DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 2     introduc tion : te aching through qua lit y c a re Physical and motor development: a child’s growth and how she develops the large muscles for walking, running, and throwing, and the small muscles for drawing, writing, feeding, and dressing. Cognitive or intellectual development: a child’s ability to think, reason, solve problems, form concepts, remember ideas, and recognize objects. Language development: the ability to listen, understand, speak, and even- tually to read and write. Social development: how a child interacts with other children and adults by sharing, cooperating, and following rules. Emotional development: a child’s self-esteem, self-control, and ability to express feelings. Approaches to learning: the ways a child explores and builds knowledge. Developmental domains are the specific areas of learning that young children need to grow and develop. Part 1 includes an overview of each learning domain from birth through age five: physical and motor, cognitive, communication and language, social and emotional, and approaches to learning. I also include a detailed list of developmental indicators from which this curriculum was built. It is important that each domain be addressed in your daily schedule of activities. The activities in this curriculum are creative and inclusive to allow for the healthy development of the infants, toddlers, and preschool children who participate in your family child care program. How to Use This Curriculum The foundation of a successful program is the relationships you develop with the children in your care. These relationships allow you to know the children’s individ- ual needs and to better support their overall growth and development. For example, the nonmobile infant is given space to stretch on a blanket. Then, as a baby working on crawling, she is given encouragement and room to move. When this same baby is ready to pull up and try walking, you provide sturdy furniture and a soft landing spot to support and encourage this new phase of development. Later the toddler needs safe but challenging places to climb, and the preschooler needs room to run and kick a ball. The same series of development occurs across all of the developmental domains. Providing safe challenges and encouragement supports the learning that young chil- dren need to grow and develop. This curriculum has been organized to support this type of teaching through quality care. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL