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https://vimeo.com/675458649

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Are babies secret lip readers? Study uncovers surprising early language skills

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A new study reveals babies begin learning language earlier than previously believed. Researchers found four-month-olds connect sounds to mouth movements, demonstrating early pattern recognition crucial for language development.

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RIE Environment: Graziela Kunsch Blic Daycare

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RIE Environment: Graziela Kunsch Blic Daycare

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You might already have a good handle on your toddler's sensory processing capacities as they relate to the commonly-known five senses of touch, taste, sound, seeing, and smell. You've adjusted their environment, talked to their teachers, and found them professional supports. Well done! But did you know that there are actually seven senses (not five!)? And one of them even sensory-saavy parents generally aren't familiar with. It's called interoception or proprioception. If you're still trying to identify if your toddler might be showing signs of sensory processing issues, start here.

What Is Interoception And What Does It Have To Do With Sensory Processing?

Interoception is the sense that allows us to know what is happening inside our bodies. It's the sense that tell us:

1. Where we're feeling pain

2. When we're hungry

3. When we need to urinate or have a bowel movement

4. When we're hot or cold

5. When we're tired and need to rest

6. When we need to move our bodies in lieu of hitting, kicking, or destroying objects

7. When we need quiet or lower-stimulation environments instead of fleeing, hiding, or melting-down

While young children are developing interoception or proprioception, it can be hard to know whether or not your toddler is experiencing interoception difficulties. Over time, as peers are more independent and self-regulating around their bodily needs, you might get more clarity around your toddler's interoceptive capacities. In the meantime, awareness and observation of these areas are important for early intervention.

Helping Your Toddler With Sensory Processing Disorder Develop Interoception

While you're observing your toddler's capacity to tell you that they need to have a bowel movement or urinate, eat, or move their bodies or having quiet time, there are things you can do to help them develop their interoception.

Use modified sportscasting

You've likely heard of "sportcasting" as a strategy to help your kiddo develop emotional intelligence. For example, your little one falls down and starts crying. You say, " You fell down and hurt your body. Now you're crying because that scared you ." This helps your child connect the event to the emotion that triggered the crying. It allows them to make connections in the brain between those three events: 1) the fall, 2) the surprise/fear of falling, and 3) the emotional response to being surprised and then physically hurt.

Similarly, you can use modified sportscasting to help your child develop interoception. In other words, you're going to call their attention to the physical sensation. In that same situation we went over above you could say something like, " You fell on your elbow/knee. You felt a big bump on your elbow/knee [point to the elbow/knee]. Your elbow/knee feels pain so you're crying ."

This can take some practice both for neurotypical and neurodivergent parents. Give yourself time and before you start with your kid, start with yourself. For example, "I'm blinking a lot. My eyes are feeling dry. It's time to take a break from the computer screen." Or, "I'm raising my voice in this conversation. I need to take a few deep breaths." Practicing modified sportscasting first on yourself can be humbling, helpful for your own ability to take care of your needs, and also develop compassion for what your toddler is trying to learn. It's really not easy, especially in a culture which teaches us from a very young age to ignore, push through, and deny our interoceptive sense and the needs they're pointing to.

Help Your Child Connect Behaviors To Self-Regulatory Tools

Using your modified sportscasting, you can help your child identify certain patterns of behavior that occur when they have an interoceptive need. A classic example is the body's signal to urinate. Many young children, even those with sensory processing issues, will touch or grab their genitals when they need to urinate. If this is indeed something your child does consistently (this takes observation!), you could say, "I see you're grabbing your penis/vulva/genitals, time for a pee break!" With repetition and a calm demeanor by the caregiver, kids with sensory processing challenges around interoception can learn to connect this physical cue with the need to urinate.

Another example for a child who needs to discharge energy might be, "I see you're [kicking the chair legs]. Looks like you have lots of energy. Do you want to [jump/go in your sensory swing/have a dance party with me]?"

The key to the success of this strategy is:

1. Think about the 1-2 interoceptive needs that your child is best able to identify themselves or has the most obvious and consistent "cue" and start there. This strategy is most useful when your child can feel a sense of autonomy and success!

2. Identifying consistent physical behaviors, words, or other patterns that proceed your child's interoceptive need.

3. If your child isn't perceiving the physical behavior, words, or other pattern you've chosen, choose another one! You've got to be willing to experiment. Try to be patient and take it all as data.

4. Making sure the self-regulatory option is readily available to them in most situations (daycare, home, school, grandparent's house, your home).

Make sure your child has easily accessible self-regulatory outlets

You're supporting the development of your little one's ability to identify their interoceptive sense with modified sportcasting. Now what? Let's make sure the suggestion you make for fulfilling that need for rest, quiet, discharging energy, or eating is readily available to them! These self-regulatory strategies will really vary based on your specific home environment, the other places your child spends time, and their developmental stage.

In an urban environment, offering the self-regulatory strategy of going to play outside isn't something your child can do themselves. So you might consider having a mini-trampoline, sensory swing, or "jumping jacks" at the ready. For those of you who are focusing on developing your child's interoception of hunger, you might place a high protein/fat/fiber snack in a container on the counter or in a special tupperware in the fridge. For kids who aren't ready for that level of responsibility, the self-regulatory strategy you'd offer them is, "Do you want me to get you a snack?" Eventually, they may learn to ask themselves.

Using Chinese Medicine For Sensory Processing Disorder In Toddlers

There are many different root causes for sensory processing disorders in toddlers according to Chinese Medicine. Each of these root causes is treated differently, giving your toddler or young child the opportunity to be better regulated, calmer, get better sleep, develop stronger social relationships and even muscle tone. Chinese medicine can even help toddlers with sensory sensitivities to eat a wider variety of foods.

Many parents with sensory processing disorders think that their kids wouldn't be a good fit for the tools used by Chinese medicine practitioners. And I understand why! But with a practitioner experienced in supporting parents and kids with neurodiversity, and someone who uses tools that are sensory-inclusive, it is possible (without a fight!).

Here at Spectrum Chinese Medicine, we utilize tools that are sensory-inclusive including herbs that you kiddo will actually take, patches that can adhere to skin or clothing to stimulate acupuncture points and more. If your child struggles with anxiety, depression, overwhelm, collapse, or digestive, sleep, or skin problems alongside their sensory processing challenges, know that they're all connected! To support your little one holistically, book a free 25 minute consult here .

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Supporting Toddlers With Sensory Processing Disorder: What About Interoception? | Spectrum Chinese Medicine

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You might already have a good handle on your toddler's sensory processing capacities as they relate to the commonly-known five senses of touch, taste, sound, seeing, and smell.

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According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a quarter of children under the age of 5 don't get adequate sleep. This is worrying because poor sleep in early childhood has been linked to and problems with the immune system, as well as . There is also emerging evidence that poor sleep in childhood may carry future cardiovascular risks in the form of obesity, , and high blood pressure.

Sleep needs change as your child grows older, but whether you're dealing with a 2-year-old toddler or a stubborn teenager, research shows that a consistent is helpful for making sure your child gets enough sleep. Whatever activities you choose, try to do the same ones every day in the same order so your child knows what to expect.

A typical bedtime routine might include:

Turning off computers, TV screens, video games, and other bright lights

Putting on pajamas and brushing teeth

Reading a light book, singing a lullaby, or taking a bath

Picking a stuffed animal or security blanket for the night for toddlers

The best time to put your child to bed is when they're sleepy, not when they're already asleep. This helps them learn how to fall asleep on their own. If preschool children wake up in the middle of the night, walk them back to their bed. It's best not to let infants sleep in your bed, as co-sleeping increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Sleep Hygiene Tips for Kids

Daytime habits also affect sleep. You can promote restful slumber in your children by following basic sleep hygiene rules:

Arranging a balanced schedule with interspersed periods of rest and play

Keeping a regular bedtime

Making the bedroom, and especially the even during the day National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. mattress, a no-screen zone, View Source

Providing a healthy diet

Setting the thermostat to a slightly cooler temperature

Using dark curtains to block out light, or a nightlight if they're scared of the dark

Keeping the bedroom quiet, or using a white noise machine to mask outside sounds

Avoiding caffeine, large meals, and sugary treats before bedtime, opting for a healthy bedtime snack if necessary

It's important to give your child regular exercise, but don't fall into the trap of exhausting your child to have them sleep better at night. More often than not, this will make them overtired and actually make it harder to fall asleep. Learn to recognize the special level of hyper that means your toddler is too tired, so you can put them to bed before things turn sour.

Sometimes, a bedtime routine is easier said than done. For two-parent households or siblings who share a room, bedtime may require extra logistics.

that's ok National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Sleep tips for babies: Because they have yet to develop a circadian rhythm, very young babies rarely sleep through the night, and View Source . If they don't fall back asleep naturally, try soothing them by talking or with touch, without picking them up. If they continue to cry, they may be hungry or need their diaper changed. Quickly and quietly fix the problem, using only a nightlight if possible, and calmly leave the room.

Sleep tips for toddlers: Young toddlers have a sleep schedule supplemented by during the day. Toddler sleep problems are compounded by separation anxiety and a fear of missing out, which translates to stalling techniques and stubbornness at bedtime. You can cut down on these complaints by giving them control over minor choices like which pajamas to wear or which book to read. Try to be patient, firm, yet loving because power struggles are likely to elicit a stronger response from them.

Sleep tips for school kids: Between academic, social, and extracurricular obligations, school-age children often have busy schedules that can make it difficult to get a good night's sleep. Wherever possible, try to follow a consistent schedule and a wind-down period before bed. To strengthen the association between the bedroom and sleep, have them do homework or other activities in another room where possible.

imitate their parents National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Sleep tips for teenagers: Teenagers are programmed to have a later circadian rhythm which can create a problem with school start times. You can help your teenager by acknowledging the increased demands on their time and working together to find a healthy sleep schedule that works with their lifestyle. Teenagers appear to View Source to a certain extent when it comes to sleeping, so one of the best things you can do to help them develop a healthy sleep pattern is tokeep one yourself.

The morning is important, too. Though it's tempting to let your kids sleep in on the weekends, this can disrupt their sleep schedule and make it harder to wake up during the week. Try not to overschedule extracurricular activities if you notice these having a detrimental effect on their sleep time.

If you're practicing healthy sleep hygiene and your child is still feeling sleepy or having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night, it might be time to visit a doctor to see if they have a sleep condition. You can also ask their teacher to keep you updated on their attention levels. Difficulty concentrating, hyperactive behavior, or learning problems may indicate they are not getting proper sleep.

In addition to these common problems, as many as of children suffer from sleep disorders at some point. Sleep disorders are intricately intertwined with mental and physical health issues, with one exacerbating the other in a cycle that can be hard to break. Additionally, some sleep disorders are not evident to the sleeper, or they may mirror other conditions such as epilepsy, making them .

Some of the most common sleep disorders in children are night terrors and nightmares, sleep apnea, sleep talking and sleepwalking, snoring, and restless leg syndrome.

Night Terrors and Nightmares

Nightmares can be frightening for toddlers, who have a harder time distinguishing what's real and what's not. Children often wake up from nightmares, which usually occur during REM sleep. If this happens, offer them reassurance and gently put them back to sleep.

Night terrors, otherwise known as sleep terrors, are a parasomnia that occurs early in the night during non-REM sleep in about . Your child may scream and bolt upright during a night terror, but they won't usually wake up or remember the incident in the morning. The best thing you can do is make sure your child is safe, trying to keep them in bed if possible. There's no need to wake them up or worry if your child experiences the occasional night terror, but if they become very frequent or if they're causing daytime sleepiness, they're worth mentioning to your pediatrician.

