Prime Times 2nd Edition

P/B • 215mm X 280mm • 352 pages
ISBN 9781929610907

A Handbook for Excellence in infant and Toddler Programs

Prime Times is intended as a practical guide that helps educators to establish and maintain quality care and education in their infants and toddler programs, and as a text for students intending to work with infants and toddlers in child care. It offers a logical sequence for going through the material, and also functions as a reference that can be used for training of centre staff and leaders.

This substantially revised Second Edition examines the key areas of developmental issues, staffing and staff training, discipline, curriculum, assessment, establishing routines, infants and toddlers with special needs, creating learning and nurturing environments, health, nutrition, safety policy, partnering with parents and program evaluation.

The book is divided into four parts:

Part 1: The Context of Good Care: Good Organization for Infants and Toddler Care
This part explores the real world of child care that every program operates in, the diversity of quality care and its complexity, and the difficult issues that both teachers and directors face daily. It encourages respect for the challenges faced by others and examining how centres work and what good organisation is.

Part 2: Organizing the Program
This part focuses on understanding Infants and Toddlers behaviour and development. It examines the structure of high-quality care including grouping, structuring time and space to give personalised care, individualised education, and how to create relaxed and happy days.

Part 3: Quality Care and Learning
This part describes the what, why, and how of good programming, policies and practices. It examines routines, health and safety issues for every child, socializing and guidance, adult interaction, what curriculum and learning experiences are important, quality indoor and outdoor learning environments, and provides a process for planning learning experiences.

Part 4: Staying Good: Evaluation and Quality Control
This part stresses that quality depends on monitoring, evaluation and change, and discusses useful tools for program evaluation.