Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Last week, the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care approved Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers. Commissioner Sherri Killins talked about the draft guidelines in a podcast with the New America Foundation’s Early Ed Watch blog. After Tuesday’s vote, Massachusetts joins 21 other states with guidelines for children under 3.

“We’re drafting them in a way that they work for early education programs,” the commissioner says.  “We’re also drafting them so families and other caregivers can use them as well.”

We note with interest that the approval of the infant and toddler guidelines coincides with the comment period for the state’s proposed pre-kindergarten standards drafted to align with the Common Core State Standards. Both are important pieces of an educational system that recognizes that learning begins at birth and links early learning with the K-12 system.

The new guidelines for infants include recommendations for cuddling, talking and cooing, eye contact and floor time. That’s good guidance for early educators and parents. Ditto for toddlers, for whom recommendations include giving children age-appropriate choices, encouraging child-directed play and labeling expressions.  The guidelines cover all aspects of young children’s development, including social and emotional as well as language and communication. The Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children wrote the guidelines under a grant from the Department of Early Education and Care.

Killins tells Early Ed Watch she expects the guidelines to be useful for programs that educate and train early educators.

“Folks are really excited that we’re paying attention to infants and toddlers. Often individuals feel like the conversation is tilted toward preschool when we know that delays can begin at 18 months,” Killins says. “We’ve gotten lots of positive feedback about the structure of the guidelines and the depth and breadth of the guidelines.”