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Module 1 Infant Toddler

Social Emotional Development within the Context of

Relationships

AgendaI. Introduction and Logistics II. Social Emotional Development within the Context of RelationshipsIII. Introduction to the Elements of Social Emotional Wellness in

Infants and ToddlersIV. Experiencing, Expressing, and Regulating EmotionsV. TemperamentVI. The Balance of Close, Secure Relationships & Learning and

Exploration VII. The Developmental Course of Social Emotional WellnessVIII. Children’s Social Emotional Development within the Context of

FamiliesIX. Using Your Relationship to Promote a Child’s Social Emotional

DevelopmentX. Summary and Action Planning

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.

Activity

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

CSEFEL Pyramid Model

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

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

Activity

Complete Reflective Inventory

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.

Research Findings (cont’d)8. Babies seek physical and emotional equilibrium.

9. 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.

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 relationshipsguide early learning (2004).

Early Social Emotional DevelopmentEarly 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

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

Three Major Elements of Social Emotional Wellness in Infancy

• Forming close and secure relationships

• Experiencing, expressing, and regulating emotions

• Exploring the environment and learning

Regulation and Stress in Young Babies

Signs of Regulation Signs of Stress

1. Regular, even breathing; warm body temperature; even skin color.

1. Yawning, drooling, hiccupping; chilled or clammy; pale or blotchy skin.

2. Good muscle tone; can lift arms and legs against gravity.

2. Poor muscle tone; flails arms and legs loosely or cannot pull up against gravity; trembling.

3. Moves easily (with little comforting) between being awake and being asleep; when awake, is sometimes quiet and alert, sometimes active and alert; can become calm when crying.

3. Awakens screaming; cannot relax to fall asleep or falls asleep suddenly in the midst of noise and commotion; has trouble focusing when awake.

4. Startles briefly at loud noises but recovers; tolerates handling even during diaper changes.

4. Startles at noise, light, and touch, and cannot recover.

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

Small Group Activity

Temperament

• Appears to be biologically based

• Fairly constant over time

• Affects a child’s reactions to other people and the environment

(Wittmer & Petersen, 2006 based on Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig & Korn, 1963)

Temperament Traits• Activity level – always active or generally still• Biological rhythms – predictability of hunger, sleep, elimination• Approach/withdrawal – response to new situations• Mood – tendency to react with positive or negative mood, serious, fussy• Intensity of reaction – energy or strength of emotional reaction• Sensitivity – comfort with levels of sensory information; sound,

brightness of light, feel of clothing, new tastes• Adaptability – ease of managing transitions or changes• Distractibility – how easily a child’s attention is pulled from an activity • Persistence – how long child continues with an activity he/she finds

difficult

Adapted with permission from Wittmer and Petersen, 2006

Temperament Types

Flexible Fearful Feisty

Regular rhythms Adapts slowly Active

Positive mood Withdraws Intense

Adaptability Distractible

Low intensity Sensitive

Low sensitivity Irregular

Moody

Temperament Types Flexible, Fearful, and Feisty

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Temperament Traits• Activity level – always active or generally still• Biological rhythms – predictability of hunger, sleep,

elimination• Approach/withdrawal – response to new situations• Mood – tendency to react with positive or negative mood,

serious, fussy• Intensity of reaction – energy or strength of emotional

reaction• Sensitivity – comfort with levels of sensory information;

sound, brightness of light, feel of clothing, new tastes• Adaptability – ease of managing transitions or changes• Distractibility – how easily a child’s attention is

pulled from an activity • Persistence – how long child continues with an

activity he/she finds difficult

Adapted with permission from Wittmer and Petersen, 2006

Activity

Considering Temperament Booklet

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

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. A developing sense of oneself as a competent, effective, and valued individual is an important aspect of infant mental health.

• 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

Attachment

Attachment is a pattern of interaction that develops over time as the infant or

toddler and caregiver engage.

Activity

Attachment Relationships

The Developmental Continuum from Birth to 15 months: Social and Emotional Indicators*

Age RangeAttachment

Trust/SecuritySelf-Awareness/

Identity

Exploration Autonomy/Independence

Infant (Birth to 15 months)

• Newborns recognize human language and prefer their own mother's voice

• Prefer human faces

• Early social interaction is a smile and mutual gazing

• Crawls away but checks back visually; calls, and gestures to ensure adult contact

• Stretches arms to be taken • Prefers familiar adults

• Acts anxious around strangers

• Uses a blanket or stuffed toy for security and reassurance

• Goes from accidentally sucking own hands to carefully watching them

• Tries to make things happen

• Hits or kicks things to

make a pleasing sight or sound continue

• Talks to self when alone • Prefers to be held by

familiar people

• Imitates adult behaviors

• Knows own name

• Understands simple directions

• Brings thumb or hand to mouth

• Tracks mother’s voice

• Observes own hands

• Babbles using all types of sounds

• Uses a few words mixed with babbling to form sentences

• Tries to keep a knee ride going by bouncing to get the adult started again

• Shows strong feelings (anger, anxiety, affection)

*This list is a sampling of developmental indicators and is not intended to include all behaviors associated with early development. For infant, there is considerable overlap among areas of growth. The term “mother” is used to represent the primary attachment figure.

The Developmental Continuum from 12 months to 2 ½ years: Social and Emotional Indicators (cont’d)

Age RangeAttachment

Trust/SecuritySelf-Awareness/

Identity

Exploration Autonomy/Independence

Toddler (12 mos. to 2 1/2 years)

• Relates to others by exploring things with them

• Pulls up, stands holding furniture, then walks alone

• Goes through a phase of

clinging to primary caregiver • Experiences periods of

intense feelings when separating or reuniting with a parent

• Sees others as a barrier to

immediate gratification

• Knows can make things happen but is not sure of responsibility for actions

• Becomes bossy • Uses the words me, you, and I

• Says "No" to adults

• Explores everything

• Is sensitive to others' judging behavior

• Keeps looking for a toy that is hidden from view

• Understands many more words than can say

• Has wide mood swings (for example, from stubborn to cooperative)

• Wants to do things by self

Adapted with permission from J. Ronald Lally, Abbey Griffin, et al., Caring for Infants and Toddlers in Groups: Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE/The National Center, 1995), pp. 78-79.

The Developmental Continuum from Age 2 ½ - 3 ½ : Social and Emotional Indicators (cont’d)

Age Range Attachment Trust/Security

Self-Awareness/ Identity

Exploration Autonomy/Independence

Preschool (2½ to 3½ years)

• Is capable of dramatic play

• Has better control over all aspects of self

• Needs to practice

• Needs adult coaching to get along well with others

• Shows feelings with words and in symbolic play

• Is more aware that others have feelings

• Can plan ahead

• Is capable of self-evaluation (for example, good, bad, pretty, ugly)

• Tries to control self (for example, emotions and toileting)

• Is learning to take turns in conversations

• Knows a lot about communicating in the style of own culture

• Can play well with others if the setting is right

• Uses names of self and others

• Can tell others about what happened that day

• Has much larger vocabulary to express ideas

• Shows concern for others

• Classifies, labels, and sorts objects and experiences into groups

Adapted with permission from J. Ronald Lally, Abbey Griffin, et al., Caring for Infants and Toddlers in Groups: Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE/The National Center, 1995), pp. 78-79.

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Allison Silberber, 2007

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What should the caption for this photograph say?

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Each baby is born into a unique family

that has its own culture and history, its own strengths, and its own way of coping with stress and adversity.

(Parlakian & Seibel, 2002)

Families have the most continuous and emotionally charged relationship with the child. Infants and toddlers learn what people expect of them and what they can expect of other people through early experiences with parents and other caregivers.

(Day & Parlakian, 2004)

Activity

Learning About, Expressing, and Managing Emotions

Factors That Create Challenges for Families

• Poverty• Nonflexible work situations• No maternal or paternal leave• Little support from other family members or

neighbors• Challenging relationships with their own

families • Substance abuse• Domestic violence

Activity

Working with Families Inventory

Activity

Essential Positive Messages

for Each Child

Major Messages to Take Home• Early social emotional wellness develops within the

context of relationships.

• Caregivers help babies express emotion; develop emotional regulation; and form close, secure relationships.

• It is within families that children learn to experience and communicate emotion.

• In order to support the social emotional wellness of infants and toddlers, as well as their families, we need to be aware of our own emotional history.