Goals & Objectives

All children in our infant classroom will meet each milestone at different developmental paces. These goals are guidelines to know when most infants meet these milestones.

Grasp rattle

Hands fisted (1-2 months)

Less fisted (3 months)

Startle reflex

Can hear sounds and recognize his mother’s voice (1month)

May begin to turn his body from side to side,

Begins to control the movement of his head

Begins to respond to you by smiling and making sounds

Follows moving objects and lights

Rolls from side to side

Begins to lift his head and chest when placed on his stomach

Sits with support for a short time

Puts objects in his mouth

Puts hands together

Begins to screech and laugh

Infants vision is good enough to see small details

Begins to try to turn head and eyes toward sounds and familiar voices

Begins to lift his arms to come to you

Stays up when placed in a sitting position (6 months)

Sits up on his own (6 months)

Shows interest in beginning to crawl (6 months)

Shows interest in trying to pull self up on things (6 months)

Likes to play with his image in a mirror

Crawls or begins to crawl

Pulls self to a standing position

Waves “bye- bye”

Pushes away things that doesn’t want

Cries when away from his mother

Looks at picture books

Begins to finger-feed self (9months)

Passes an object from one hand to the other

Responds to own name

Loves to explore own environment

Shows likes and dislikes

Loves to play with toys, or play pat-a-cake and “peek-a-boo”

May be able to stand alone, walk or squat down

May obey simple commands such as “no”

Begins to bang two blocks held in her hands

Say “Mama” and “Dada” to parents and imitate words

Learning to express themselves but may get frustrated and cry

Age:15-18 months old

Says one or more words

Likes to imitate activities

Walks well; stoops and recovers objects from the floor

Likes to play with other children

Begins to use words to make his wants known

Points to a few body parts

These goals are intended to help children transition into the toddler classroom more smoothly.

Working on counting 1-3

Exposing the children to sensory (flubber and play dough) and finger painting activities

Working on hand-eye coordination when feeding self with a spoon

Working on hand-eye coordination when drinking out of a regular cup (17 months old)

Introducing a more structured circle time trying to get the children to sit and listen to books and songs for 5 minutes

Introducing the children to sitting in a chair during circle time (17 months old)

Beginning to learn the basic body parts (eye, mouth, nose, ears)

Encouraging an expanding vocabulary, talking in 2 word sentences

Social Skills

Children are encouraged to develop their ability to interact with peers and adults including:

• Engaging happily in solitary and parallel play

• Participating in group activities

• Learning and following classroom routines and rules

• Learning to share and take turns

• Beginning to show empathy and caring for others Language Skills

Children are encouraged to develop listening and speaking skills including:

• Using words to communicate

• Beginning to speak in complete sentences

• Building vocabulary

• Understanding and following directions

• Understanding and answering questions

• Listening with interest to stories

Dress and undress self with assistance in some areas, such as tying, snapping and buttoning
Care for own possessions and those belonging to the group most of the time
Place some toys, materials, etc., in their proper places without constant reminders
Learn and accept new routines and changes
Deal with emotions in a developmentally appropriate way, most of the time
Respond to redirection from staff in a constructive way, most of the time

Understand and participate as a cooperative member of a small group, most of the time
Share toys and equipment, most of the time
Make the choice between working alone and in groups and be able to do both at different times
Cooperate in some group activities and projects
Categorize people, places, events and objects in terms of whether they belong at child care or home
Identify various kinds of transportation
Understand and participate in the celebration of some national holidays

Perform motor skills including sliding, leaping, stopping and running
Walk a balance beam
Catch a small ball (e.g. softball, tennis ball, etc.)
Perform physical fitness exercises such as bending, stretching, reaching, relaxing and breathing, etc
Talk about why exercise is important and helps us grow (e.g. muscles, bones, etc.)
Use large muscle equipment (e.g. tricycle, slides, etc.)

Use scissors and cut simple patterns
Use small paint brushes and narrow line markers
Glue or paste small objects in simple patterns
Copy a triangle
Assemble an 8-11 piece puzzle

Recognize basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, white, brown and black
Identify similarities and differences of common objects on the basis of color
In addition to identifying a circle, square and triangle, identify a rectangle
Determine relative size of three objects in terms of big, bigger, biggest and small, smaller, smallest
Identify similarities and differences of common objects according to their size and shape
Develop an awareness of our five senses
Follow a sequence of at least three directions

Recognize and say personal information such as home address and telephone number
Give simple directions
Make up a story
Tell a version of a familiar story (e.g. The Three Bears, etc.)
Speak in complete sentences
Follow simple instructions
Ask for help when needed
Incorporate new words learned into everyday vocabulary (e.g. from curriculum and daily living, etc.)
Name basic objects and ideas that are important to daily routine (e.g. bathroom, front door, etc.)

