Iowa Program for Infant & Toddler Caregivers (IA PITC) –
The IA PITC offers a training series through the regional Child Care Resource & Referrals around the state:
State Contact:
Beth Walling: 515-883-1206, Ext 131 bwalling@iowachildnetwork.org
State Infant Toddler Specialist
Regional Contacts:
Northwest Iowa – Kari Daale: 800-859-2025 www.mid-siouxopportunity.org
Northeast Iowa - Tiffany Luck: 800-475-0804 www.episervice.org
Southwest Iowa – Donna Myers: 800-945-9778 www.swiowachildcare.org
Central Iowa – Carrie Trujillo: 800-722-7619 www.centraliowachildcare.org
Southeast Iowa – Kathy Yoke: 800-369-3778 www.iowatrain.org
The IA PITC is a program of the Iowa Child Care & Early Education Network
Iowa Program for Infant & Toddler Caregivers (IA PITC) Classes
(The following is a list of the classes available in a basic training plan. Each module consists of five two-hour lessons. Within each lesson, there are key concepts that are always taught, although the teaching methods and activities will vary. The Infant Toddler Specialist receives a class outline, from each trainer, reflecting how the key concepts are covered. For the purpose of consistency, the names of the PITC classes need to remain as listed below.)
(General Program Description) The Iowa Program for Infant & Toddler Caregivers (IA PITC) helps adults understand how to give loving care to support the intellectual development of babies. Wonderful videos, materials, and activities help in reading each child’s cues and building strong relationships with babies and their families.
Module I: Social-Emotional Growth & Socialization
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1. Getting in Tune with Infants & Toddlers- The relationship between an infant and his or her caregiver is at the heart of quality infant/toddler care. This lesson provides information that can help caregivers provide sensitive, responsive care to each infant/toddler in their group.
2. Temperaments- Right from the start, babies are different from each other. An understanding of temperamental differences can help caregivers work more responsively and effectively with the individual infants and toddler in their care.
3. Social-Emotional Milestones and Responsive Caregiving - This lesson will develop and understanding of the watch, ask and adapt responsive process within the age appropriate social and emotional milestones.
4. Understanding Children's Behavior - This session focuses on recognizing and understanding individual and developmental issues behind the behaviors of infants and toddlers. Materials support caregivers in recognizing the source of different infant/toddler behaviors and identifying ways to work with them.
5. Guidance & Discipline - This session takes a look at the roots of how babies develop social skills, how each setting plays a part, as well as specific guidance techniques appropriate for children as they grow from birth to three years old. Video and print materials are used, as well as group problem solving activities.
Module II: Group Care - This module looks at group care in centers and in homes. To ensure that young children become healthy, emotionally secure individuals, it is critical to establish intimate relationships between infants and significant others in their lives. This module looks at the development of those relationships through the concepts of intimacy in groups, routines of care and the importance of the environment where care takes place.
1. Routines as Curriculum - Caregiving routines provide opportunities for caregivers to build close personal relation- ships with each child while attending to each child’s individual physical, emotional and developmental needs. When carried out responsively and with out haste, routines create learning opportunities, allowing time for the child to participate, develop skills and share the joys of communication. This helps the caregiver as well as the child. The caregiver is likely to find satisfaction in these caregiving routines when he or she pays attention to the whole child not just the task.
2. Primary Care/Continuity of Care - This lesson focuses on the importance of a primary care system for giving infants and toddlers in care the personal relationships and responsive care that they need.
3. Environments - The caregiving environment provides the setting in which an infant or toddler spends large amounts of time. The setting must meet the growing child’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive. Caregivers have many options in designing the environment so that it meets the child’s needs for safety, health, security, comfort and learning in indoor as well as outdoor spaces.
4. Environments - This lesson will assist providers in creating spaces that are age appropriate for small groups.
5. Respectful Care - Magda Gerber’s thoughts on respecting the skills as well as individual differences of infants and of the importance of observing children.
Module III: Learning & Development - This module focuses on facilitation of infant's natural interests and urges to learn. This is done by providing infants with close and responsive relationships with caregivers; by designing safe, interesting and developmentally appropriate environments, by giving infants uninterrupted time to explore; and by interacting with infants in ways that emotionally and intellectually support their initiations in discovery and learning.
1. Principles of Facilitating Early Learning Overview - What is the caregiver's role in helping infants learn? Certainly, we need to regularly observe and use that knowledge in developing individualized curriculum. It is also helping to understand how to use the "Adapt, Support, Repetition/Practice and Expand" methods.
2. Discoveries of Infancy - Learn how babies develop common learning strategies.
3. Brain Development in Infancy - You will understand the impact that stress has on brain development and early learning. There are critical points in time for babies and toddlers to learn certain things. We will explore emotional development, and learn the seven ways to support brain development.
4. Special Needs - Explore your feelings about inclusive care and how to partner with parents. Learn how to adapt your environment to meet the needs of all children. In addition, find out about community resources available to you and the children in your care.
5. Language Development and Communication, and Culture - Did you know that there are ten suggested ways to help children develop language skills? It is also very important to understand how cultural differences impact language development.
Module IV: Culture, Family, and Providers - Since the family is the most important influence and support in a child's life it is so important for the child care provider and the family to make decisions together. Just as important is the fact that an infant is developing a sense of who they are, where they come from, and how they are valued. Recognizing and respecting the cultural beliefs that are a part of that identity formation is absolutely crucial. Communicating in an infant's home language is also important. Module IV helps providers recognize their own cultural perspectives, the feelings associated with those, how to negotiate with families when there are differences, and creating program policies which reflect partnerships with parents.
1. Culture, Family and Providers - Children's sense of identity is formed through the ways in which the important adults in their lives react and interact with them. Rules for living are passed down to them from their family's beliefs, faith, ethnicity, etc. Children need to feel secure in who they are and where they come from. What child care policies and practices should be in place that reflect support of cultural beliefs?
2. Harmonizing Cultural Diversity for Sensitive Infant Care - Understand the importance of how children develop their sense of self and how culture impacts it. Everyone has cultural beliefs, what are yours? Explore these keys to sensitive care:
3. Responding to Families in Culturally Sensitive Ways - What is culture? What is cultural awareness and sensitivity? It is important to understand how culture affects all of us so that we can develop certain skills in order to partner effectively with parents on behalf of their children.
4. Protective Urges - Through a four-step process we will explore and work with our feelings that affect how we work with children and families. We will also work to understand parent's feelings so that we can be open, honest, and understanding.
5. Responsive Home Visitation - The information gained by doing a home visit can be invaluable in understanding a child and his/her family. Using that knowledge can lead the child care provider in helping parents understand how they can help their child develop. For example, how to focus on process Vs product learning opportunities (the skills that a toddler gains in an independent painting activity are more important than having a piece of artwork that looks like something to an adult).
Module V, Beginning Together – This module assists child care providers in understanding individualized care, which is central to the PITC philosophy of care, as it pertains to infants and toddlers with disabilities. It also offers information about available community resources.