6 Weeks to 1 Year
Infants Program (6 weeks to 1 year)
We are your village in raising your child
The Milestones Academy Infant Program, for children 6 weeks to 1 year old, is an environment for children to experience loving, consistent and innovative support from their teachers in their natural desire to be active learners. We consider all of their needs carefully, bearing in mind their social and emotional needs for security and companionship; their physical needs for nourishment, bodily care, rest, movement and safety; their cognitive needs for opportunities to make choices, explore interesting materials and try out a range of challenging experiences; and their sociolinguistic needs to communicate their desires and discoveries to responsive teachers and other friends in their class.
We comprehensively train our staff members in understanding and responding to children’s needs. We use LOVEVERY developmental toys in our Infant Classes and plan their daily activities considering:
Infants and toddlers learn with their whole body and with all their senses
For infants and toddlers, being actively involved in exploring their environment is natural. Their discoveries about themselves and their immediate environment come to action through waving their arms, watching their hands, kicking, turning over, reaching out, grasping, poking, smelling, listening, touching, mouthing or pulling themselves up. Their active engagement with attentive and responsive adults and with interesting and challenging materials provides them with a base of experiences for interpreting their world.
Infants and toddlers learn because they want to learn
Research shows that infants and toddlers are powerfully self-motivated to learn and explore at their own pace through their own means. In our supportive environment with appropriate opportunities and interactions, toddlers and infants act with increasing autonomy and independence. We help them become independent and inquisitive.
Infants and toddlers communicate what they know
Infants and toddlers eagerly seek contact with parents or other caregivers and use a variety of ways to convey their desires. In our care, children will have a variety of opportunities to listen to their caregivers, hear conversations, and listen to nursery rhymes and stories. This enables them to hear language and participate as active learners as they develop their language skills.
Infants and toddlers learn within the context of trusting relationships
At Milestones Academy, we pay special attention to building relationships with children and their families to help them form trusting relationships. We put a lot of effort into creating safe and friendly environments where teachers can provide responsible and consistent care for the children’s needs.
Learn more about LOVEVERY here.
Key Essentials:
Preparing your infant for the future.
The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that children in a group setting must be assigned to one adult called their Key Person. The key person approach is a way of giving undivided attention and focus aimed at close attachment of individual children with individual staff members. The key person is responsible to help your child feel settled and familiar with the setting, feel confident and safe within it and for children to feel secure and happy as they explore and try new things in their preschool. Key person experience also ensures that parents have the opportunity to build a personal relationship with one staff member rather than a number of people who work within the childcare setting. The same key person is there to greet your child in the morning, to provide comfort to them if they’re upset, to enjoy time with them and play with them one on one whenever possible or offer intimate bodily care. This staff member will also have other children for whom she is a key person and as part of being skillful at their job is being available for all children at all times.
Shoe free zone
Our infant classes are “shoe free zones”. This means that children can wear socks or booties as they explore their classroom. This ensures that their experiences of crawling and cruising around the classroom are safe and sanitary. We ask all adults to remove their shoes, to ensure their hands are washed or sanitized before entering our infants’ classrooms.
Safe cribs
Children at Milestones Academy have their own personalized crib with firm and comfortable mattress and tight-fitting sheet. The crib is free from soft toys or pillows for safety reasons. All children are monitored closely during their nap time and our staff members make sure the children are sleeping on their backs. The cribs are transparent as an extra safety measure. Their nap times and rest times will be recorded and shared with parents.
Flexible feeding schedules
We will follow your child’s lead to the times they wish to be fed or the preferences you have made in terms of your choices of milk or formula. We also welcome parents who wish to stop by and breastfeed their children during the day.
At Milestones Academy, we realize that children need consistency and a variety of ways to learn. We establish predictable routine in our attempts to create a routine that mirrors your child’s schedule at home. A routine is catered to infants individually to meet their physical and social -emotional needs. As a response to children’s ages and stages we use LOVEVERY developmental toys to help their brains make connections and build strong foundations. Their daily activities include quality story times, yoga, language rich interactions, outdoor time, gym time and variety of opportunities for arts including music, painting, movement and socializing
Our curriculum broadly supports infants and toddlers’ development through creating environment that encourages their physical, social-emotional and language development. At Milestones Academy, we encourage active learning through materials to explore with all their senses, opportunities to make choices, prospects to communicate their discoveries and feelings and ongoing responsive support of trusted adults every single day. We track children’s growth and development, share their achievements with parents and work together with you to develop common strategies for supporting your child’s development and sense of self.
For safety and security purposes, the classes are equipped with CCTV cameras and recordings are confidential and will not be shared with all the parents through our app. Based on demand or need, the recording of certain periods of time are available for viewing should parents wish to do so.
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