At the time of this review, there are no available published research studies on Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum. Rigorous research is needed in order to establish evidence of its positive effects on children's learning outcomes.

Responsive Relationships and Interactions: The curriculum consistently promotes responsive relationships and interactions with infants and toddlers, which research shows are foundational to children's development in all domains. Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development describes the development of attachment, and the curriculum materials provide strategies to build secure, trusting relationships with children. Strategies include engaging in reciprocal interactions, making eye contact, smiling, and sharing in children's discoveries. The curriculum activity books promote sensitive, responsive caregiving (e.g., guidance on how to cope with crying, suggestions to maximize interactions during care routines). Many curriculum activities also offer examples of how to engage children in joint attention (e.g., "Look, a squirrel!" or "You are pointing at the wind chimes, Eric."). Finally, the curriculum encourages teachers to talk with children throughout the day and respond to their vocalizations.

Daily Routines as Opportunities for Learning: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum provides guidance on how to establish developmentally appropriate schedules and routines for infants and toddlers. The curriculum recommends using individualized scheduling and interacting with children during basic care routines. It also provides specific guidance on how to support children and families during transitions, arrivals, and departures. While the curriculum states that interactions during daily routines support children's social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive development, it lacks specific direction or examples of how to engage in these interactions during caregiving routines.

Play and Exploration: The curriculum promotes infants' and toddlers' play and active exploration, which research suggests provide a rich context for learning in all domains. It includes guidance on how to create safe indoor and outdoor environments that support active physical play and exploration. This may include providing climbing equipment, offering loose parts for children to arrange in a variety of ways, and making toys available on low shelves for children's independent choices. In addition, the curriculum suggests providing uninterrupted time for children to explore and play according to their own interests. Finally, the curriculum planning process encourages teachers to observe children's emerging play themes and interests to inform future plans. The webbing approach to curriculum planning allows teachers to plan learning experiences and adjust their plans based on children's individual responses and interests.

Language-Rich Environment and Interactions: The curriculum offers research-based teaching practices to promote language-rich environments and interactions. In particular, the Communication with Parents, Teachers, and Friends chapters provide guidance on how to engage in varied types of talk with infants and toddlers throughout the day (e.g., description, parallel talk, self-talk, expansion, reflective dialogue). In addition, the curriculum offers strategies to build infants' and toddlers' vocabulary, like providing word labels for things in the environment, using pictures to enhance vocabulary, playing word games with children, and adding vocabulary words to curriculum plans. Finally, the curriculum's "Literacy Possibilities" feature several opportunities to support children's engagement in early literacy learning, such as read-alouds, puppet stories, and emergent writing experiences.

Promoting Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Self-Regulation: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum promotes research-based teaching practices to support children's emotional, behavioral, and cognitive self-regulation. In particular, the Expressing Feelings with Parents, Teachers, and Friends chapters offer teaching practices to help infants and toddlers begin to regulate their emotions (e.g., labeling and validating emotions, modeling recognition and expression of emotions). These chapters also provide strategies to support children's behavioral regulation (e.g., setting clear limits, teaching social problem-solving, giving children words to use during peer interactions). Finally, the curriculum describes the development of executive function and provides some strategies to facilitate children's cognitive self-regulation (e.g., helping children understand logical consequences for their behaviors, supporting children as they learn to delay gratification).

Facilitating Cognitive Development: The curriculum promotes some research-based teaching practices that facilitate infants' and toddlers' cognitive development. The "Teacher Talk" prompts embedded throughout the curriculum's learning experiences provide examples of how to support cognitive development during play and exploration (e.g., narrating actions, describing objects, asking open-ended questions). Similarly, the learning experiences provide examples of how to embed math language and concepts throughout activities (e.g., counting with children, talking about size). However, the curriculum lacks explicit discussion and learning goals of children's emergent math skills or guidance on how to support those skills during daily routines. The curriculum offers instruction for how teachers can scaffold children's social problem-solving skills (e.g., calling for help, trading, walking away, taking turns, plan-making), but it lacks strategies or learning experiences that support the development of children's problem-solving skills more broadly.

