Beautiful Beginnings

Beautiful Beginnings is a collection of developmental activities designed for individualized use with infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months. The program features activities, called experiences, to enhance children's development in eight areas: communication, gross motor, fine motor, intellectual, discovery, social, self-help (starting at 6 to 12 months), and pretend (starting at 18 to 24 months). The program has multiple uses: a guide for group activities in an early child care program, a framework for a home visiting program, or a curriculum for parent education courses. This curriculum also encourages parents and caregivers to watch for new developments and encourages parent/staff collaboration. Depending on the way that the curriculum is used, the experiences can be conducted daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The experiences (activities) are based on the most current research on infant and toddler development and are divided into six age ranges: 0 to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, 12 to 18 months, 18 to 24 months, 24 to 30 months, and 30 to 36 months. Each age range includes eight experiences for each developmental area. In total, the program includes over 350 experiences. Users can select experiences to use based on an individual child's developmental interests and needs. The pages are photocopiable so they can be shared easily with parents and other caregivers. In addition to the experiences, the book explains the rationale and development of Beautiful Beginnings, how to use the program, and typical infant and toddler development. The book will include a summary goal chart for each age range that identifies the experiences in each developmental area: goal sheets to be completed for each child; a list of materials needed for the experiences; a chart for linking the experiences to the ASQ; and 6 pages of four-color stickers that are used for tracking children's progress. The stickers match the goal charts and are sold separately for programs that want more of them. A CD-ROM of the experiences, goal sheets, and goal charts will be included with the book for those users who want to print them out rather than photocopy them.