ABOUT THE SITE
The site you are viewing is the result of a true labour of love. Created to support teachers and students who are exploring the rewards and challenges of observing young children, this site is the culmination of many hours of work and the gracious participation of children, families, educators, administrators and staff people at four child-care settings in the city of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada.
Featuring a collection of 200 short video clips, this site will provide users with a perfect window into the world of infants and toddlers and their daily experiences in child care. As well, users will see the wide range of tasks and roles that early childhood professionals take on each day. Finally, many of the clips highlight the importance of the partnerships that form between parents and the educators who care for their young children.
In addition to the extensive bank of short video clips, the site also features longer sequences designed to provide users with a more sustained experience. These longer sequences give viewers an excellent idea of just what goes on in Quebec child-care centres on a typical day.
Last, but certainly not least, there is the Exercises section of the website. This section features a set of short quizzes that teachers and students can use to explore various aspects of the task of observing young children. Skill in observing and recording the behaviour and development of young children is a crucial area of competence for educators, and the Exercises section will be a welcome source of information and support to anyone teaching and/or learning these skills.
Although the name of the site is Infants & Toddlers, the number of videos that show infants (children one year old or younger) is quite small. The majority of the clips show toddlers, children between the ages of one and three years old. We apologize for this limitation of our video repertoire. However, we would like to recommend that users who are looking specifically for infant material consult our sister site: Les poupons aux service de garde. This excellent French-language resource features 226 videos of infants and their caregivers.