Teaching and Learning with Infants and Toddlers: Where Meaning-Making Begins

This groundbreaking book explores infants’ amazing capacity to learn and presents a reflective approach to teaching inspired by the early childhood schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Each chapter draws from research and real-life infant care settings to illustrate how infants are robust investigators, intent on making sense of the world around them. Pre- and inservice professionals working with infants and their families will find in this book valuable insights into how to design an infant care program, plan curriculum, assess learning, and work with families. The book provides easy-to-understand answers to questions that include: What do I need to know about how the brain develops during infancy? What does teaching look like with children under age 3? How do babies figure out the complex code of language, including the acquisition of multiple languages? Does a baby’s experience have anything to do with later success in school and in life? What kinds of play materials support infants’ learning? What kinds of policies and practices lead to successful group-care programs for infants? User-friendly features of this book include vignettes, photographs of infant classrooms, diagrams and instructive charts, research highlights, and questions for reflection.

“From its clear explanation of the developing brain of a baby to its enlightened presentation on the art of reflective childcare, I see how many times I will use this work as a resource. . . . Building on key research from infant development, psychology, and neuroscience, Maguire-Fong invites reflection on what it means to teach and to learn when working with infants and toddlers.”
—From the Foreword by J. Ronald Lally, codirector of the Center for Child and Family Studies at WestEd, and author of For Our Babies

“Mary Jane Maguire-Fong explores deeply the connections between state-of-the-art science on young children's development, public policies affecting families, and best practice in the care and education of very young children. [This] is filled with so many great ideas, evocative illustrations, and practical considerations—all knit together in an almost lyrical narrative style. A wonderful, necessary read for anyone interested in supporting our youngest children.”
—Ross A. Thompson, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis

“Here is everything you ever wanted to know about very young children as ‘born researchers’—how they engage with the world so new to them and invite us to play with them in shared meaning-making. This book explores every aspect of early development and invites us to learn with the children, as we order time, space, and stuff to respond to their curiosity.”
—Elizabeth Jones, faculty emerita, Pacific Oaks College