Infant-Toddler Intensive Training

We have completed the second day of training in a three-day Saturday series on best practices in comprehensive infant and toddler care, development, and learning. The last day will be November 14th. The training is based in part on the RIE Approach (Resources for Infant Educarers). It is held in the C5 Conference Center once a month for six hours each day. The leaders are C5’s Director of Learning, CA State Building Center Director, SF City Building Center Site Supervisor, and two C5 teachers who are leaders in RIE-related theories and practices.

This fall, we are training 13 teachers. Last fall, we trained 18 teachers. And, from January to April in 2014, 11 of us were trained by a RIE certified trainer.

We add about 75% of what RIE has to offer to our comprehensive approach that includes significant influences from the world famous PITC program (Program for Infant-Toddler Care) developed by the California Department of Education and Western Regional Educational Laboratories. We apply all of those those elements and more in our work with infants and toddlers and their families to produce our leading edge program.

Our infants are building a strong foundation for early literacy skills at a young age.  The very basics are being practiced throughout the day: holding a book, turning its pages, and watching their teachers reading from left-to-right.  They are beginning to understand how books “work,” how they connect the reader, and how they relate to the listener when read out loud.  When a book is read to them, the infants are developing the cognitive skills required to connect sounds into words and words into meaning.  When they listen to the reader’s changing tone, rhythm patterns, voice inflection, and repeating phrasing, they are learning how language is formed and an essential element of communication.  Infants who are exposed to books, reading, and story-telling at an early age are more likely to develop strong communication skills and a love of books as they get older.  Learn more about our Infant Program.