Our Creative Caring Infant-Toddler Program is modeled on the High Scope Educational Research Foundation Active Learning Curriculum.

Creative Caring Child Development Center has been providing high quality infant and toddler care to families in Dexter, Pinckney, Gregory, Hamburg, Chelsea, Ann Arbor and western Washtenaw County Michicgan for over 12 years.

Our Infant & Toddler Program promotes continuity of care, which centers each child's day on a primary care giver. Our caregivers create a climate of trust for children by touching, holding, speaking to, and playing with children in a warm, unhurried manner.

What Happens Each Day at our Infant & Toddler Program
Creative Caring Infant-Toddler caregivers create an overall daily schedule that is predictable yet flexible. This accommodates children's natural rhythms and temperaments within a day, organized around regular daily events and caregiver routines.

Arrival and departures. (various times throughout the day)
Creative Caring caregivers work with parents to ensure that arrivals and departures are pleasant and reassuring for parents. We do this by providing warm, leisurely greetings to children to help assure infants and toddlers that, even though their parents must leave, they are in the hands of trustworthy adults who will keep them safe until their parents return. At departure time, our caregiver's pleasant, friendly goodbyes and warm wishes for return allow children to reunite with their parents but be free of concerns about their sense of belonging at Creative Caring.

Choice times. (generally in the morning)
During this part of the daily routine, our caregivers are attentive and offer emotional and physical support to children as the children play and explore our world at their own pace. Creative Caring staff tailors their responses to children's ideas, engage in give-and-take communication with their children, imitate children's actions, support children's play with the children, and assist children in problem solving.

Group times. (generally mid-morning, sometimes in the afternoon)
In small groups of older infants and toddlers, our caregivers provide a particular set of materials for children to explore in a common activity. These materials might involve books, songs, rubber or plastic animal and people figures, soft blocks or art materials. During group times, children remain in close contact with our caregivers while enjoying a shared experience with other children. Although our caregivers introduce the activities, children remain free to make choices about materials and how to use them.

Outside time. (usually before lunch)
This part of the day allows children to explore the outdoor world. As with choice time, our caregivers support children's explorations and interests by providing open-ended materials and a variety of experiences. We have customized outdoor play spaces for our infants and toddlers and our pre-schoolers. This allows infants and toddlers to explore their physical environment in safety, while also being able to engage in a wide variety of physical movements and simple games.

Bodily care routines. (generally every two hours or as needed)
Creative Caring staff use the time devoted to bodily care routines to create opportunities for children to play a safe, active role during bodily care times. Our caregivers fit these times around children's exploration and play. We also base the frequency of naps around each child's individual needs, with quiet alternatives provided for children who do not need naps. As with all of our Creative Caring infant-toddler activities, our staff takes cues from children about feedings and diaper changes, rather than asserting control to make the schedule more convenient for themselves.