Sleep Talking and Sleepwalking

Sleep talking is a relatively common parasomnia involving vocalizations during sleep. Sleep talking appears to occur more frequently during light sleep, so proper sleep hygiene may help reduce episodes. While harmless on its own, sleep talking may disturb other people in the bedroom. It is sometimes connected to other sleep disorders such as nightmares or sleepwalking.

Research suggests that 1 in 3 children will sleepwalk before the age of 13, with most episodes occurring in the pre-teen years. As with sleep talkers, sleepwalkers are not aware of their surroundings and usually have no recollection of their activity afterward. In addition to daytime sleepiness, sleepwalking can have serious consequences depending on the person's actions. If your child sleepwalks, it's a good idea to safety-proof their bedroom and install an alarm. Waking someone up about half an hour before their regular sleepwalking episode occurs has proven useful.

Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Just as with adults, it's normal for children to snore occasionally. Snoring in children may be caused by swollen tonsils or adenoids, allergies, obesity, secondhand smoke, or other factors. However, if you notice your child snoring excessively, or displaying pauses in breathing followed by gasps, they may have sleep apnea.

Children with sleep apnea suffer from disrupted breathing which prompts them to wake up multiple times during the night, often without them realizing. The first clue that something is wrong may be when you notice your child displaying the hallmark signs of sleep deprivation, such as daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, and hyperactivity. Frequent snoring and sleep apnea can both have ill effects on your child's health and cause disruptions to other members of the family. Talk to your pediatrician about ways to reduce symptoms.

Restless Legs Syndrome

If you think your child may be suffering from one of these sleep disorders, keep track of the symptoms in a sleep diary, and talk to your pediatrician. Establishing good sleep hygiene habits and eliminating other barriers to proper sleep is the first line of defense in treating many of these conditions.

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References

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https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1389945715008631

2. Knight, F., & Dimitriou, D. (2019). Poor Sleep Has Negative Implications for Children With and Without ADHD, but in Different Ways. Behavioral sleep medicine, 17(4), 423-436.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15402002.2017.1395335

3. Jernelöv, S., Lekander, M., Almqvist, C., Axelsson, J., & Larsson, H. (2013). Development of atopic disease and disturbed sleep in childhood and adolescence-a longitudinal population-based study. Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 43(5), 552-559.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cea.12087

4. Hochadel, J., Frölich, J., Wiater, A., Lehmkuhl, G., & Fricke-Oerkermann, L. (2014). Prevalence of sleep problems and relationship between sleep problems and school refusal behavior in school-aged children in children's and parents' ratings. Psychopathology, 47(2), 119-126.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/345403

5. Dutil, C., & Chaput, J.-P. (2017). Inadequate sleep as a contributor to type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. Nutrition & Diabetes, 7(5), e266.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28481337/

6. Raniti, M. B., Allen, N. B., Schwartz, O., Waloszek, J. M., Byrne, M. L., Woods, M. J., Bei, B., Nicholas, C. L., & Trinder, J. (2017). Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality: Associations With Depressive Symptoms Across Adolescence. Behavioral sleep medicine, 15(3), 198-215.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26744783/

7. Mindell, J. A., & Williamson, A. A. (2018). Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 40, 93-108.
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8. Helm, A. F., & Spencer, R. (2019). Television use and its effects on sleep in early childhood. Sleep health, 5(3), 241-247.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30987948/

9. Pennestri, M. H., Laganière, C., Bouvette-Turcot, A. A., Pokhvisneva, I., Steiner, M., Meaney, M. J., & Gaudreau, H. (2018). Uninterrupted infant sleep, development, and maternal mood. Pediatrics, 142(6), e20174330.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30420470/

10. Paruthi, S., Brooks, L. J., D'Ambrosio, C., Hall, W. A., Kotagal, S., Lloyd, R. M., Malow, B. A., Maski, K., Nichols, C., Quan, S. F., Rosen, C. L., Troester, M. M., & Wise, M. S. (2016). Consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine on the recommended amount of sleep for healthy children: Methodology and discussion. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(11), 1549-1561.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27707447/

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28425627/

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15. Petit, D., Pennestri, M. H., Paquet, J., Desautels, A., Zadra, A., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., & Montplaisir, J. (2015). Childhood Sleepwalking and Sleep Terrors: A Longitudinal Study of Prevalence and Familial Aggregation. JAMA pediatrics, 169(7), 653-658.
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16. RLS & Kids. (n.d.). Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation.
https://www.rls.org/understanding-rls/rls-kids

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Sleep is an essential building block for your child's mental and physical health. But if you're finding it impossible to help your toddler sleep, you're not alone.

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Reactive Attachment Disorder is common with children that may have not developed a positive relationship with their caregiver. Children that have Reactive Attachment Disorder often times struggle with it leading into their teen years. Liahona Academy put together a great infographic on Reactive Attachment Disorder. If you have a troubled teen boy, look into their program and see if it is what your boy needs.

Reactive Attachment Disorder Infographic Created by Liahona Academy

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Reactive Attachment Disorder Infographic - Help Your Teen Now

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Reactive Attachment Disorder is common with children that may have not developed a positive relationship with their caregiver. Children that have Reactive Attachment Disorder often times struggle with it leading into their teen years. Liahona Academy put together a great infographic on Reactive Attachment Disorder.

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Woman: Places, everyone. Are the lights ready? Three, two, one.

Mike Browne: Ooh-whee! Estoy aqui, estoy listo. I am here. I am ready and let's rock and roll!

Becky Sughrim: I'm ready, too!

All: [Singing] "Teacher Time." "Teacher Time." "Teacher Time." "Teacher Time." "Teacher Time." "Teacher Time."

Mike: Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Teacher - we made it.

Becky: We made it.

Mike: We made it to the next one. We weathered the storm, rain, turbulence on flights to be here for our final infantile episode of Teacher Time. Not the final one of the series, because there's also a preschool one coming up next month. But we are here. My name is Mike Brown. My pronouns are he/him. And I'm joined by the fabulous -

Becky: Becky Sughrim, and my pronouns are she/her.

Mike: And we are from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning. We are so excited to be here once again with you today. Today we've been focusing on positive behavior supports this entire season of Teacher Time. And so far, if you remember, we have talked about the importance of relationships, how to support emotional literacy, problem-solving and relationship skills. And today, we're going to discuss a very fun topic, at least I think it's fun and exciting around how to respond, prevent and address persistent challenging behaviors with infants and toddlers.

To get us started, I would like to call our attention to the viewer's guides. You will find it in the research widget. And as you all already might already know, that was a tongue twister, right, this season our viewer's guide is a viewer's guide from birth to five, includes specific age group information for infants or toddler and preschool children. It's packed full of information about development, teaching practices, helpful, quick tips, handouts, and reminders that you can cutout and post in your learning environment. There's also a resource list. You can download the guide and use it for our time together, for taking notes, for reflecting, and planning how to use your teacher time practices in your settings. And of course, please share the viewer's guide with your colleagues.

Becky: Yes, please share. And if you haven't joined us for Teacher Time before, you might have notice that our regular segments look a little bit different today. Our focus on equity, small change big impact, and Neuroscience Nook are all going to be integrated throughout the webinar.

During our time today, we're going to be talking about positive behavior supports and what strategies at the top of the pyramid look like. We're going to take some time to define challenging behaviors. We're going to talk about form and function and how we can use the behavior equation to create a behavior support plan. We're also going to discuss the important partnerships we have with families and those we work with. We're going to promote your wellness and all about you. And we will wrap up our time as we always do with The Bookcase and our lovely librarian Emily where we connect our topic to books that you can share with children and families.

Mike: Let's begin by checking with using our famous Teacher Time Tree. Enter into the Q and A which number creature you most relate to at the moment. I am feeling like, I'm feeling like number one today. And I was inspired by some children I was supporting in a classroom recently, and they were hanging from a tree branch. I started, actually I was inspired, and I was like, I'm going to do some aerial silks.

Becky: OK.

Mike: Like Cirque du Soleil.

Becky: Yeah.

Mike: And I've been incorporating silks into my environment with the children. Like number one if you look at it, that's how I feel when I'm hanging from those silks where I'm like my face is like this, and my body is like that. That's how I'm feeling today.

Becky: Oh cool.

Mike: Because I'm sore and I'm tired.

Becky: Thanks for sharing, Mike. Trying something new. Let's see. I'm feeling - I feel like I was having a hard time selecting one today where I kind of wanted to pick a combination where I feel like a lot about 20. I'm excited to be here. I'm feeling on top of the world. We're together. We've got this great team of support in the Q and A. And feeling like number five where I could take a nap. Get some extra sleep. Let's see. We've got a lot of activity in the chat. We've got, or in the Q and A, excuse me. We've got an eight and a 10, feeling like 11.

Mike. I see a one. Are you doing silks too with me?

Becky: Wonderful. Keep those coming in, and our Q and A team will push those out so everybody can take a look and see how everyone's feeling. Thanks for joining us today. We have been focusing on positive behavior supports this season and social-emotional development, which as you already know, is one of the domains in the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. The practical strategies we're going to be discussing today will be focusing on several goals within the social-emotional development domain that you can see highlighted here.

Let's check in about the pyramid model. And this season we've been working through the pyramid model. And just as a refresher, the pyramid model is a positive behavior support or PBS framework for proactively addressing the social and emotional development and challenging behaviors of young children. And this framework offers a continuum of evidence-based teaching practices that are organized into three tiers of support.

The first tier of support is where all children need nurturing, responsive relationships, and a high-quality support of environment. And then some children will need these second tier supports such as social and emotional teaching strategies. And then for a few children whose behaviors persist despite previous tiers of support in place, an intensive and individualized intervention plan is needed to understand, address, and prevent the behavior, which is what we're going to be focusing on today.

And a key aspect of responding to addressing, preventing challenging behavior in the learning environment is ensuring that all strategies within the first two tiers of the pyramid are in place. Please check out our past Teacher Time episodes this season to learn more about teaching practices within these tiers and check out your viewer's guide to learn more about the pyramid model and find resources from the National Center of Pyramid Model Innovations or NCPMI in the resource list.

Mike: You're going to hear this a lot. Type into the - use that purple widget, the Q and A widget, share with us, give us your thoughts, what's coming up for you, your aha moments, your questions. We'd love to hear from you. Using that purple Q and A widget, type in one word that describes the feeling that comes up for you around challenging behaviors.

For me, one word that comes up for me is kind of ironic, but it's exciting. I mentioned this earlier. I've worked with a lot of children and probably can't remember half of their names, but the ones that I remember the most are the ones who are the most challenging. And those are the ones with the big emotions, the one who refuse to sleep at nap. The ones that probably gave me a couple of gray hairs. And those were the fun ones. Those are the ones who needed the most love at the end. When I think about challenging behaviors, I'm excited because those are the children we really want to work with and support and uplift and give us all our love. What about you?

Becky: I love that, Mike, yes. You know, my thought was curiosity. Like wondering OK, what's going on. What's the meaning behind this behavior. How can I adjust my practice to better support you? I think I saw that come through in the Q and A, there are so many words coming through.

Mike: I see frustrated, puzzled.

Becky: Rewarding. Hopeful.

Mike: Being a detective.

Becky: Patience.

Mike: That was more than one word, but we'll allow it this time.

Becky: Yeah, yeah. Overstimulation.

Mike: Relationships.

