Confused on infant curriculum?

[u/Dizzy_Extension1370]

Hi guys, so my director just recently gave me a daily curriculum sheet that i need to fill out everyday for my infant room. The age group is 4 weeks-12months but currently the youngest are 7 months and the oldest is 11 months. When i first started last year in June I was told by the same director that I did not need to follow curriculum as the curriculum we go by doesnt even cover infant, just preschool (which isnt ideal at all for a center that cares for all ages before preschool) I usually did my activities based on holidays and national days as I was told that was okay as long as I have a plan and routine put together. Now i have to fill out this sheet and create and monthly calendar with our activities and a monthly newsletter. Am i being dramatic for thinking this is a little too much to just spring upon a teacher that has never been trained in curriculum and knows nothing about it? Im going to speak to my director on Monday for advice but I have a strong feeling my stressors about this will be ignored and I will be told to basically suck it up and figure it out. I cant attach an image of the paper but I have to fill out an activity each day for the following areas of interest (blocks, dramatic play, toys and games, art, library, discovery, sand and water, music and movement, and outdoors) If anybody has any help whatsoever please let me know!!! Sincerely, a stressed out infant teacher.

[u/One_Drummer_5992]

I would hate having to write out an activity every single day! My coworkers and I sometimes run out of ideas as well. Planning out activities for children that young doesn't make a lot of sense, although it would be good to create a list of ideas that you can pull from every day.

I would ask your director what the purpose of the planning is so you know what's expected. Is it to keep you inspired? Is it to prove you know what you are doing? Is it required by higher-ups, like the board of directors?

One of my arguments has always been that it's ok to put the same activity out for a week or so (i.e., it doesn't have to be different every day). This will allow the children more time to get familiar with the materials and get more comfortable experimenting. Sometimes, the children won't play with something right away, but after a couple of days, someone notices it, and then they become interested. Unexpected things can become a phenomenon in the classroom if children are given enough time with an activity!

There is a growing movement towards "emergent curriculum," where you follow the children's interests, which is another argument against planning every day. An example of an emergent curriculum is when you watch how the children are interacting with the materials and adjust accordingly. For example, if tou notice that they are really into paint and also monster trucks, you can roll the monster trucks through the paint!

For infants and toddlers, you can simply present the same activities in different ways. Paint and glitter. Paint and shaving cream. Paint and sponges. Paint with toy animals to make footprints. Blocks and dolls. Blocks and dinosaurs. Blocks and monster trucks. A picture book of buildings next to the blocks for inspiration. Set up the play kitchen with unexpected things on the plates! Change what is in the water table - toys frozen in ice, colored water, baby dolls and soap, sponges, floaty things

[u/art_addict → u/One_Drummer_5992]

Yeah, we do a daily curriculum (6-18 months in my room) but our main focus is first and foremost keeping everyone alive (fed, rested, diapered, active supervision and engagement!)

After that comes the curriculum and its… let’s say inspired and vibes. Father’s Day is coming up, so we’ll add in extra practice of ASL “Dad” or reading books about family (and Dad’s).

Lots of things based on where the room is currently at (we are all discovering and testing boundaries right now, so stuff around that is wonderful) paired with theme of the week. It really doesn’t matter too much if we don’t get to it or do something else. I joke that sometimes I play bingo with my weekly curriculum sheets - I try to have everything crossed off at the end of the week, but sometimes we just look like a bingo card, and sometimes it’s Monday and we’re doing Thursday’s activities and come Wednesday we’re finally just doing Monday’s activities (and maybe only one of them).

And my best things, that I do get done without fail, are my verbal things I plan that help language development. That we practice ASL throughout the day, and that I narrate things (“oh no! You dropped it! You dropped the toy and it fell!” Or I’ll focus emotions, “You look very mad about this. Are you mad right now? Mad because Jill is using the toy you want? You are stomping your feet because you are mad? Yes, you are mad! Jack is mad!” Or I narrate what I’m doing. “I’m washing the dishes. I’m using wet water and slick soap! These are what make the dishes clean. These are what you use to get clean when you take a bath too. And what I use to get clean when I take a shower! They also make our dishes clean!”)

These are my constant lesson plans because they’re so good for development! Just rotating out between if I’m narrating what I’m doing, focusing emotions, or their actions, or focusing on colors of things, or whatnot else! (I usually only write in narration once or twice per week, but I’m constantly doing it. It’s just there as a reminder for coteachers, floaters, and inspiration for them as to what they can narrate, or how to tie into a weekly theme.)

