Infant & Toddler Center

Founded in 2001, HB's Infant & Toddler Center primarily serves infant and toddler-age children of Hathaway Brown employees but is available to families in the community as space permits. It is open to children as young as 6 weeks of age.

The Center is contained within one classroom providing room for nine infants and 13 toddlers with ratios significantly above state standards: one caregiver: two infants and one teacher: four toddlers

The primary goal of the program is to provide developmentally appropriate Infant and Toddler group care by:

1. Identifying and striving to promote the healthy, progressive development of the child
2. Respecting and facilitating parenting competence
3. Facilitating the integrated services of the School to the family as specific needs arise.

At the Infant and Toddler Center, children experience:

• The opportunity to develop trusting relationships with staff adults
• Opportunities to explore the environment of a well-equipped center - indoors and outdoors
• Practice of receptive and expressive language, motor skills, cognitive skills, and social skills
• Learning about themselves, their feelings, their identity, and self-management
• Nutritious meals and snacks
• Naps that follow each child's schedule and developmental needs
• Adults who enjoy children and have training and experience in supporting their individual development

In this quality Infant and Toddler program, the curriculum consists of the care giving routines (eating, sleeping, dressing, diapering, etc.); learning about oneself (mastery of skills such as engaging with other people, using small and large muscles to move, language); and exploring the environment (touching, manipulating, rolling, scooting, crawling, walking, running, etc.). The room arrangement, routines, and special activities are planned with these curriculum goals in mind.