Becky: Relationships? Yes, it always come down to relationships. So many great words. Keep them coming in. And thank you for sharing those words with us. And we, again, we've been focusing on positive behavior supports this season or PBS. And as a refresher, this is a positive approach to preventing and addressing challenging behavior. Or behaviors that adults find challenging. And we're going to be differentiating between those two things, challenging behaviors, and behaviors that adults find challenging throughout the webinar.

And the number one thing to remember is that PBS is proactive. We are proactively thinking about ways in which we can prevent challenging behaviors from occurring. And at the heart of PBS is the recognition that challenging behavior is communication and is used to communicate many messages. Like, "I want to play with them." Or "I don't want to wash my hands right now." Or "I'm not really feeling great today." Or "I'm so excited."

And educators can be their best detectives. And together with families uncover what the child is trying to communicate through their behavior and teach the child more effective ways to communicate. We're going to be thinking about responding, preventing, addressing persistent challenging behaviors today. And we're going to be focusing on three big ideas. And the first is understanding the behavior where we're going to think more about reviewing, reflecting and building resilience which is going to help us pause and think about influences on a child's behavior and adult perceptions of the paper. Think about like being that detective that came through the Q and A.

And then we're going to provide information on how to develop a behavior support plan through observation and partnering with families. And connection and collaboration with families is so necessary to do early on into this process. And then finally for a behavior support plan to be effective, the intervention and teaching supports must be tailored to match the child's developmental level, preferences and unique needs.

Please check out your viewer's guide for a list of possible ways to provide individualized teaching supports. And each of these three key ideas is going to look different. We know it's going to look different for every single child since we're thinking about intensive individualized supports. We also know it's going to look different for infants and toddlers. As we discuss each topic or each key idea, we're going to make note of what they may look like in the two different age groups.

Mike: You know what? We know that understanding and responding and addressing and preventing challenging behaviors takes a great deal of intentionality, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and that's a lot of work. It's important to remember you're not alone in this. There is a whole team of people to support you in this work. We're here today to ensure that we are a team in this work, collaborating to support each other and the infants and the toddler and the families that we work with.

Let's jump in into ways we can understand a child's behavior. It's adults who ultimately decide what behaviors they expect in the learning environment. And based off of those expectations we name when a child's behavior is challenging. It's very important to know that defining a behavior as quote/unquote challenging is influenced by the adult culture. It's influenced by our beliefs and our biases.

In addition, we need to consider how the child's temperament, their home environment, their cultural norms, influence their behaviors. Some tips to consider when determining if a child's behavior is alarming and in need of intensive support, I'm going to give it to you first.

Becky: Yeah, or to go through these three steps.

Mike: Yeah.

Becky: Which we're going to do together.

Mike: Exactly.

Becky: It's a team, like a team. We're never alone. First is we want to start with review where we want to consider the universal practices that all children need.

You might in this section ask yourself OK, how have I worked to establish a trusting relationship with this child and the family? How am I supporting the child to understand and regulate emotions? What are my, are my expectations developmentally appropriate? And is there anything outside of the child's control impacting their behavior? You know, could this child be sick? Could they be tired, hungry, uncomfortable, overstimulated? Asking all of those questions will help us review.

Mike: And then we want to reflect on our values, our own thoughts, and our own feelings about the behavior. I imagine we might ask questions and reflect on questions such as why is this behavior challenging for me first of all? And then why is this behavior challenging for other children? And I think the most important question I love to ask personally is, am I frustrated with the behavior, or am I frustrated with the child? Because those are two different things. Lastly, another question that I might ask myself is there something about this child's cultural norms that are different from mine?

Becky: Such great questions to ask. And then our final step is about building resilience. And we want to observe and think about and intentionally plan responses that build resilience in ourselves. And we can do this by asking questions like how does my typical response to the child's behavior make me feel? What steps can I take to calm myself when I start to feel set off by a child's behavior? And who can I go to for support? Like asking a colleague to fill in while I take a deep breath. Or asking a coach to come and observe my interactions with this specific child or during a specific time of day. And how is my typical response impacting the pattern of the child's behavior on the relationship with the family? We want to make sure that you also, again, check your viewer's guide for more questions that can help us think through these three steps.

Mike: And I think that's something that we can use especially when we get questions like, or behaviors such as a child is throwing things or biting. We're going to get more into that, maybe more tools. Stay tuned. We're here all day.

Becky: Yes.

Mike: Or at least the next 40 minutes. Going back to the question I asked before. Like is this behavior challenging for me, or is this challenging for the child and the children in my environment? With questions like this, perhaps we can start to see that some behaviors we are witnessing are things that we as the adults find challenging.

We have all been there before and experienced this. We have had things in which has pushed our buttons, that has taken us to our wit's end, and alright, the hot topic issues. These behaviors can lead to some challenging behaviors from adults like suspension or expulsion or the rise in child incidences which are all adult behaviors in response to the child's behavior that is challenging to the adults. It's important to be very intentional in reflecting on our biases and asking ourselves why, why is this behavior challenging to me? How do I think a child should behave. And then why do I think that?

Becky: Yeah. And this is also a really great time to circle back to that bottom of the pyramid. Thinking about those nurturing relationships. When hot-button behaviors come up, we might be tempted to jump straight to the top of the pyramid. And we really want to encourage you to check in with your relationship with the specific child who is engaging in a behavior that you find challenging. Maybe, this is a time to add in some more positive feedback or encourage the child, play with the child and make deposits into that child's relationship piggybank.

We want to think about intensive interventions and challenging, when we think about intensive interventions, excuse me, and challenging behaviors, it's important that we have a shared definition. We know where to start. What one person sees as a behavior that is challenging might differ from what another person find challenging. It's important to talk about this with others we work with since our beliefs, values, and experiences shape how we view behavior and how we respond to it.

The definition of challenging behaviors from NCPMI is any repeated pattern of pattern that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with the child's optimal learning or engagement in pro social interactions with peers and adults. You might be wondering, what do behaviors look like that are challenging behaviors according to this definition? Or are top of the pyramid kind of behaviors are behaviors that need individualized support plans. And it's really not necessarily what the behavior looks like. It's to what extent the behavior interferes with learning, participation, or safety. If a child is biting, and bites every few days, and they're 2 1/2 years old, we're probably not going to create an individualized plan. This is something we might expect from a toddler. Toddlers are curious and learning through sensory.

And if the toddler, but if the toddler is biting multiple times per day and it's interfering with their peer relationships, and we're doing a lot of consistent supporting, and we have a nurturing relationship with the child, then we want to develop an individualized plan.

As most of you know, especially those that work with toddlers, if we thought we had to develop a behavior support plan for every child who bites, we'd be developing a lot of behavior support plans. It's a normal thing that happens during toddlerhood. And it's really that the child's behavior is persistent and hasn't decreased. Or maybe it's even increased in response to tier one and tier two interventions from the pyramid model. And that's what prompts us to develop an individualized plan.

Mike: Now that we have that shared definition from the National Center of, they're testing me here, National Center of Pyramid, oh, OK, we'll get it later. I think it's in the chat. Anyways, we're going to look at a form, let's talk about form and function.

We know that all behavior is communication. The first step to understanding what the child is trying to communicate it's to think beyond the form of the behavior and examine the function of the behavior. The form is what the behavior is. It's what's happening or what the child is doing in the moment. As we've seen, it could be hitting or it could be spitting, pushing. It could be reaching. It could be crying. It could also be pushing someone away or maybe the arching of the back like we're seeing in this photo right here.

The function is the purpose of the behavior or the message within the behavior. It's basically what the child is trying to communicate using that behavior. We want to think about what the child is getting from the challenging behavior and how the behavior is serving the child. Some possible functions might be to obtain an object, to get attention, to obtain sensory input, to get attention, to get help, to avoid an activity or a request. To avoid sensory input, to avoid a change or transition.

Once again, it's important to look beyond what the behavior looks like or the form and understand the function of what the behavior is communicating. And if we only address the form of the behavior, the behavior will most likely continue to persist. We want to think about the function and what message the child is trying to communicate so we can teach them in a new more prosocial behavior that communicates the same message as a challenging behavior and gets their needs met. And I remember it's the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. I remembered it.

Becky: Yeah, thanks, Mike. Let's think about - thank you for talking through form and function. We're really, again, thinking beyond the form and focusing on the function. And one way we can better understand the function of a challenging behavior is to solve the behavior equation. And the behavior equation has three components to it. The antecedent, it's what happens before or sets up the challenging behavior. We have the behavior, what does the child do. Then we have the consequence, what happens right after or what's the response or feedback that the child gets from the behavior.

And when you look at this information, each time the behavior occurs, you can make a guess as to what the possible function of the behavior might be at that moment. Then you want to look across occurrences of the behavior to see if you can identify a pattern that can help you identify what the potential function of that behavior is. An easy way to remember this equation is that it's ABC. The ABCs will help us to produce our very best guess or a hypothesis about what the function of that behavior is. And this helps us to understand what the purpose that the behavior is serving for the child. And a key piece to the behavior equation is observation.

Let's talk a little bit more about that. And one of the tools we can use to help us solve the behavior equation is collecting ABC data. And this will give us more information about the behavior. Most importantly, what's happening right before and what's happening right after. And this is going to help us create and form that hypothesis about the possible functions of the behavior.

We can collect ABC data by using an ABC observation card like the one you see on your screen. And you can also find this handout in your viewer's guide. And we encourage you to make copies of the blank observation card and use them in your learning environment to collect ABC data on each occurrence of the behavior until you have enough information about the behavior to help you form a hypothesis about the function.

As you're preparing yourself to observe, we want you to remember to focus on the facts and write down things exactly as you see them happening. Let's walk through an example of what we might see in a toddler classroom. But first, we need to give a little bit of context for this observation. In your learning environment, Sonya is almost three. And she has been biting frequently during choice time. And you have noticed that it's impacting her peer relationships, and her family is concerned. You sit down, you're ready to observe, and here we go. The antecedent. You see that right before the behavior, Sonja was playing at the cash register in the dramatic play area and Baruch was using the pretend debit card. And Baruch pulled the pretend debit card away from Sonja and closer to himself.

Then you saw the behavior in which Sonja scratched Baruch's arm and went to bite his hand. And after this happened, the consequence Baruch dropped the card. Sonja picked it up and began playing with it at the cash register. Now we want to think about what was Sonja trying to communicate when she bit Baruch? And a possible function, as you may have noticed, could be that Sonja wanted the toy Baruch had. She wanted to obtain that toy. And an important note to remember is that it's key to observe the behavior multiple times in order to create your best hypothesis of the function.

As you will see in your viewer's guide, the ABC data collection card has two cards on one page and another example of data collection of Sonja. We also want to say an important note here about infants,that infants are at such an early stage of social-emotional development that there might be a behavior that's developmentally appropriate or not unusual for an infant to use even if or when it pushes your button. Today, we are focusing on behaviors that are so persistent and happen with such frequency and intensity that they interfere with the child's learning or participation or the learning or the participation of others. I'm going to send it to you, Mike.

Mike: I think we skipped one, but, no, I think that's alright. Let's hear from the homie, Aaron Franco-Ross, a coach support specialist from Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington about how we can use the behavior equation when working with infants. And as always, as you're watching, type into the purple or use the purple Q and A widget, what's coming up for you. What do you see? What do you notice? What are you feeling? And then we'll have a discussion around it later.

Becky: Sounds great.

[Video begins]

Aaron Franco-Ross: Well, something that rang true for me, I have a one-month-old at home, and sometimes the loud cry or the immediate need for support is jarring. It's frustrating. You don't necessarily know exactly what you need to do to provide them what they need. I recognize in my own self that causes anxiety or stress or frustration. And I know my infant can feel that, can experience that. I need to learn that when I have that stimulus, that trigger, of the crying of the distress, that I need to give my child calm, and I need to present with my child with a calm parent at that moment.