Name some letters of the alphabet (e.g. upper and lower case)
Recognize some sight words in environment (e.g. stop, exit, etc.)
Listen and enjoy being read to
Answer basic content questions about stories a child has heard
Relate the endings of familiar stories (e.g. Peter Rabbit, etc.)
Name and tell about characters in stories
Recite one or two simple poems or rhymes
Relate basic cause and effect from a story child has heard

Participate in planting seeds and caring for growing plants
Learn about some basic changes, such as ice melting, water boiling
Construct simple structures using blocks and other building materials
Experience and talk about weather changes in a simple way (e.g. clouds and rain, cold and snow,etc.)
Practice basic habits for good health (e.g. wash hands, brush teeth, blow nose, etc.)
Help prepare and tell about healthy foods

Rote count from 1-20
Recognize most numerals from 1-10
Set enough snacks or other objects on a table for at least eight children
Identify sets of 0 to 5 objects
Identify objects in terms of relative size (e.g. bigger than, smaller than or same size as)
Match a number of objects to corresponding items

Use and care for various art materials, including crayons, paste, chalk, clay, finger paints, paint and pencils
Use additional art techniques, including drawing, collage, painting, printmaking and simple construction
Use simple art forms to entertain self and others (e.g. movement, painting, drama, etc.)
Talk about how various songs make him/her feel (e.g. sad, happy, etc.)
Participate in a variety of music activities
Use free-form movement and/or exercise in response to music

Children are encouraged to learn about their environment through observing, questioning and describing as they engage in activities such as:

• Colors

• Kitchen Science

• Magnets

• Planting

• Water Play

Children are encouraged to develop an appreciation of the arts through active engagement including:

• Expressing imagination, creativity and resourcefulness through art, music and drama

• Singing as part of the classroom routine

• Developing listening skills using different kinds of music

• Exploring a variety of art materials in creative ways

• Exploring sensory and gross motor activities

Children are encouraged to develop fine and gross motor skills through age appropriate activities and play.

3 Year old Objectives

3 Year Old Program Objectives

During the school year, each of the objectives below will be addressed during the course of the daily instruction and activities:

-Learn to function as part of a group—share, take turns, etc.

-Learn to follow routines—help with cleaning up, sit in “circle,” etc.

-Learn to follow directions

-Gain independence in self-help

-Learn to care for personal needs

-Become self-motivated in initiating activities

-Listen attentively to stories

-Begin playing with other children

-Problem solve

-Become comfortable with adults

-Express displeasure verbally rather than physically

-Learn to separate from parent easily

-Creative Arts

-Experiment with a variety of art mediums (paint, fingerpaint, glue, paper, etc.)
-Begin to use creativity in art
-Music
-Learn simple songs and musical games
-Do rhythmic activities
-Do body movement activities
-Hear and use various musical instruments
-Listen to different kinds of music
-Drama
-Use imagination (in play–making up stories and songs)
-Act out familiar stories and songs
-Explore “body language”
-Demonstrate feelings through body movement
-Language Arts
-Instill an enjoyment of books
-Learn proper care of books
-Develop listening skills
-Learn finger plays
-Use language to express ideas, feelings and to gain information
-Recognize first name
-Motor Development
Gross motor Skills
-Gain general coordination of movement
-Climb, jump, run, balance on one foot, pedal, throw/catch a ball

-Do age-appropriate puzzles
-String beads, place pegs, etc.
Pizzles of increasing difficulty
Discriminate by color, size, shape
Begin to develop ability to discriminate by sight, touch, sound
Develop hand-eye coordination
Recognize same and different

Learn about families and customs
Become aware of different cultures through stories, foods, visitors
Learn about various kinds of homes
Learn about community helpers

Recognize shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle)
Count by rote to 5 or more
Recognize numerals 1–3 (or more)
Sort objects
Learn 1–1 correspondence

Become aware of environment in general
Investigate surroundings—indoors and out
Recognize seasonal changes
Learn about animals, insects, birds
Experiment with water, wind, color, ice, heat, plants, magnets
Learn about good nutrition, dental health, safetyHold pencil correctly
Cut paper with scissors
Perception
Do puzzles