Review

Environment: The curriculum includes some general guidance on supporting the home as a learning environment. The focus of much of the guidance relates to safety in the home; for example, "Equipment Safety Tips" provides tips for organizing a home and making sure items are safe for infants. It also includes some general guidance on organizing the home learning environment to support exploration and play (e.g., "Arrange your Home for Success"). It does not include guidance on making a home learning environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need. 

Learning Materials: The curriculum provides some specific guidance, particularly in parent handouts, on using developmentally appropriate learning materials found in the home. A few handouts (e.g., "Smart Toys from Your Kitchen," "Homemade Toys to Help Me Learn") include suggested materials families can gather from the kitchen or from other areas of the home (e.g., cooking spoons, pots, boxes) for children to use in play. The curriculum includes some guidance on how to use the materials to foster open-ended exploration and inquiry (e.g., building, creating, problem-solving). However, it does not provide guidance on how to incorporate materials that are accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Routines: Partners for a Healthy Baby consistently guides families in establishing and supporting developmentally appropriate routines that are responsive to a child's needs. The curriculum includes specific guidance on routines that is embedded throughout the "Detailed Information Pages" for home visitors and the parent handouts, particularly in the "Caring for Baby" section. It also includes materials to support routines that are responsive to a child's needs at mealtimes, bedtime, during transitions, and at other points in the day.

Environment: The curriculum provides guidance for how to use the home environment to support exploration and development. For example, the Developmental Perspectives for 8 Months instructs parents to make their home environment safe for exploration through child-proofing (e.g., baby gates, cabinet locks, removing choking hazards). 16-Month Activities encourages the parent to find safe places for the child to climb, either outdoors or at home, by creating a safe obstacle course. A limitation is that no specific guidance is provided about making the home learning environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Learning Materials: The curriculum provides guidance for using learning materials in the home environment to promote open-ended exploration. The Homemade Toys series provides guidance on how to make homemade toys and use everyday household items. There are many examples of using homemade toys and materials found in the home to support learning experiences. For example, how to make a "Touch and Feel Book," using materials from home, and how to use everyday kitchen items such as measuring cups, spoons, and funnels to support learning experiences. However, there is no specific guidance for how to incorporate learning materials that are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. 

Routines: Baby TALK provides specific guidance, embedded throughout the curriculum, on how to support parents and families in establishing developmentally appropriate routines that foster learning. For example, resources such as "Goodnight Toddler," "Toilet Training," and "Daily Schedules" provide guidance and strategies for helping parents establish predictable routines for children. Additionally, Cycles & Routines contains documents on "Dressing, Diapering, Feeding," "Value of Daily Schedule," "Bedtime Routine," and "Bath Time Fun," all of which explain the learning opportunities within these routines.

Environment: Various resources in the curriculum offer specific guidance for parents on how to intentionally set up a home environment that encourages children's exploration and development. For example, the "Designing and Guiding" resource includes a section called, "Create a safe and enriching space for explorations." It discusses how the physical home environment and materials can support parent-child interactions to foster exploration. Other resources, such as "Book Nook" and "Play and Your Child," guide parents to create a reading nook in the home and to arrange their space to support children's development. The curriculum also offers some general guidance on how to make the home environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Learning Materials: The curriculum includes specific guidance across various resources on using learning materials from the home that are developmentally appropriate and foster open-ended exploration and inquiry. For example, "Experimenting with Everyday Objects" describes how a variety of objects found in the home can support investigation and inquiry. The parent-child activities in the "Activity Pages" also include supplies found in the home (e.g., milk jugs, paper towel tubes, paper bags). The curriculum provides some guidance on how to incorporate learning materials that are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Routines: The curriculum provides specific guidance on creating routines that are responsive to children's development and learning. Guidance on routines is embedded throughout resources and activities (e.g., "Making Mealtimes Work for Everyone," "What Are We Doing Today?"). The "Designing and Guiding" resource discusses the importance of routines for supporting child development (e.g., helping children know what to expect, understand their role within a family routine, and feel a sense of security and stability). It also addresses why parents should try to maintain routines during potentially disruptive periods.

Environment: In several resources for home visitors and families (e.g., "Space and Structure for Your Little Explorer," "Designing and Guiding as Your Child Grows," "Safe and Healthy Home Environments"), Parents as Teachers provides specific guidance for how to set up a home environment that supports exploration and development. However, the curriculum offers limited guidance on how to make the home environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Learning Materials: Parents as Teachers includes many resources with specific guidance on using developmentally appropriate learning materials found in the home to foster open-ended exploration and inquiry. For example, "Making the Most of Toys" describes how open-ended materials that are often found in the home offer opportunities for different kinds of exploration that support children's learning. The curriculum provides limited guidance on how to incorporate learning materials that are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Routines: Parents as Teachers provides a variety of resources throughout the curriculum with specific guidance on how to support early routines that are responsive to children and foster learning (e.g., "Your Baby's Sleep Routines," "Reasons to Read to Your Baby"). The section "Recognizing, Creating, and Adapting Routines" describes the importance of and strategies for creating individualized routines for children (e.g., considering a baby's temperament before implementing a routine) and offers tips for collaborating with parents around routines.

Environment: Growing Great Kids™ for Preschoolers offers minimal guidance on the use of the home as a learning environment to support children's development. Growing Great Families and the curriculum manual mention the importance of safety in the home and space for children to move around. However, limited guidance is provided on creating a home learning environment that supports children's exploration and play. Additionally, no specific guidance is given on how to make a home learning environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Learning Materials: Growing Great Kids™ for Preschoolers provides limited guidance on using learning materials that can be found in the home to foster children's exploration and inquiry. While the curriculum describes some "common household items" that can be used in the activities, many of the materials required for the Learning Pods are brought into the home by the home visitor. The Learning Pods suggest that home visitors bring a "Home Visitor Learning Pod Supply Kit" that contains "arts and crafts parents may not have in their homes." Additionally, no specific guidance is offered on how to incorporate learning materials that are accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need to ensure participation in play and other activities.

Routines: The curriculum provides specific guidance on how to establish and support developmentally appropriate routines. Growing Great Families emphasizes how routines (e.g., bath time, mealtime, bedtime) provide natural contexts for children's learning and development (e.g., self-regulation, independence, fine motor skills). In addition, a few activities in the Learning Pods provide guidance on supporting routines (e.g., "Evening Routines," "Eating Healthy Foods," "About Health and Nutrition").

Environment: The curriculum emphasizes use of the home as a learning environment to support children's development. Throughout the curriculum, the activities provide specific guidance for using space in the home to support exploration and development (e.g., "messy play at home for learning through touch," arranging furniture to support exploration, activities on assessing safety in the home). A limitation is that no specific guidance is provided about making a home learning environment accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Learning Materials: The curriculum provides specific guidance embedded throughout curriculum materials on using learning materials from the home. The learning activities in each of the manuals emphasize finding and using materials that can be found in the home to support open-ended exploration (e.g., plastic bowls, metal spoons). For example, one activity proposes that families and home visitors find "three objects that have different textures, colors, and shapes" for the child to touch or mouth. However, no specific guidance is offered on how to incorporate learning materials in play that are accessible for a child with a disability, suspected delay, or other special need.

Routines: Growing Great Kids™: Prenatal–36 Months provides specific guidance on how to establish and support developmentally appropriate routines that are responsive to a child's needs. Guidance on routines is embedded throughout the activities, "Daily Do's" (handouts parents can use every day), and Growing Great Families materials, emphasizing how routines (e.g., bath time, mealtime, bedtime) provide natural contexts for children's learning and development (e.g., self-regulation, independence, fine motor skills).