Module 1 Infant Toddler

1. Module 1 Infant Toddler Social Emotional Development within the Context of Relationships

2. Agenda • Introduction and Logistics • Social Emotional Development within the Context of Relationships • Introduction to the Elements of Social Emotional Wellness in Infants and Toddlers • Experiencing, Expressing, and Regulating Emotions • Temperament • The Balance of Close, Secure Relationships & Learning and Exploration • The Developmental Course of Social Emotional Wellness • Children’s Social Emotional Development within the Context of Families • Using Your Relationship to Promote a Child’s Social Emotional Development • Summary and Action Planning

3. Learner Objectives • Participants will be able to describe the elements of social emotional wellness in infants and toddlers (precursors to preschool goals). • Participants will be able to describe key developmental concepts that impact the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers. • Participants will be able to describe the unique importance of families to the social emotional development of infants and toddlers. • Participants will be able to describe the importance of caregiver self-awareness to the positive social emotional development of infants and toddlers and to supporting families rearing infants and toddlers. • Participants will be able to describe key social emotional needs of infants and toddlers. • Participants will be able to describe the importance of relationships to early social emotional development in infants and toddlers.

4. Activity Write down one thing that you would like to learn today about the social emotional development of infants and toddlers.

5. CSEFEL Pyramid Model

6. CSEFEL Definition of Social Emotional Development The term social emotional development refers to the developing capacity of the child from birth through five years of age to form close and secure adult and peer relationships; experience, regulate, and express emotions in socially and culturally appropriate ways; and explore the environment and learn - all in the context of family, community, and culture. Caregivers promote healthy development by working to support social emotional wellness in all young children, and make every effort to prevent the occurrence or escalation of social emotional problems in children at-risk, identifying and working to remediate problems that surface, and, when necessary, referring children and their families to appropriate services. Adapted from ZERO TO THREE, 2001

7. Relationships are Different from Interactions Relationships: • Have emotional connections • Endure over time • Have special meaning between the two people • Create memories and expectations in the minds of the people involved

8. Activity Complete Reflective Inventory

9. Research Findings on Early Social Emotional Development 1. Nature and nurture combine to define who we are as individuals. 2. Nature has provided humans with what some scientists call early infant competencies or motivations. 3. Babies are born to connect with other humans. 4. Babies discriminate sounds of language very early. 5. Babies recognize their parents’ voices. 6. Babies can match emotional voice tone to emotional facial expression. 7. Babies prefer looking at faces.

10. Research Findings (cont’d) • Babies seek physical and emotional equilibrium. • Babies are predisposed to signal their needs to someone who will help them survive. 10. Babies are an emotional trigger for adults. 11. Babies are born with the desire to master and explore their environment and are active participantsin their own learning. 12.The infant’s early brain development is designed to connect the newborn with other human beings around him who will provide care. 13.The brain grows through the experiences the infant has with the world. Parents and other important adults are that world.

11. Research Findings (cont’d) 14. The family’s culture influences all areas of a baby’s development, including the social emotional realm. 15. Many factors can affect social emotional development, including developmental delays or serious health issues with the baby, or an environment with multiple risk factors (ex. poverty, substance abuse, adult mental health issues, domestic violence) 16. The baby’s communication of emotions and needs establishes the learning pathways in the brainthat lead to all other physical, cognitive, and emotional learning. From Neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development (2000); Emotional connections: How relationships guide early learning (2004).

12. Early Social Emotional Development Early mental health or early social emotional wellness is the developing capacity of the child from birth to 3 to: experience, regulate, and express emotions: form close and secure interpersonal relationships; and explore the environment and learn- all in the context of family, community, and cultural expectations for young children. • Developing capacity is a reminder of the extraordinarily rapid pace of growth and change in the first 3 years of life • Infants and toddlers depend heavily on adults to help them experience, regulate, and express emotions • Through close, nurturing interpersonal relationships with parents and other caregivers, infants and toddlers learn what people expect of them and what they can expect of other people

13. Early Social Emotional Development (Cont’d) • The drive to explore and master one’s environment is inborn in humans. Infants’ and toddlers’ active participation in their own learning and development is an important aspect of their mental health. • The context of family and community is where infants and toddlers learn to share and communicate their feelings and experience with significant caregivers and other children. They develop a sense of themselves as competent, effective, and valued individual. • Culture influences every aspect of human development, including how infant mental health is understood, adults’ goals and expectations for young children’s development, and the child rearing practices used by parents and caregivers. ZERO TO THREE, 2001

14. Three Major Elements of Social Emotional Wellness in Infancy • Forming close and secure relationships • Experiencing, expressing, and regulating emotions • Exploring the environment and learning

15. Regulation and Stress in Young Babies

16. Strategies for Helping Babies Self-Regulate • Containing their limbs with swaddling, cuddling, and bringing them close to your chest and heartbeat • Providing something to suck: a pacifier, their own hand, their fingers • Limiting the stimulation in the environment • Helping baby to awaken or to fall asleep with rocking, cuddling, gentle patting, a quiet voice, singing, or a simple chant • Using a firm, gentle touch