And that means that I have the things that I need to support them as quickly as I can and that I'm observing to see what are the rhythms of their day that they might need that kind of support. And that I am preventing some of those distressful moments as much as I can. Because for an infant, that's very helpful, when they have that consistent care. Their behavior or their expressions never rise to the top of the pyramid. Their communication really is at the base.

Now there are times when an infant teacher may begin to file away potential red flags for development, and you would want to make sure that you are screening for some of those when it becomes appropriate. But distressed communication or frustrating behavior from an infant is always communication. And it's something, it's our task to interpret. It's never our task to consider that as being anything that is other than typical.

[Video ends]

Mike: Thank you, Aaron. Even though he's not physically with us. Using that purple Q and A widget, type in what did you hear, what's coming up for you. And I think the fist thing I heard was that he said notice our adults' feelings. What's coming up for us first. And then notice how infants can also feel them too. Another thing that was coming up for me that I heard was around doing what we can to set ourselves up for success. For example, to successfully respond to an infant need, make sure all the supplies are clean. Make sure they're all ready to go.

Becky: Yeah, totally. I'm hearing that infants needs are very focused at the bottom of the pyramid. Thinking those nurturing relationships, that supporting environment and they don't ever rise to the top, the top-top. None of those instance of interventions. It's important to always, I'm also hearing him say that it's always important to connect with the family first. And support the family in reaching out to their pediatrician. When necessary or if concerns arise.

I'm seeing a number of things coming through the chat. Helping us learn ways to keep ourselves calm, especially if we know that crying is a pinch point. Crying is supposed to be alarming. It's supposed to grab our attention and say I need some support here. I'm also seeing lots of things come in through the chat that I'm having a hard time keeping up with. Operation is key.

Mike: Take into consideration what the child's day looks like if there's any change in schedule. Pick up, drop off, they didn't sleep. Let's see, learning to stay calm. Reflection in parenting. So many great stuff, keep them coming in.

Becky: So many good things.

Mike: Now that we have an hypothesis of a possible function of the challenging behavior, we can then start to think about and create individualized behavior support plan. And remember, you don't have to do this part alone. You've got us. You've got each other. You've got TikTok. I don't know what's up.

Becky: My parents.

Mike: Yeah, my parents. You can connect the family. You can collaborate with other adults if you work with multiple adults in your learning environment. And of course, you can always reach out to your coach or manager or anyone in your support system. There are three very important components of an individualized PBS plan. Planning for and using individualized strategies to prevent the behavior. Planning to select and teach a new behavior for the child to use in place of the challenging behavior. And intentionally responding or intentionally planning and using strategies to respond to the child's behavior.

In this first component, we see on our left prevent, we will select and use individualized strategies and supports that will make it less likely that the child will need to use the behavior to communicate. These prevention strategies should be chosen based off the information we collected about that, I always mess this word up, how do you say that word?

Becky: Antecedent.

Mike: Antecedent, there you go, of the behavior during the ABC data collection process, the situations, the activities, or events that happen right before the behavior. Prevention strategies are usually changes or additions to the environment or are interactions with the child. Some examples are to let a child know about a coming transition, either verbally or with the visual support. You can use a timer, offering children choices. Or changing how a material is used. And prevention strategies also include staff zoning, adjusting the order of activities within the daily schedule and organization of your learning environment.

Becky: Thanks, Mike, for thinking us through prevention. Thinking about teach is our next component. And here, we also want to look at our ABC data and what we've identified as the potential function of the behavior.

We want to select a new prosocial or more appropriate behavior that will meet the same communicative function as the challenging behavior. And we call this replacement scale. And for the replacement scale to be effective, it should serve the same function and meet the same need for the child. It should be easier for the child to use than the challenging behavior and be more effective at getting their needs met.

And a critical part of the teach component is not only to teach the replacement scale, it's also to intentionally plan when and how you'll teach the child to use the new behavior. We want to model and use individualized teaching practices to teach the child to use the replacement behavior. We want to collaborate and communicate with the family about how the replacement behavior, oh about the replacement behavior and how and when to teach the replacement skill or skills. And we want to provide many instructional opportunities throughout daily activities and routines to support the child to learn this new skill.

And as a part of this individualized instruction, you may develop and use instructional materials such as visuals or communication supports. And as you provide instruction on the new replacement scale, we encourage you to carefully observe and take note of changes in the child's skills or behavior to ensure that your instruction is effective. I again want to put in the viewer's guide there that there are more ideas to consider when thinking about in teaching replacement behaviors in your viewer's guide.

Mike: And the third component is how to respond to the child's behavior. When we think about responding, we want to think about responding in two different ways. First, we want to plan how we'll respond when the child uses the new replacement behavior. If this child is going to learn to use this behavior in place of the challenging behavior to meet their needs, we want to maximize reinforcement for the new behavior. We want to make sure it, well, it works, for the child to meet their needs.

If the new behavior isn't as effective in getting the child's needs met as the challenging behavior was, well, the child isn't likely to learn and use a new behavior in place of the old one. That's number one. The second one is the other response you want to think about is how are we going to respond if the child does engage in the challenging behavior? We want our response to the old behavior to show the child that behavior no longer works. And support the child in using the new replacement behavior.

Becky: Now that we have talked through those three pieces, prevent, teach, and respond, let's walk through what a behavior plan might look like. And as you can see at the top of our behavior plan, we see a summary of the ABC data that's been collected. And there is a box where in the middle where we can put possible functions of behavior. This is when we're thinking like, we've looked through many occurrences of the behavior, and we've summarized many different collections of ABC data. And then below that, we have the sections that say prevent, teach new skill, and respond. There is also a handout for you of this in your viewer's guide that you can copy and use in your learning environment.

And now let's think back to our example of Sonja. Based on all of our ABC information that was collected during the data collection process, the team looked for patterns in Sonja's behavior and created this summary of the ABC data. We're thinking that antecedent of the patterns that came up for antecedent is that when another child reaches for, takes or is playing with a toy that Sonja wants, we see that Sonja screams, scratches, grabs, or bites. And the pattern in consequences is that the other child drops the toy, cries, or walks away. And Sonja picks up the toy and plays with it. A possible function of this behavior is that Sonja screams, scratches, grabs and bites to obtain toys and materials.

We, to create an individualized behavior support plan for Sonja after multiple ABC data collections, the team will select prevention, teaching and response strategies that are directly based on this summary of the behavior equation. The first step is to select prevention strategies knowing that the antecedent for Sonja's biting is when a friend or another child reaches for, takes or is playing with the toy that Sonja wants.

Based on this information we have about the antecedent, some strategies for Sonja for prevention might be to have multiple items of Sonja's favorite toy. To have a visual reminder of safe body in the play area. Or use a timer for turn-taking. Next is our teach section. And knowing that the potential function of Sonja's biting is to get a toy. And we want to think about what replacement skills might the team select to teach her. And we want to remember that a new skill should meet the same need as the challenging behavior.

Based on the hypothesized function that Sonja's biting is to get a toy or an object she wants, the team is thinking about teaching Sonja how to use an open hand gesture. When a peer takes or tries to take a child's toy, we will teach Sonja to have an open hand gesture so that she can ask for that toy in that way. And since this is a new skill for Sonja, the team will plan many opportunities to teach her to use the skill throughout the day.

Now, let's talk about responding. And when we think about responding, we want to think about two different types of response. How we're going to intentionally respond to the use of the replacement scale and to the use of the old challenging behavior. The team thought about when Sonja has, by its source, screams or grabs or scratches, we are going to respond by gently removing the toy from her hand and placing it out of her reach. And then prompting her to use the open hand gesture. Making this behavior no longer effective.

And then when we see that Sonja is using the replacement scale, we're going to praise her for asking for help and give her access to that toy that she wants. Making it effective. And again, infants are at such an early stage of social-emotional development that the prevent, teach, and respond behavior support plans are not intended and were not created to be used with infants. These plans can and should be used with children over the age of two. Oh, this is you, Mike.

Mike: I know I was practicing antecedent in my head over and over again. But yes, I do have this slide. Let's watch what we're teaching replacement behavior might look like with an older toddler, I was practicing antecedent and then I forgot how to say older. Older toddler, and of course, use the purple Q and A widget to let us know what's coming up.

[Video begins]

Educator 1: What, go Noel! Go, go, go! You didn't ask Sylvan to move his hand.

Child 1: Move your hand.

Educator 1: Here Sylvan, let's move our hand. Baz wants to put it down. Thank you for using your words, Baz.

[Video ends]

Mike: The first thing that I noticed, to get us started, use the purple Q and A to let us know what you saw. The child in the stripes attempted to move the child in the red sweatshirt hand a few times when they wanted its turn with the toy.

Becky: Yeah. I noticed that the educator was very calm and prompted the child to make a verbal request in place of using their hands, move the other child's hands off the track.

Mike: The child used a replacement skill by repeating the adult's model.

Becky: And then the educator, I also noticed that the educator reinforced the child's use of the replacement skill by helping the child in the red move their hand. And this made the behavior effective for allowing the child's turn with the toy. It's, and, supporting the use of the replacement skill, using a verbal request. This worked for the child.

Mike: Exactly. We saw calm in the chat. I also noticed as more things come up, especially I saw positive interaction. The educator also provided specific verbal feedback to the child. I don't know if you heard it but they said, thank you for using your words.

Becky: Yeah, and this interaction, the educator is also modeling turn-taking and building turn-taking skills in the child, the appear to be younger child in the red sweatshirt. Modeling this interaction. They're getting to see, OK, this is how I can ask for a turn. This is what turn-taking feels like.

Mike: Love it. Let's see what's happening in the chat. We have use of verbal requests. The child wanted to move the other child's hands, but the educator insisted on helping get the child a choice of words. I find that children love to hear the praise once they completed a task. Absolutely.

Becky: Yeah, totally getting that validation of like yeah, you did it. Uh-huh. Let's start thinking about the basics and strategies for responding to persistent challenging behaviors. And the basics are a collection of strategies that can be used in any setting with infants and toddlers. And the Teacher Time basics are behavioral expectations in advance, attend to and encourage positive behavior, scaffold with cues and prompts, increase engagement, change, or add challenge and specific feedback.

In this season of Teacher Time, we have been focusing on two letters of the basics for each episode. We hope that you have joined us for all of the webinars this season. And if you have missed any of the previous webinars, you can access the recording on push/play. Today, we're going to provide examples of A, attend to and encourage positive behavior, thinking back to the bottom of the pyramid for those nurturing relationships. And I, increasing engagement to respond, prevent and address challenging behaviors.

Mike: To understand an infant's cues and provide responsive care to behaviors adults might find challenging like persistent crying, educators must build relationships with infants and the families. One way to do this is by tending and encouraging positive behavior through noticing and naming infants and family strengths and making deposit into that infant's piggybank that you mentioned earlier. Check out the individualized teaching support section of the viewer's guide for more information.

What we know is that children who are displaying challenging behaviors often are receiving less positive attention. We encourage you to reflect on a toddler whose behavior is challenging to you right now. Take a moment, maybe take some time afterwards on your planning time to think about 10 strengths of a toddler in your environment who's a little challenging and then write them down on the focus on equity section of your viewer's guide.

And then the next step after that, it's then communicate with strengths you see to this child throughout the entire day that piggybank that we're talking about. And this can help shift your perspective of the child as well as feed, fill the child's relationship piggybank by engaging in positive interactions. One way you can do this is by saying out loud when you see a child engaging in positive behaviors. To look intentionally for moments to let the child know you see them and you care about them.

