding each child is important to language development. Children learn to talk not only by being talked to, but also by being listened to. For information to be stored in our long-term memory, the information must make sense,and it must have meaning.
Most of all, infants need a loving, caring, and attentive teacher who is trained and experienced in providing outstanding infant care.
Thank you for choosing Handprints Childcare LLC! If you have any questions, PLEASE, do not hesitate to ask.