12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers

October 18, 2016

12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers
By: Julia Luckenbill
When you talk to your child, you support her language development.  Think about what you are saying from your infant or toddler’s point of view.  If she could talk, she might ask you…
1.  When I point to something, tell me what it is. While you are telling me, look at it and point to it too.
2.  Use a gesture along with the word you say, so that I can say it too.  If you tell me it is time to eat, tap you lips.  I can imitate the gesture and tell you when I’m hungry.
3.  Talk to me about what you are doing. Tell me what will happen next, so I will know what to expect.
4. Talk to me about what I am doing. Using words to describe my actions and feelings helps me learn those words too.
5. Take turns chatting back and forth with me.  Listen to what I am saying –then imitate my coos or babbles.  If I’m older, you can reply to my questions and ask your own.  I like open-ended questions that don’t have right or wrong answers.
6. Model bigger and better sentences.  If I say, “Two cat,” you can say, “You have two cats on your shirt!”  I learn a lot from you.
7.  Sing with me.  It’s easier to learn words in songs.  I can learn about rhymes, the ABC song, the colors of my clothing, and the names of my friends.
8. Take me to the library.  Read me a book, let me decide how you do it and when we are done. Let me mouth board books, handle them and decide which to explore. Check out the thrift store and buy me a few board books (wipe them with a damp cloth). At home, attach felt tabs to them, and I will be able to turn the pages more easily, all by myself.
9. Make books about me.  When I see myself in a book, I will learn that books can be about things in my life.
10. Show me the words on things.  When you point out words in books and on containers, I begin to understand how printed and spoken words are connected.
11. Be playful while I learn:  I like to ask you what shape the cookie cutter alphabet has made.  You can say, “You made the letter L,” or ask, “I wonder what letter you made?” It’s less fun to be asked, “What’s this?” 
12.  Give me time to learn and explore.  There’s no rush to learn the names of colors, letters, and things.  I will learn them in my own time.
 
 Article Credit www.naeyc.org

The First Thousand Days are the Most Important

September 23, 2016

The first thousand days of a baby’s life are likely to determine the rest of her life — whether she grows up to be healthy or not, both physically and emotionally. Early childhood education begins early, even before birth. That’s what the latest scientific studies of brain development tell us. The brain develops at an incredible speed — 700 new neural connections are formed every minute in the time between birth and six months. A toddler’s brain is far more active than an adult’s brain.

That’s both good news and bad news. The good news is that we can make a difference in how we raise young children and that difference lasts a lifetime. The bad news is that if babies are abused or neglected in those first thousand days, the brain can never completely compensate for early deprivation. In fact, even genes may be affected.

In our daily lives, we tend to separate intellectual and emotional growth. Two different things, right?
Wrong.

Both vocabulary and emotional intelligence are part of brain development, which occurs at a surprisingly early stage. What do we mean by emotional intelligence? Self control, empathy, hopefulness and even resiliency. It is precisely these emotions that drive learning for a lifetime, an expert explained at a gathering of early childhood educators.

We know the horror stories of child abuse, the physical harm inflicted on infants. Less well-known are the stories of emotional neglect, where parents do not communicate with or play with their babies. The prescription for healthy development is simple and easy to learn. Most babies know how to win us over. We cannot help but smile at them and watch them smile back. But some mothers are either too depressed or harassed or simply don’t know how to respond to a baby.

Communication between an adult and a baby is critical. Does mom or dad talk to their baby, do they coo and smile, and do they know how to get down on the floor and play? Babies are smart. They can tell the difference between a responsive face and a blank face, wiped clean of emotion. Their feelings of security or fear develop way before they can use words. The number of words a child has when she enters kindergarten varies greatly, depending on early stimulation.

The good news is that early intervention works. Good prenatal care for every pregnant woman, home visits for every newborn, quality childcare and ongoing education for all families in those first thousand days can break the cycle of poverty and enable every child to live a life filled with promise.

Follow Madeleine M. Kunin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MadeleineKunin
Article Credit Huffington Post

Why We Should Care about Child Care as an Election Issue

August 16, 2016

If you’re a parent with young kids, what may be on your mind on Election Day isn’t “who is better on economic policy?” but “how am I going to juggle child care so that I can find the time to vote?” But you need to hold that thought even after you’ve resolved the day’s child care challenges and headed into the voting booth. Because in reality the two questions are really the same. Child care fuels both our country’s economic engine and its future engineers—and its teachers, builders, thinkers– but parents and providers are the ones who shoulder the backbreaking burden of financing it. In a new blog post, ZERO TO THREE’s Patty Cole explores why candidates for offices at all levels of government need to recognize that child care counts, and that it can’t be financed solely by parents and the sacrifices of providers. Read more.

Want to make your voice heard during the presidential campaign season? Don’t forget to visit www.rally4babies.org and send questions directly to the candidates about issues that are top of mind for young families.

Article Credit:  www.zerotothree.org