Becky: Yes. Let's take a look at what this might look like in a toddler classroom. Let's see an example of encouraging positive behaviors and adding to a child's emotional and relationship piggybank. As you watch the video, please share again in the Q and A how you see the educator building a nurturing relationship with this child.

[Video begins]

Educator 2: Let's come climb on the climber over here. This is where we climb. See, up here. Do you want to climb up there? There you go. Good job. Down the slide. You went up the climber and down the slide. Good job. Good job.

[Video ends]

Becky: You know, Mike, one of the first things I notice about this clip is how much warmth is in the educator's voice.

Mike: Yeah, we don't talk about the tone enough, I think. It's not just the words that you say but how much love do you feel as you're expressing that.

Becky: Yeah, totally. And I also notice that the educator commenting on exactly what the child was doing. She was very specific and factual about it. You climbed up the stairs and down the slide.

Mike: And then the educator, going back to that warmth it was just enthusiastic. I felt like they enthusiastically commented on the child's positive behavior.

Becky: And one of the things I noticed too at the start of the clip, the educator was saying, this is where we climb over here. Which toddlers are very curious climbers. It's not unlikely to have a toddler climbing on different pieces of furniture in the learning environment. It makes you wonder, was this toddler climbing in a different part of the learning environment. And the educator provided support for the specific child by taking them to this place where it was safe to climb.

Mike: Things are coming up in the chat. The educator put words to action, redirection, positive supports. Helping them make - I think we have a video playing somewhere in the background. We'll take care of that. But anyways let's talk about how we can increase a child's engagement when they are persistently expressing that challenging behavior.

Once again, again, prevent, teach, and respond support plans are not necessarily intended to be used with infants. They were developed to be used with children over the age of two. And we can increase an infant or young toddler's engagement in the learning environment by looking at our own behaviors and how we are responding to a child's cues and meeting their needs. With infants and young toddlers, we can use the behavior equation to really help us take a step back. See how our behavior is impacting the child since we are very intentional educators here. We can look for patterns and see if there are changes that we need to make so that we are provided more responsive care.

And if you have slightly older toddlers who are engaging persistent challenging behaviors, they might be struggling to engage with their peers or the learning environment. One way to increase engagement is to create and consistently follow a behavior support plan. Having prevention strategies in place and teaching the toddler replacement behaviors will support the toddler in engaging more fully in the learning environment.

Becky: Yeah. Now we have another opportunity to hear from Aaron Franco-Ross about how using a behavior support plan can increase a child's engagement. Let's watch this video.

[Video begins]

Aaron: Is sometimes our reflex as a teacher is to pull the child out of that situation. To move into a different space or different center or a different area of the classroom. Where that's not going to happen anywhere. And yet, what we would want to do is to be there two minutes earlier and prevent the escalation and help them move through that.

And maybe we're the only ones who know what could have happened. Because they were able to successfully move forward and push through and to learn. And I think that's a concept that I really think is important. That we interrupt their learning when allow behavior to escalate so much that they need to then move away from that area. And to disengage.

[Video ends]

Becky: I love hearing from Aaron. And one of the things that I heard in this clip is the importance of prevention. Those, that prevention column in the behavior support plan. Thinking about those antecedents that we can support increased engagement by really thinking about those. Also think about supporting the child in moving through the interaction and using the replacement behavior. Being there with them in the moment. Helping them use that replacement behavior like we saw in our video.

Mike: And then when you think about the response responding to the replacement behavior. We're the only one, we're the only one that know what could have happened. Letting a behavior escalate so much causes interruption to the child's engagement, learning and play.

Becky: Yes, yeah. Just seeing some things come in through the chat prevention and intervention. Thinking prevention strategies and then being there to support the child move through the interaction.

Mike: Let's watch another video of what teaching a replacement skill might look like. Once again, share in the purple Q and A how you think this would support toddlers when increasing engagement with peers and in the learning environment.

[Video begins]

Educator 3: Let's, soft touches. Soft touches. When we touch our friends, we're giving soft touches. OK? Let's count our friends again. We have one, two, three.

[Video ends]

Mike: And of course, if you're looking to access any of these materials, all of this content is in the viewer's guide or in your NCPMI modules for trainers. Things which I noticed right away was the educator teaching a replacement behavior with gentle touches, with a small group of children. And maybe I'm thinking this happened during small group time.

Becky: Yeah, it was outside of a time when the challenging behavior was arising. It was during a small group time where an informal gathering happens during toddler classrooms. And the educator modeled this skill with two of the children. And she modeled the skill to the children, excuse me, and in addition to that verbally was giving information.

Mike: And did you see when the child that was in the educator's lap then reached out and grabbed, well not grabbed, but get the other child's hand to help them practice soft touches.

Becky: Yeah, at the end. She had it modeled for her, and then the child needed to model it too. And I also noticed how the educator used positive language in a calm and casual tone to encourage these gentle or soft touches.

Mike: Do we have time to read one thing from the chat?

Becky: Oh yes, yes.

Mike: Let's see. Let's pick a good one. They're all great ones. We have soft touches for our friends. I like the way the educator taught positive behavior instead of we do not. That's a very negative and harsh tone for children.

Becky: Lots of great comments coming in. Thank you.

Mike: Partnering and working together with families to identify prevention and support strategies is an essential part of this process. Creating a behavior support plan in partnership, in partnership, I can't stress that enough, in partnership with the families significantly increases the likelihood of success.

And we want to approach this partnership with open curiosity and respect. Some tips to keep in mind while working with families are, focus on child and family strengths. Respectfully discuss concerns. Avoid placing blame on the child or the family. Be positive and be reassuring. Ask families for their perspectives on the challenging behavior and be open to understanding different viewpoints.

And when you're discussing with the family, discuss how they would like to help develop and implement the plan in partnership. Consider and honor the family's culture and their values. Be understanding on constraints of the family's involvement. Maybe there's a lot of time commitments that they already have and a lot of stress. And if there's an agreement that professional specialists are needed, discuss, and provide information about what the process could look like.

Let's turn our attention back to you. Our ability to prevent and address challenging behaviors start with our ability to center ourselves by noticing and observing what's happening with as little judgment as possible. And if you've been with us for all of our webinars, you can always find on demand, you saw us go through a variety of different self-regulation and centering strategies, 4-4-8 breathing, color visualization and body scan. We hope that you pick one of these strategies that works best for you.

You can find the cutouts for all three of these regulation strategies in the all about you section of your viewer's guide. Another resource is the Eight Dimensions of Staff Wellness on the ECLKC website, which you can find a link in the resource list in your viewer's guide.

Becky: Thank you so much, Mike. And we, just for thinking of everyone's wellness and honoring everyone's time, we're going to go ahead and put our book Case Segment with our Teacher Time librarian Emily on My Peers. Check out our My Peers community to see all of the different books that Emily created for us. And check out your viewer's guide because there are two different lists for thinking about working with infants and thinking about working with toddlers. We just want to say thank you so much for joining us for all of the infant toddler episodes this season. And we hope that you will join us next month for responding to persistent challenging behaviors in preschool on May 4th.

Mike: I'll be there. Will you?

Becky: Yes, I'll be there.

Mike: We hope to see you all there. Once again, thank you everyone for the love, support, for your work with toddlers and infants in your learning environment. Remember, you are not alone, and you can always holler at us on My Peers or whatever platform that you decide.

Becky: Thank you so much, and we can't wait to see you. Until next time.

Mike: Thank you, everyone.

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Responding to Infant/Toddler Persistent Challenging Behavior | ECLKC

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Challenging behavior can interfere with a child's ability to learn and build positive relationships. Learn ways to help educators offer individualized support to ensure a healthy learning environment for all.

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CECE Early Childhood Videos at Eastern CT State U.

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The Best Books for Supporting Literacy Development

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The Best Books for Supporting Literacy Development

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5 Steps for Brain Building Serve & Return

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5 Steps for Brain Building Serve & Return

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How to expand your baby’s potential with education from birth  | Zahra Kassam | TEDxManhattanBeach

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Dual Language Learners-Importance of first language & family culture

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Dual Language Learners-Importance of first language & family culture

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Dual Language Learners (DLLs) are children who are learning and developing in more than one language. In the US, 1 in 4 children under 8 are Dual Language Learners. Each one is given a precious gift by their family: the gift of their first language and home culture.

As educators, we must give DLLs the opportunity to learn successfully by making this gift a part of everything we do in our classrooms.

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Dual Language Learners (DLLs) are children who are learning and developing in more than one language. In the US, 1 in 4 children under 8 are Dual Language Learners. Each one is given a precious gift by their family: the gift of their first language and home culture.

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Links to sensory experiences for all the senses!

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Preschool Philosophies: Waldorf | NO SMALL MATTER

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Preschool Philosophies: Reggio Emilia Approach | NO SMALL MATTER

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Research shows that the more math language children hear, the more they understand early math concepts. What can you do with babies and toddlers? Start talking about math!

The words below represent simple concepts across the six domains of early math. While of course young children won't understand these right away, when they hear you use these words over time, toddlers begin to develop an early understanding of what they mean.

Number Concepts

Counting

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - etc.

Calculations

More
Less/Fewer
One more (Or: two more, etc.)
One less (Or, two less or two fewer, etc.)
Add
Put together
Subtract
Take away

Spatial Awareness

Shapes:

Spatial Descriptions:

Patterns

Describe patterns that you see and use the word "pattern": Your shirt has a pattern-blue stripe, red stripe, blue stripe, red stripe.

First, Next, Last

Before, After

Can you do it like me? (For example, when you are clapping your hands in a simple beat.)

Measurement

Here are some words that introduce children to the notion of relative sizes, distances, temperatures, etc. Non-standard measurement (such as measuring length with a wooden block) and standard measurement (such as measuring length with a ruler) skills will come later at ages four years and up.

Size/Height:

Distance:

Time:

Temperature:

Grades of Measurement - adding "-er":

Bigger/Smaller
Taller/Shorter

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Let's Talk About Math: Math Language to Share with Young Children - ZERO TO THREE

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Research shows that the more math language children hear, the more they understand early math concepts. What can you do with babies and toddlers? Start talking about math! The words below represent simple concepts across the six domains of early math.

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ECE Infant Toddler Preschool UMW Registration Process Sheet

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Family Relationship & Environments Project

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Family Relationship & Environments Project

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Class Participation, Homework & Assignments

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Class Participation, Homework & Assignments

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Course Rubrics - Class Participation & Homework and Assignments

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Attachment: What Works? Look for highlights and notes in article.

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Attachment: What Works? Look for highlights and notes in article.

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Enter the password to open this PDF file:

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Responsive Care: Nurturing a Strong Attachment Through Everyday Moments - ZERO TO THREE

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Watch how you can nurture a strong attachment with your child through everyday moments. From Magic of Everyday Moments - Series 4. If you're like most parents you have an image of the kind of person you want your child to grow up to be - successful, smart, kind, thoughtful, a good friend.

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Infographic for Tips for Choosing Toys Toddlers

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Infographic for Tips for Choosing Toys Toddlers

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This video is modeling respectful caregiving and not sanitary practices.

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Excerpted from Learning Environments: An Introduction | Virtual Lab School

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"Wants Nothing" Quality Time: just floor-sitting, being available, being there with all the senses awakened to the child; watching, listening, thinking of only that child.
"Wants Something" Quality Time: when you do have a goal to accomplish something together, such as dressing, bathing, feeding, etc. You can make sure the child knows that this time is different from your "Wants Nothing" time by actually saying, "Now I want to diaper you," or "Now it's time to get dressed,

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Read and browse the collective works of Magda Gerber, founder of RIE, and the Original RIE Manual for parenting infants and navigating early childhood.