Supporting Physical Development: The curriculum consistently recommends research-based teaching practices to support perceptual, motor, and physical development of infants and toddlers. The curriculum activity books include many varied opportunities for infants and toddlers to practice fine, gross, and perceptual motor skills. For example, the curriculum features several learning experiences for children to practice fine motor skills (e.g., shaking rattles, playing pat-a-cake, turning book pages, nesting cans and boxes) and gross motor skills (e.g., kicking legs with foot rattles, tossing a ball, walking on different textures). The curriculum's "Movement Possibilities" encourage teachers to allow infants and toddlers to practice physical skills and provide support to each child as needed.

Scope: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum identifies the following areas of development: physical, emotional, social, and intellectual, which includes language and cognition. While each of the curriculum's books briefly mention these developmental domains, the curriculum does not describe how the suggested teaching practices and learning experiences support children's development and learning in these areas.

Sequence: The two curriculum activity books provide multiple related learning opportunities for children to explore or learn concepts and skills in all ELOF domains. Each chapter includes several activities, or "Possibilities," which specify an age range (e.g., 0–6 months, 6–18 months, 18–24 months). Taken together, these learning experiences can be used to progressively build children's concepts and skills as they move through the developmental progressions in all domains. The sequences of learning experiences allow for flexibility, as teachers are encouraged to plan and implement learning experiences based on children's interests and development.

Alignment with the ELOF: A thorough review of all curriculum materials indicates that Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum is highly aligned with the ELOF domains and sub-domains. Innovations: Infant & Toddler Development describes child development theory and provides general strategies for how to support children's development and learning in the ELOF domains and sub-domains. The curriculum activity books offer learning experiences to support children's development and learning across the five ELOF domains. However, the curriculum only partially addresses the following ELOF sub-domains: Emotional Functioning (lacks guidance related to expressing care and concern toward others) and Reasoning and Problem-Solving.

Learning Goals: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum lacks measurable, developmentally appropriate learning goals. The curriculum is organized around six very broad developmental tasks or challenges that children experience as they learn and grow (e.g., "Separating from Parents," "Expressing Feelings with Parents, Teachers, and Friends"). The tasks are broken down into progressions of specific skills and behaviors, which make up the items in the curriculum's assessment instrument (e.g., "Unpredictable daily schedule," "Separation anxiety emerges"). While these developmental tasks and progressions are embedded throughout the infant and toddler curriculum activity books, the learning experiences provide no clear indication of which skills and behaviors they support or how they do so.

Ongoing Observation and Documentation: The curriculum provides specific guidance and tools for ongoing observation and documentation. It includes strategies for engaging in observation (e.g., keep tools handy, observe a single child for extended periods) as well as tools to support observation (e.g., the "Anecdotal Record" form). In addition, it integrates observation prompts into many of its learning experiences (e.g., "Observe children as they show interest in the barn and props. Watch for emerging play themes that can be supported with additional props."). The curriculum encourages teachers to use their observations to discuss children's development with families and plan experiences based on children's interests and development.

Standardized and Structured Assessment Instruments: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum provides structured "Observation/Assessment Instruments" that align with the curriculum's learning goals. However, it offers no evidence that establishes its validity or reliability. The curriculum encourages programs to rely on systematic observations, anecdotal notes, or normative checklists rather than use standardized child development assessment instruments.

Communicating with Families: The curriculum provides strategies and materials for communicating with families. For example, it suggests different methods to share information with families about children's development and learning (e.g., discussing information from assessment, completing a "Communication Sheet" about children's daily experiences). The curriculum also encourages teachers to learn from families in a variety of ways, such as organizing an interview to learn about families' parenting styles and expectations for the child's school experiences. The curriculum provides some guidance on how to communicate in culturally responsive ways (e.g., sharing decision-making, using multiple forms of communication), but lacks support on communicating with families in linguistically responsive ways.

