Lacey Clifton designed and implemented a new program for infant learners at an international school located in Japan in 2007. Students would preview the prestigious school with their parents when only one month of age and the school realized the need for even younger learning, dropping the minimum age requirement to four months of age.
Masataka (shown below) was the first infant to join the program.
To keep with the curriculum of the school, the infant learning program was designed with each month covering a new topic in Art, Music, Science, Math, Reading/Writing, History, and/or Geography. The first classes were 20-25 minutes in length depending on the mood of the infant learner that day. Additionally, there were brain building exercises, such as the “lazy 8” shown in the video with Masataka, above. A sample lesson is shown below.
As the infants were able to tolerate more, the lesson plans began to keep better pace with the objectives of the school by expanding the lessons to one hour each. Below is a video of Himaru, who also started lessons at four months of age. She really enjoyed her lessons.
Below are a few samples of the instructional design lessons plans for the longer infant courses.