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Toddlers and Biting: Finding the Right Response

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Toddlers and Biting: Finding the Right Response

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Toddler Biting: Finding the Right Response

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Trying your best to understand the underlying cause of toddler biting will help you develop an effective response.

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Tips to manage aggressive behavior in toddlers and help children manage strong emotions and reactions.

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Here’s an introduction to language development with age-appropriate activities for children birth to 3 years old who are learning to talk.

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Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child-reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Learn more about how you can support your child's development of language and literacy skills from 24-36 months.

The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible. It is hard to imagine them debating with you about curfews or curling up with the newest Harry Potter book. But language and literacy skills start early-from birth. Watching your baby and learning how she communicates through sounds, facial expressions, and gestures are all important ways to help her learn about language and the written word.

It isn't necessary to "teach" very young children. Formal classes and other activities that push babies and toddlers to read and write words do not help their development or make the do better in school. In fact, they can even make children feel like failures when they are pushed to do something they don't enjoy or that is beyond their skills.

Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child-reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Children learn language when you talk to them and they communicate back to you, and by hearing stories read and songs sung aloud. Children develop early literacy skills (internal link to definition below) when you give them the chance to play with and explore books and other written materials like magazines, newspapers, take-out menus, markers, and crayons.

Language and literacy, while two different skills, build on one another in important ways.

What You Can Do

Talk together.

Talking with your toddler helps her expand her vocabulary and learn more complex sentence structures. Talking together also develops her literacy skills as she is more comfortable and confident with language. Talk as you: ride in the car, do errands together, make a meal, take a walk. Research shows that talking with children during everyday routines increases their vocabularies.

Ask open-ended questions that don't have a yes/no answer.

This helps your child develop her own ideas and opinions. If you see some ants in a line, you might say, "What tiny little ants! Where do you think they are going?"

Notice the number, size, shape and color of the things around you.

If you are at the supermarket, you can talk about the colors of different fruits, count out the apples as you put them in a bag, and notice that there are big fruits (like pineapple) and little fruits (like grapes).

Make up rhymes, recite child-friendly poems, and sing songs with your child.

This helps her develop phonemic awareness- the ability to hear and identify the different sounds that make up spoken words.

Help your child build and grow her sentences.

If she says, "Mommy go?" You can say, "Yes, Mommy is going to work now."

Play the telephone game.

Use a toy phone (or even a block that you pretend is a phone) to "call" your child. You can talk about things that happened that day (What did you have for lunch?) or what will happen later on (Do you want a regular bath or a bubble bath tonight?)

Offer toddlers choices:

Would you like an apple or string cheese for snack?

Ask them to help out with "big kid" tasks:

Please put your socks in the sock drawer.

Encourage them to do things themselves:

Here's your jacket-let's put it on together.

Celebrate their attempts at independence:

You are really trying hard to spread the cream cheese on your bagel. Or, You climbed to the top of the jungle gym all by yourself! You are getting bigger and stronger everyday.

Coach them in completing new tasks:

Okay, now put that napkin in the garbage can. Lift your hand a little higher. Now drop the napkin in!

"Play" with literacy.

Give your child toys that encourage her to act out stories-dress-up clothing, props like dishes, pocketbooks, hats, child-sized brooms, take-out menus, paper grocery bags, paper and crayons. Creating their own stories helps children better understand stories on the page.

Build on your child's interests.

If your child is crazy about dinosaurs, go to the library and check out a selection of fiction and non-fiction (mostly picture) books about dinosaurs. Find some websites about dinosaurs. Make a huge dinosaur out of a big cardboard box, or tape several pieces of paper together and paint a T. Rex. Make loud dinosaur music-bang pot lids to make the sound of dinosaurs walking through the forest. Let your child explore his interests in different ways-through reading, talking, art, and music. And then follow him when he moves on to the next big thing!

Tell your child stories

Whether about a real experience you or he had, or a made-up tale. Include the details below:

When did it happen? (When I was a little girl...)

Who was involved? (I was playing with my little brother, your Uncle Matt)

Where did it happen? (In Grandma and Grandpa's house.)

What physical items are part of the story? (blocks)

What was the sequence of events? (We tried to see who could build the biggest block tower. Uncle Matt's tower was bigger than mine. I was really jealous of his tower! So I knocked it down. He started to cry. I felt bad that I knocked his tower down and made him cry. I started to cry too. I said I was sorry and we built another tower together.)

Let your child choose her own books to read.

Following her natural interests will make her more eager to explore books and eventually read.

Tell your child stories

Stories about you as a child, about her when she was a baby, important family stories. Children build literacy skills not just by reading, but also by listening to stories.

Encourage your child to use logic to think about a story.

You might say: The mama duck is taking her babies on a walk to the public garden. Now they have come to a busy street. What do you think will happen next?

Ask your child to tell you the story of a favorite book using the pictures on each page:

What do you see happening here?

Parent-Child Activities to Promote Language and Literacy

Go pretend shopping.

Line up some empty food containers (cereal boxes, cracker boxes, etc.). Give your child a grocery bag and let her go "shopping." Talk about the different foods she is buying: Which is her favorite? Which will she eat first?

Make a baby book.

Collect pictures of your child from birth until the present. Glue these pictures to sturdy 4×6 index cards. Write in a description of what is happening in each photo and who is in the picture. Punch a hole in the upper left corner of each card and tie them together with a short piece of yarn. Read the book with your child and talk about all the things she has done and how much she has grown.

Play "Can you?"

Ask your toddler "Can you jump really high?" After she gives it a try, ask her another "can you" question. Give her a turn to create her own "Can you" questions for you!

Frequently Asked Questions

My son is 27-months-old and he doesn't really say much besides mom and dad, kitty, and a few other words. But he responds to everything I ask him to do. And if I count from one to five he holds up each finger, all the way to 5. My family is worried. Should I be?

When you are surrounded by worried people, it's hard to know whether or not to join the club! To understand where your son is at, it is important to look at the two different aspects of a child's language development - receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary - which are two sides of the same coin. (Receptive vocabulary is the words that your child can understand by listening. Expressive vocabulary is the words that your child can say and use in speech. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association notes that between ages 1 and 2, children should be saying new words each month, putting two words together ("my toy"), and using one-and two-word questions ("more juice?"). Between ages 2 and 3, a child's expressive vocabulary will typically increase to about 300 words.) (ASHA: How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?)Together these two skill sets describe a child's ability to understand and use words in speech.

Your son's receptive vocabulary is quite good. He is responding appropriately to your requests and can follow simple directions, like holding up his fingers to count to five. It would appear that your son may be behind in his expressive, spoken language. But don't forget to factor in your child's ability to communicate with gestures. For example, while a child may not say with words "Mommy, I'm hungry. I want a banana", he may take his mom's hand, walk her to the kitchen and point to the banana. If your son is doing this kind of complex gesturing to communicate, he is on the right tracks and the words will likely come in his own time.

In any case, it is a good idea to consult your son's health care provider who can assess whether there is a medical cause for any expressive speech delay. If there is no medical cause identified, contact your state's local "Child Find" office and get information on the early intervention program in your area.

Child Find offices are the early intervention programs in each state. They provide screening and assessment services to babies and toddlers, often at no charge. "Child Find" can be contacted through the local school system in all communities or through your State's early intervention coordinators, who can be located on the Web at http://www.nectac.org/contact/ptccoord.asp . The assessment may conclude that there is no need for intervention and that your child will catch up on his own, but it is always good to check it out.

In the meantime, there are many everyday ways to promote your son's language skills:

Label sounds he uses consistently for words. For example, if he says "ba" for "ball", you should say, "Yes, that's the ball."

Talk and sing to him, ask him questions, point out and label the people and things that fill his world, and make time to read together. It is important that you talk to him at the level he understands, rather than the level at which he can communicate.

Use visual cues as much as possible, such as pointing and showing him pictures of what you are talking about. Some parents cut out pictures from magazines of commonly used objects in their child's world. These are just a few of the ways that you can continue to support his language learning over the long term.

How do children make the leap to reading the written word?

Children learn to read by:

Exploring books and print;

Repeating words, sounds, letters, and phrases;

Figuring out how words or letters sound;

Understanding that words are symbols for objects and ideas;

Identifying and matching letters and words, and

Understanding the meaning of words.

You help your child develop these skills over the first 5 years of his life by making reading a daily, joyful experience, telling lots of stories, playing pretend, and encouraging him to write-starting with scribbles and moving to real shapes, letters and numbers as he gets older.

How can I make literacy part of our (very busy) lives? I have a 30-month-old but work outside the home so I have limited opportunities for working with him on these skills.

The good news is that you don't need to "work" on your child's literacy skills. There are many opportunities that you can find in the everyday moments you share with your child to support her growing language and literacy development. For example:

Read aloud while you are waiting for appointments, before bed, or during bath time.

Sing or tell your child stories as you drive in the car. This builds her vocabulary and listening skills.

Talk with your child while you are doing daily chores, like preparing meals or folding laundry. Talk about how you are cutting the carrots into little pieces and lettuce into big pieces. Compare the different colors and types of clothing.

Point out all the written words around your child (labels on cans, writing grocery lists, reading street signs, writing down messages).

Write your child's name in simple block letters on papers, works of art, etc. As you write his name on drawings/pictures, say, sing or chant the letters out loud (T-R-E-V-O-R spells Trevor!)

When your child shows you she is interested, demonstrate how to write her name.

Point out letters of the alphabet that you see around you on signs or in the newspaper. Make up rhymes: Get ready to laugh, it's time for your bath! Create sentences where most of the words start with the same letter (better take a bubbly bath).

Keep writing materials such as crayons and paper, as well as books, within easy reach for children to get by themselves. Keep some in the car as well.

Why does my toddler make up words and babble to herself while she "reads" her books?

"Book babble" is an important step in building literacy. When young children jabber in a tone and pattern that sounds like reading, they are practicing reading. They are imitating how you sound when you read aloud, sing, and tell them stories. This kind of "babbling" helps toddlers learn more about words and the structure of language.

Soon you will start to hear words pop out of the babble. For example, if your toddler has listened to familiar nursery rhymes from early in life, he may start to "chime in" with a word or phrase. Similarly, you may find that he shouts out what is going to happen next when being read a familiar book. This is an important stage of development, and shows you that your child is beginning to grasp the storyline-what is happening now and what will happen next.

Remember that language, reading, and writing are all connected. Each builds on the other. And the one key ingredient is YOU. Respond to your child's "book babble." Encourage her to tell you more. Your supportive responses let your child know his ideas are important and encourage her to develop a positive feeling about learning.

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Language and Literacy Skills From 24-36 Months

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Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child-reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Learn more about how you can support your child's development of language and literacy skills from 24-36 months. The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible.

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The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible, but language and literacy skills start early-from birth. Learn how you can support these skills from 0-12 months.

Watching your baby and learning how she communicates through sounds, facial expressions, and gestures are all important ways to help her learn about language and the written word.

It isn't necessary to "teach" very young children. Formal classes and other activities that push babies and toddlers to read and write words do not help their development or make the do better in school. In fact, they can even make children feel like failures when they are pushed to do something they don't enjoy or that is beyond their skills.

Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child-reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Children learn language when you talk to them and they communicate back to you, and by hearing stories read and songs sung aloud. Children develop early literacy skills when you give them the chance to play with and explore books and other written materials like magazines, newspapers, take-out menus, markers, and crayons.