Engaging Families: The curriculum emphasizes the parents' roles as children's first and most important teachers. As such, it provides specific guidance embedded throughout all curriculum materials on how to engage parents and families in children's development and learning. The curriculum activity books feature "Innovations in Parent Partnerships," which provide examples of how families can participate in the program (e.g., sharing materials with the classroom, attending a parent meeting). They also provide a series of "Parent Postcards," which provide useful information on child development and how families can support children's development and learning at home. The curriculum promotes sensitivity to cultural differences when planning events which include parents, but it lacks guidance on how to engage families who speak languages other than English. It also lacks direction on how to engage parents who may have disabilities or other special needs.

Professional Development: One of the curriculum's authors offers comprehensive standardized initial training and ongoing professional development for an additional fee. She provides both introductory and more specialized, advanced workshops for teachers, administrators, and professional development providers on how to implement Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum. The workshops cover a wide range of content, such as child development, observation and assessment, interactions, and the learning environment. Some of the professional development opportunities reference individualized supports to program administrators and teachers. The curriculum comes with a Trainer's Guide that provides instructions on how to facilitate an eight-hour "Comprehensive Introduction to Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum" session, as well as 29 modules that can be used with pre- or in-service teachers as either workshops or staff meetings. Finally, the curriculum includes two Teacher's Guides with over 40 hours of self-guided professional development.

Curriculum Materials to Support Implementation: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum includes a thorough set of materials to support implementation. Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development provides theoretical and practical information related to infant and toddler development and introduces teachers to the curriculum's approach. The two curriculum activity books provide age-appropriate activity "Possibilities" for infants and toddlers as well as guidance on assessment, parent partnerships, and the learning environment. The two Teacher's Guides provide 38 modules to support teachers in implementing key components of the curriculum.

• Fidelity Tool: The Teacher's Guides include a "Comprehensive Skills Checklist for Teachers," designed for self-, peer, or performance evaluation. This tool may be used to assess whether teachers implement key teaching practices promoted by the curriculum (e.g., quality teacher-child interactions, ongoing observation, partnerships with parents, learning materials, and curriculum planning).

Active Exploration: The curriculum provides ample opportunities for infants and toddlers to freely move and actively explore their environment. It includes suggestions related to the environment that encourage movement and active exploration (e.g., offering a variety of materials to foster exploration, providing equipment that allows children to move and climb). In addition, the curriculum describes the value of long periods of uninterrupted time for exploration of the environment. Finally, the various "Possibilities Plans" provide opportunities for children to manipulate objects, investigate concepts, and engage in open-ended exploration (e.g., exploring shakers, feeling a texture board, manipulating play dough, playing peek-a-boo).

Interactions That Extend Children's Learning: Many of the curriculum's resources provide guidance on and examples of how teachers can engage in interactions that extend children's learning. Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development offers general strategies for supporting children's exploration, communication, and thinking (e.g., expanding on children's ideas, describing what is going on in a child's world). Furthermore, the activity instructions and "Teacher Talk" comments throughout the "Possibilities Plans" include specific strategies, open-ended questions, and other prompts that teachers can use to spark children's thinking and encourage them to communicate (e.g., modeling different ways to use objects, narrating what children are doing, describing objects, discussing cause and effect, asking simple questions for children to respond to).