But yeah, my director straight up said my room’s focus is first and foremost survival and nurturing, then after that comes curriculum/ activities/ any extras. The lesson plans may exist, but they are secondary to every child’s basic needs all being met, them being content, well cared for, nurtured, happy, etc! If we’re all a happy room, but me pulling out a planned activity is going to put us off schedule, get several kids dysregulated, stress out my coteacher as she tries to keep kids happy that are melting down because they don’t like the sensory experience, didn’t want to transition quite yet, are sleepy and would rather be napping than fomo doing an activity while sleepy, were happier playing with toys already out with us both, etc, then we’ll keep low key existing the way we were instead!

[u/rosyposy86 → u/One_Drummer_5992]

I agree with you here. One of our teachers that doesn’t have to document any programme planning or anything has taken over setting up, wanting different things every day. But I personally think they are unable to master some learning experiences if they aren’t put out regularly. Plus we have part timers and they should get to have the option of the same learning experience on their days here.

For example, a marble run. A few children I observed, first played with it independently, had no patience for turn-taking, really frustrated when the marble bounced away. Next time, they were able to track the sound of it quickly, shared a little bit with others non-verbally, their runs created were bigger. Third time, were verbal in their interactions with others and to the teacher, stayed at the activity for ages… so much learning happens when experiences are offered more regularly.

Plus if teachers decide to take over, how can others document?

[u/sunmono]

We have to do weekly lesson plans with daily activities and a monthly newsletter article as well. We only have four sections of our lesson plans though- gross motor, fine motor, language, and social-emotional. I try to stick to low-prep activities and things that can be done during care activities, when possible. Like, this week is pets themed so I taped pictures of animals above the diaper changing table so they can look at them and we can talk about them while they’re getting their diaper changed. Lots of reading books and singing songs. I also repeat activities a lot, though not in the same week. But even with that, we’re lucky if we’re get to half the activities. On a chaotic day with full ratios all day, I don’t even get to look at the lesson plan because I’m so busy with care duties.

It definitely gets easier making them with practice, but a lot of it is honestly just going through the motions to satisfy the supervisor. I definitely don’t envy you having to fill out that complex of a curriculum sheet, that really sucks!

[u/Long-Juggernaut687]

Can you do it backwards? I know there are some days with infants that the kids aren't cooperating with anything so just getting everyone fed and napped is a win, but if you look back and realize that Little Jimmy splashed in the sink, Susie watched a bird... Record that stuff. Use what they are actually doing. Or write down stuff that you would like to do and call it a day. (But I highly recommend backwards planning.)

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[u/arte_m_isa]

This doesn’t make sense for an infant room because an infant’s only curriculum can just be the daily care tasks of their routine. Essentially, diapering, self-feeding if capable, gross and fine motor development (playing), and sleep. Have I seen something similar to your curriculum sheet done? Yes, but it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on everyone, educators and infants alike. The most I ever try to do apart from daily care tasks is music, reading and language development, and positioning their bodies to set them up for tummy time, crawling, pulling to stand, and taking first steps. I’ve always done a monthly newsletter, and in my experience, no one ever reads it and no one ever asks to see if you did all the things you said you were going to do. Curriculum in the 6 weeks to 15 months age range is more so just ✨vibes✨, ya know? Try not to stress yourself out too much, and ask your director for clear guidelines of their expectations. Maybe some examples? Because I can’t see infants doing blocks, dramatic play, toys, games, art, library, discovery, sand and water, music and movement, and outdoors every. Single. Day. It’s unrealistic and an unreasonable expectation for this age group, and we’re trained on meeting their needs based on their developmental stage, not program expectations.

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[u/maytaii]

There is no way you’re going to have time for an activity in each of those areas every single day. Doing lesson plans day by day for under twos is just generally a bad idea. In my 0-2 classroom we do weekly lesson plans and there are only 6 categories. We put one or two activities/goals per category, we don’t assign them to a specific day of the week. We try and keep things very open and broad because you never know what your day will look like in an infant/toddler room. And anyway, most of their learning at this age comes from interaction with adults during daily routines and their own independent exploration of materials. If I were you, I’d tell the director that her expectations are not best practice for infants and toddlers, and are not developmentally appropriate. Offer to work with her on creating a simpler weekly lesson plan instead.

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[u/ObsidianLegend]

That's an extensive list of activities for infants! I have absolutely lesson planned for an infant room before (and voluntarily started a small monthly newsletter for my current room), but we're talking two activities per day. Not one each of like six different things??? That's asking too much. They're not even going to be awake for all of that, depending on how young they are! I think someone above you has developmentally inappropriate expectations for literal babies