Language and literacy, while two different skills, build on one another in important ways.

What You Can Do

What you can do to support your baby's growing language and literacy skills from 0-12 Months:

Describe her feelings and experiences. For example, when you see that she is hungry, you can say: You are nuzzling at my shirt. You're telling me you're hungry. Okay, your milk is coming right up! Although your baby won't understand your words right away, your caring, loving tone of voice and actions will make her feel understood. And hearing these words over and over again will help her come to understand them over time.

Copy your baby's sounds and encourage him to imitate you.

Put words to her sounds: I think you want to tell me about the doggy over there. Look at that doggy. Hi, doggy!

Sing songs you know, or make up songs about your baby (Happy bathtime to you, happy bathtime to you, happy bathtime, sweet baby, happy bathtime to you.) You don't have to be on key or be good at carrying a tune. Babies don't judge-they love hearing your voice.

Play peek-a-boo. This simple turn-taking game is good practice for how to have a conversation later on. Try hiding behind a book, a pillow or a scarf. You can also play peek-a-boo by holding your baby in front of a mirror and then moving away from your reflection. Move back in front of the mirror and say, "peek-a-boo!"

Play back-and-forth games. Hand your baby a rattle or soft ball. Then see if she will hand it back to you. See if you can exchange the toy a few times. This "back-and-forth" is practice for having a conversation later on.

Read lots of books. Reading together helps your baby develop a love of reading and a familiarity with books. Reading aloud also helps your baby's vocabularygrow as she has many chances to hear new words and learn what they mean.

Use books as part of your baby's daily routines. Read before naptime or bedtime. Share books made of plastic at bath time. Read a story while you are waiting for the bus. Bring books to the doctor's office to make the time go faster.

Read with gusto. Use different voices for different characters in the stories you read your baby. Babies love when adults are silly and it makes book reading even more fun.

Let your baby "read" her own way. Your baby may only sit still for a few pages, turn the pages quickly or only want to look at one picture and then be done. She may even like to just mouth the book, instead of read it! Follow your baby's lead to make reading time a positive experience. This will nurture her love of literacy from the start.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Babies learn through repetition because it gives them many chances to "figure things out." When babies tell you they are interested in a book or even in a picture in a book, give them as long as they want to look at the picture or to hear the story over and over.

Parent-Child Activities

Parent-Child Activities to Promote Language and Literacy

Make a photo album. Glue photos of your baby and the important people in her life onto sturdy 4×6 index cards. Punch a hole in the upper left corner of each card and tie them together with a short piece of yarn. Share the book with your baby. She will love seeing pictures of the people she loves and hearing you talk about them (and her!).

Touch some new textures. Gather together small squares of different fabrics (lace, cotton, corduroy, nylon, etc.). Snip a small hole through each square and tie them together with a piece of ribbon (they can also be stitched together at the corner as well). Let your baby touch the fabric "book" and talk about how the different textures feel. Does she have a favorite page?

Sing some "finger play" songs. These are songs that have hand movements to go with them. "Finger plays" help children develop muscle strength and coordination in their fingers, which helps them learn to write and draw later on. A baby favorite is Pat-a-Cake: Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's Man (clap hands together), Bake me a cake as fast as you can (pretend to stir the batter), Roll it (roll your hands over one another, as if you are rolling dough), Pat it (pat your thighs), And mark it with a B for Baby and me (draw a B in the air with your finger). Other favorites are Where is Thumbkin and The Wheels on the Bus.

What's most important about the activities you do with your baby is that they are fun for both of you. And while you are having fun, your child is also learning. Think of a game or song your baby loves. How do you think this game might also be nurturing his growing language and literacy skills?

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I expect from my 4-month-old when it comes to reading books with her?

Literacy is a process that builds over time, with each new skill adding to the one before. Keep in mind, though, that literacy is not just a skill, it is also a love-a love of books and the magic they offer.

Below are some general guidelines about how children play with books from birth to age 3:

0-6 months: May calm down while a familiar story or rhyme is read.

6-8 months: May begin to explore books by looking, touching and mouthing. May seem fascinated by a particularly bright picture.

9-11 months: May have a favorite picture-for example of a smiling baby or a familiar-looking object.

12-18 months: May begin turning pages or holding a book as if she is "reading." May begin saying the word "book" and/or showing a preference for a specific book at bedtime.

24-36 months: May begin anticipating the story. For example, while reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, your toddler may say, "Just right!" as soon as he sees the picture of Goldilocks spooning up her porridge. She may also request the same story over and over, and may pretend to read books on her own or tell you simple stories.

My son is six-months-old. Is this too young to start reading together?

It's never too early to start. While 6 months may seem young to read to a baby, it is actually in these first months and years that early reading skills are developing. Literacy starts with a love of, and interest in, books. The goal at this age is for your son to have pleasurable and positive experiences with books so that he wants to keep learning about them. So go ahead and provide your child with chunky board books or soft cloth books that he can safely look at, chew on, and read with you. Choosing sturdy books like these means that you don't have to say "no" or take the book away, which may build negative feelings about book play. Let him explore books in the ways he knows how right now.

My 9-month-old is so active that he doesn't want to stop to read a book. This worries me because I know how important reading is. What can I do to get him interested?

Build book-reading and language into your child's everyday life. Include a story, rhyme, or song as part of your child's bedtime routine. Use books to help your child move between activities (e.g., a book about naps before naptime, or a book about baths before bath time). Make up rhymes or sing songs while playing with your child or driving in the car. This helps build a love of words and sounds. Look for words to read all around you-on signs, on trucks, on food boxes and labels. Finally, leave books where your child can reach them and let him explore them in any way he likes-even if it is only for a few seconds at a time. Don't force him to sit or read for longer than he wants. This can lead to his having negative feelings about books.

I hear so much about how important it is to read to your baby. But my 8-month-old only seems interested in mouthing the book. Should I be stricter about us reading together, rather than just playing with the book?

Congratulations on getting your 8-month-old excited about books! Mouthing is a key way babies show interest in and explore books. Her chewing and mouthing is showing you how much she likes books.

Babies explore the world through their senses-using their eyes, hands, and mouths. Mouthing is not only normal, it's one of the first and best ways that babies learn about the shape, size and texture of the things they see in their world. Books, with their bright colors and flapping pages, are especially interesting. Your daughter is doing all she can to learn more about these interesting and delightful square things.

I am a mom of a newborn. French is my native language. I have heard conflicting opinions on speaking both French and English with my baby- some say it's good, others say that it can delay language development. What should I do?

Go for it. Exposing your baby to both English and French will help her learn 2 languages (bilingualism) before she ever begins school. And, by providing your baby the opportunity to learn the language of your family's culture, you are giving her a connection to her family's roots and traditions.

There is still a lot of research to be done on childhood bilingualism. What we do know is that children can learn two or more languages during childhood without any problems. We also know that it's often easier to learn a new language in the early years. Here are some other things that parents should keep in mind:

Babies learn at their own individual pace. Your child may develop her language skills at a different rate than a monolingual child (who is learning just one language), but it may have nothing to do with the fact that she is learning two languages at once. Further, research shows that children who are exposed to a rich bilingual language environment on a regular basis follow a similar course of language development as monolingual children.

Be consistent in how you expose your child to two languages. For example, you might speak only French to her while Dad speaks only English. Or, you speak only French in the home and English outside the home. What is important is that the language is used as part of everyday life and is not done as a "teaching" session.

Be aware that your child may develop her vocabulary at a different rate than a monolingual child. Children learning two languages at the same time may have smaller vocabularies in one or both languages compared to children learning only one language. However, when both languages are taken into consideration, bilingual children tend to have the same number of words as monolingual children. These early differences are often temporary. Usually, bilingual children catch up in their vocabulary development (if they hear both languages consistently) by the time they enter school.

And don't worry about your child getting confused by hearing two languages. She will begin to sort it out on her own, and even sometimes use words from both languages in the same sentence. This does not mean she is mixed up! It is a very normal part of the bilingual childhood experience. So delight in the joy of hearing your child explore and learn two languages. What a gift you are giving her.

Can my newborn recognize my voice?

Even very young babies are able to recognize a familiar caregiver's voice. In fact, research has shown that babies prefer speech to all other sounds. They enjoy hearing the different sounds, pitches, and tones that adults tend to use naturally when they talk with babies. By listening to your voice, babies develop language skills over time.

What can I do to help my 10-month-old learn to talk? I have a neighbor whose baby already says a few words!

There is a wide range for when young children start to talk. Some children say their first words at 9 months and others at 18 months. What's most important is that your child is moving forward in her communication skills-using her sounds, gestures and facial expressions in increasingly complex ways. For example, she moves from babbling to making consonant-vowel sounds (such as da, ma, ba). She goes from grunting when she wants something to reaching towards or pointing to what she wants.

As far as what you can do, talk a lot with your baby. Talk about what you are doing while changing his diaper, dressing him, or fixing a bottle. Sing songs, and play "back and forth" games (like peek-a-boo) throughout the day. Having early "conversations" like these helps babies learn language. It can also make transitions between activities easier and relieve stress for both of you.

I keep hearing that it is really important to talk to your baby, but does my 5-month-old really understand what I am saying to him?

While young babies don't understand the meaning of your words, early conversations help their language skills grow. When babies hear you say words over and over, the speech and language parts of the brain are stimulated. The more language they hear, the more those parts of the brain will grow and develop.

Making up stories about daily events, singing songs about the people and places your baby knows, and describing what is happening during your daily routines give babies a solid start for learning early language skills.

Babies focus on and develop language mostly because they want to connect with you. One-on-one conversations with your baby, making eye contact while you talk, and repeating back her gurgles and coos help your baby to understand how conversations work. Responding to your baby's sounds is also important, since these are your child's first attempts at using language. Your response motivates her to keep trying.

My one-year-old wants to hear the same story over and over, and the same lullaby every night at bedtime. Is this normal?

Telling the same stories and singing the same songs over and over may feel boring to you, but for a young child, learning happens with repetition. When you read, give each of the characters its own interesting voice. This gives your baby the chance to hear different sounds, pitches, and tones of language. It also helps babies learn how to make sounds with their own voices.

All my friends are teaching their babies sign language. They tell me how great it is, but I'm afraid signing will keep my daughter from starting to talk. What should I do?

Studies show that signing with babies who have normal hearing doesn't appear to slow down language development. In fact, some studies indicate that it may boost language skills. However, you'll have to learn and use the signs yourself if you want to see results.

Interestingly, one reason signing may have positive results is because parents who sign with their baby are spending more time focusing on communicating - watching their child and trying to understand what he is saying. This is something every parent can do, whether or not you decide to learn sign.

In addition, parents who sign may also be using a technique called "elaboration." For example, when a baby makes a sign for more, the parent may say in response, You want more juice? I'll put some more in your cup. Again, this is a great idea for all parents-whether you choose to use signs or not- because it gives babies lots of new words to hear and learn.

If you watch your baby carefully, you will see that she is signaling to you all the time. When you play a game of peek-a-boo and you stop, she reaches out and babbles to let you know she wants you to keep playing. When she raises her arms to you, she is telling you she wants you to pick her up. Responding to signals like these promotes her language skills - as well as her emotional and social development.

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Supporting Language and Literacy Skills from 0-12 Months

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The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible, but language and literacy skills start early-from birth. Learn how you can support these skills from 0-12 months. Watching your baby and learning how she communicates through sounds, facial expressions, and gestures are all important ways to help her learn about language and the written word.