Individualization: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum provides a general approach for individualizing learning experiences for all children. The curriculum planning process encourages teachers to observe children's development, interests, and emerging play themes and plan learning experiences based on this information. It also promotes "webbing," whereby teachers plan learning experiences but are prepared to adjust based on children's responses. However, the curriculum does not specify how to ensure learning experiences are culturally and linguistically responsive or inclusive of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Environment: The curriculum offers specific guidance on how to design well-organized, engaging indoor and outdoor environments. The curriculum activity books include "Innovations in Environment," which offer guidelines for how to set up the physical space in ways that promote exploration (e.g., space to climb, open-ended materials) and support children's development in the ELOF domains (e.g., spaces for children to play side-by-side, places for toddlers to scribble, write, and read books). The Teacher's Guides offer a reflective tool for teachers to evaluate important classroom elements that make up the environment. The curriculum recommends using images of families and cultures represented in the group of children as well as those not represented. It also invites parents to record lullabies, songs, and other oral language traditions in children's home languages to add to the physical environment. The curriculum lacks guidance on how to ensure the physical environment is accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Learning Materials: The curriculum activity books include specific guidance on selecting learning materials that are developmentally appropriate and foster open-ended exploration (e.g., making toys that encourage action rather than passive watching, providing multisensory toys, offering toys that have a variety of uses). They also provide specific examples of appropriate learning materials for infants and toddlers (e.g., shaker bottles, boxes, sorting toys, dress up props, blocks, books). Finally, the curriculum provides direction for how to provide learning materials that authentically represent children's cultures (e.g., clothing, dolls) and home languages (e.g., books). The curriculum lacks guidance on how to provide or adapt learning materials for children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Schedule and Routines: Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant and Toddler Curriculum provides minimal guidance on establishing flexible schedules centered around children's caregiving routines. It offers the following directions: allow children to follow their own schedules, learn about their schedules, notice patterns in their schedules, and interact with children during routines. However, the curriculum does not describe how teachers should do these things, nor does it provide any specific examples of how to support children's development and learning in the context of caregiving routines.

Interactions: Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development discusses the importance of cultural context for child development and child-rearing. It provides general principles to promote family-centered and culturally inclusive classrooms (e.g., respecting families' ideas, acknowledging families' strengths, and sharing in decision-making about their child's education). It also includes examples of how teachers consider cultural differences in specific situations, such as responding to biting and supporting a child who is not talking.

Learning Experiences: The curriculum describes how culture affects the behaviors and perspectives of children, parents, and teachers. As such, culture sets the context for children's caregiving routines and learning experiences. However, the curriculum lacks guidance on how to ensure that caregiving routines and learning experiences build on families' traditions, cultures, beliefs, and values.

Learning Environment: The curriculum includes limited guidance on providing learning materials that portray society's diversity and authentically represent the cultures and ethnicities of children and families. The curriculum activity books briefly mention that pictures and photos should depict diverse family structures and cultures, representing those of children in the group as well as those that are not. They also suggest cultural remembrances, such as clothing or gifts, as ways to validate children's diverse families. Finally, they suggest providing dolls that represent a variety of ethnicities. However, the curriculum does not provide any further guidance or specific examples on how to provide learning materials that reflect children's cultures or society's diversity.

Linguistic Responsiveness: Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development provides some strategies on how to support the development and learning of infants and toddlers who are dual language learners (DLLs). For example, it recommends collaborating with parents to support the home language, using both English and children's home languages, and providing books or audio recordings of fingerplays and rhymes in children's home languages. However, the activity books do not provide specific instruction on how to support the development and learning of children who are DLLs. The curriculum does not address how to support the development and learning of children who are learning tribal languages.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum offers minimal guidance on how to embed intentional teaching practices in daily routines and learning experiences to support the development and learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development includes one example of how teachers may understand and support a child who is not talking. Through this example, the curriculum offers some specific strategies to support a child who is not talking, such as adult and peer support and collaboration with families or other specialists. However, the curriculum lacks comprehensive guidance or additional examples on how to support the development and learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Learning Environment: The curriculum lacks guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Individualization Based on Interests: The curriculum provides general guidance on how to plan learning experiences around children's interests. Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant Curriculum discusses how curriculum webs encourage open-ended planning that allow teachers to adjust their plans according to infants' responses and interests. Innovations: The Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum guides teachers to begin the curriculum-planning process with observations of children's emerging play themes, interests, and preferences in order to individualize experiences to match children's interests. However, these curriculum activity books do not provide prompts or contain suggestions on how to select or tailor activities based on children's interests.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: The curriculum includes general guidance on how to plan learning experiences that are responsive to individual children's strengths and needs. Innovations: The Comprehensive Infant Curriculum discusses how teachers can use observation and assessment to match learning experiences to children's developmental levels. Innovations: The Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum guides teachers to begin the curriculum planning process with observations of children's emerging development. Curriculum activities provide suggested age ranges, but they lack specific scaffolding strategies to support children at different developmental levels or guidance on how to tailor learning experiences based on individual children's strengths and needs.