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Sign Language • ASL Dictionary | Handspeak®

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Look up ASL words in the leading sign language dictionary online with videos, meanings, sentences, and productions of the ASL signs by authentic, fluent signers.

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Babbles to Books checklist for Supporting Early Literacy

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Babbles to Books checklist for Supporting Early Literacy

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Download this 54 page pdf: FREE Early Literacy Ebook: From Babbles to Books | The Inclusion Lab (brookespublishing.com)

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What We Know about Early Language and Literacy Development

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What We Know about Early Language and Literacy Development

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This article will also help you complete Choose One homework option 1.

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Ten Best Ways to Encourage Toddlers to Talk

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Ten Best Ways to Encourage Toddlers to Talk

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First, let's clarify something that will hopefully bring relief: Encouraging our children to talk isn't about chattering incessantly to them in order to expose them to as many words as possible. Honestly, can you think of anything more off-putting than someone blabbering for the sake of blabbering? Even our adoring babies, the captive audiences they are, will tune out (because they're unable to throw something or ask us to stop).

While it's true that children need to hear an abundance of words to develop healthy skills, encouraging language is about the quality and quantity of the words we speak. The great news is that both come naturally when we perceive babies as whole people - able communicators ready to be informed about the happenings in their lives, and in turn share their thoughts and feelings. Comprehend this simple truth, interact, engage, and converse naturally, and we've got the language lessons nailed.

Here are some specifics...

1. Two-way communication from the beginning.

From the time our babies are born, they need to know that we not only tell them what's happening (" I'm going to pick you up now "), but also that we pay attention to their non-verbal signals and listen to their sounds and cries. If we're unsure, we wait before reacting. We ask, give the child time to take our question in, and listen again. We make every attempt to understand what our babies might be communicating. We won't always be successful in the beginning, but we'll improve with each try. Meanwhile our children hear our profoundly important message: "We want you to tell us what you need and feel. We believe you are capable of communicating with us, and we will do our best to understand you."

This is vital. Only we can open this door and wholeheartedly welcome our baby's communication.

2. Use your authentic voice and first person.

Many believe in using mother-ese, so I realize this is controversial, but here's what I've found... Talking to our babies in our regular, authentic voice (but a little slower) reminds us that we are talking to a whole person. It's easier and not as likely to induce headaches (which I know, because I talk to my dog in mother-ese). It models for babies the natural tone and language we want them to adopt. The more they hear language spoken properly, the sooner they will learn and try speaking it.

Children sense inauthenticity a mile away. The children I know who aren't used to being talked to in mother-ese feel disrespected and talked down to when adults speak to them that way.

Using first person rather than "Mommy loves Johnny" is a minor detail, but it is another way to remind ourselves to talk person-to-person with our baby. Why speak differently to a baby or toddler who is immersed in the process of learning our language than we would to an older child or adult? This makes no sense to me. Never doubt for a moment that babies know who Mommy, Daddy and Johnny are. They don't need the constant reminders. Also, children understand and use pronouns earlier when they are modeled.

3. Talk about real, meaningful things.

In other words, instead of teaching words, use them. Holding up a ball, pointing to it and saying "ball" is far less effective teaching (besides being a gargantuan bore, as far as I'm concerned) than commenting in context on a relevant (and, therefore, meaningful) event. "You moved all the way to that red ball and touched it and then it rolled further away."

Babies learn best , as we all do, when they care, and in this example the baby would probably care about his involvement with the words 'moved', 'red ball', 'touched', 'rolled' and 'away'. That's six words right there, but who's counting? (Oh, the experts...that's right.)

Note: I'm not suggesting constant narration while babies play. The best way to gauge whether or not to comment while our child is engaged in an activity is to wait for him or her to communicate an interest in our response, which young children usually do by looking at us. (For a brief video demonstration of this, please see " Teaching Babies Language And Much, Much More While They Play ")

4. Read books and tell stories responsively

Reading books responsively means ditching any agenda and following our child's interest. Let the baby or toddler stay on one page for five minutes if she wants to and talk to her about everything you see there. Let her skip pages, look at the book upside down, and not finish the story ( or even look at the book at all) if that's what she chooses. Trust your child's readiness, allow reading to be child-led, and we encourage a love of books. And children who love books love and use language.

If you're the creative type (which I'm usually not at the end of the day), tell stories. I'll never forget the stories my dad told about Mary and her dog Zip. Well, actually I don't remember anything about them except that I thoroughly enjoyed that attention from my dad.

5. Slow down

I forget this all the time. We should probably put "Slow Down" signs all over the house when our children are small. There are so many good reasons to slow down around children, especially in regard to language. When we slow down, children can listen and understand.

6. Relax and be patient

Parent worries are usually felt by young children and don't create the ideal climate for taking big developmental strides forward. Talking takes courage. Relax, be patient and trust your child's inborn timetable. Many patient parents I know have experienced their child's verbal skills emerge overnight - a language "explosion".

If your child seems delayed in his or her ability to comprehend language, or seems atypical in several areas of development, get an assessment.

7. Don't test

What children need most of all to be able to start talking (or do just about anything else) is our trust. When we test, we aren't trusting or respecting. Magda Gerber 's rule of thumb was, "Don't ask children a question you know the answer to." (In other words, "Where is your nose?")

As excited as we get about sharing the adorable way our toddler pronounces his latest words ("Say 'turtle' for Grandma, Johnny!"), performance pressure makes toddlers more likely to clam up.

8. Babbling is talking

When babies or toddlers seem to be talking gibberish, they are usually saying words, so ignoring them or babbling back isn't as respectful or encouraging as saying, "You're telling me something. Are you telling me about the cat that just walked by?" Or, "You've got a lot to say today. "
Beware of these common language discouragers
9. Corrections

When children are trying out language, they are inclined to get colors, animals, and other things "wrong", and adults are inclined to correct these mistakes. Don't. It's unnecessary and discouraging. With our patience and modeling, toddlers will discern the difference between dogs and bears, red and orange, etc., soon enough.

In Learning All The Time, John Holt explains: "When children first learn to talk, they will often use the name of one object to refer to a whole class of similar objects." In other words, when a toddler refers to every animal as a "dog", she isn't indicating that she doesn't know the difference.

"If a distinguished person from a foreign country were visiting you, you would not correct every mistake he made in English, however much he might want to learn the language, because it would be rude. We do not think of rudeness or courtesy as being applicable to our dealings with very little children. But they are." -John Holt

10. Invalidating thoughts and feelings

Let's say your toddler asks (in her unique way) to change her diaper, but you check and she isn't wet. Or maybe your boy says "lellon", and you know he loves melon, but he just ate. Rather than reflexively responding "you don't need your diaper changed" or "you can't be hungry, you just ate", accept and acknowledge the communication without the slightest bit of judgment. "Oh, are you saying you want to change your diaper?" (Wait for a response.) "Yes? Well, I can certainly understand wanting to do that again. It's fun to spend that time together. But you are dry and so we won't be changing you right now. Maybe in a few minutes."

"Are you thinking about melon?" (Wait for a response.) "Are you hungry for melon? (Wait.) Oh, you're not hungry? Are you enjoying saying "melon"? That's a fun word to say, isn't it?"

When we listen to and respect these early attempts at communication, children feel encouraged to keep talking. They'll sense that their most random thoughts, feelings and ideas are welcome to our ears. And chances are excellent we'll be their favorite confidant for many years to come.

(Note: if you have concerns about your child's language development, the American Academy of Pediatrics offers helpful guidelines HERE)
I share more about respectful care and natural development in my book:
Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting (now available in Spanish!)

(Photo by Diego Dalmaso on Flickr)

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Ten Best Ways To Encourage Toddlers To Talk - Janet Lansbury

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First, let's clarify something that will hopefully bring relief: Encouraging our children to talk isn't about chattering incessantly to them in order to expose them to as many words as possible. Honestly, can you think of anything more off-putting than someone blabbering for the sake of blabbering?

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Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age 2- Parent resource? 

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Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age 2- Parent resource? 

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Twenty Ways to Encourage Children's Language Development

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Twenty Ways to Encourage Children's Language Development

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November 2022 Happiness Calendar: click link in calendar for current month. 

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November 2022 Happiness Calendar: click link in calendar for current month. 

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Our monthly Happiness Calendar is a day-by-day guide to well-being. This month, we hope it helps you practice an attitude of gratitude.

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Your Happiness Calendar for November 2022

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This month, practice an attitude of gratitude.

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Baby Doll Circle Time - Tips from the Author Dr. Becky Bailey

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Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion

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Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

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Your Baby is Growing So Fast!

Babies form 1 million new neural connections per second. Their development shouldn't be a guessing game.

Our goal: Track milestones and identify warning signs early

Intervene as soon as possible to take advantage of baby's growing brain.
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Pathways.org | Tools to maximize child development

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Free online resources to make sure your child's development is on track. View our informational videos and brochures or visit our baby games calendar.

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The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children. We have developed extensive, user-friendly training materials, videos, and print resources which are available directly from this website to help early care, health and education providers implement this model.

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The National Center for Effective Mental Health Consultation (CEMHC) addresses the needs of Early Head Start/Head Start (E/HS) staff and families for practical guidance on effective ways to promote young childrenís social and emotional development and reduce challenging behaviors.

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Welcome!

Hear directly from infant and toddler care providers through interviews, video examples, and print resources to learn how they implement PITC's Six Essential Policies & practices in a variety of early care and education settings.

How do PITC's Six Essential Policies show up in different care settings?

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Hear directly from infant and toddler care providers through interviews, video examples, and print resources to learn how they implement PITC's Six Essential Policies & practices in a variety of early care and education settings.

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When we perceive our infants as capable, intelligent, responsive people ready to participate in life, initiate activity, receive and return our efforts to communicate with them, then we find that they are all of those things. I am not suggesting that we treat infants as small adults. They need a baby's life.

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This is a free listserv sending out newsletters for infant toddler caregivers. See bottom of newsletter for how to sign up!

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Virtual Lab School: Good resource for all information. 

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Virtual Lab School: Good resource for all information. 

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Scaffolds learning for new and advanced professionals. Combines research on child development, effective teaching practices, and principles of adult learning. Highlights developmentally appropriate, inclusive, & family focused approaches. Emphasizes practice-based coaching, self-reflection, and application of knowledge and skills. Showcases expert interviews and in-program video footage demonstrating best practices.

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Developmental Stages of Early Childhood Professionals (Lilian Katz)

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Developmental Stages of Early Childhood Professionals (Lilian Katz)

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To be used with College Credit Option 2 of Family Relationships Signature Assignment

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(Familiarize yourself with these resources)

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Addressing a Workplace Problem Flowchart

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Addressing a Workplace Problem Flowchart

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Familiarize yourself with this for use in our Saturday conference call.  

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Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment

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The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct offers guidelines for responsible behavior and sets forth a common basis for resolving the principal ethical dilemmas encountered in early childhood care and education.

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"What's the harm if I paint my arm?":  A Toddler's Guide to Sensory Activities in the Home

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"What's the harm if I paint my arm?":  A Toddler's Guide to Sensory Activities in the Home

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"What's the harm if I paint my arm?": A Toddler's Guide to Sensory Activities in the Home

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Just as infants and toddlers need experience crawling or scooting to learn to walk and babbling and crying to learn to talk, they need to practice using their hands to control art supplies and practice using their minds to figure out how art supplies work

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Meeting the Sensory Needs of Young Children

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Meeting the Sensory Needs of Young Children

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Missoula Area Referral Resources for Children with Disabilities 

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Missoula Area Referral Resources for Children with Disabilities 