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Cindy Sele is a childcare provider in Minnesota for twenty-five years. Cindy Sele has three grown up children. Married for twenty-eight years to Jeff. Cindy has two grandchildren with two more on the way in April and October of 2025. Cindy has an associate degree in early education and working on a bachelor's degree in early education. Cindy is Parent Aware Rated at a four-star rating, the highest rating for childcare. Cindy works to improve learning for all children in her childcare by providing the most current information on child development and learning techniques that will help all children in care.

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Milestones are indicators of successful development in a child that families and educators can look for when looking over a child's growth and development. The CDC has put together a list of milestones in social/emotional development, cognitive, language/communication, and movement/physical development in several different age ranges. Two, four, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty months, three years, four years, and five years old is information on what to look for in your child's development. Knowing what to look for at what age will help families and educators understand where the child is at and if the child needs help to learn and grow. Indicators can help tell adults if the child is moving faster with their learning. Adults can help a child when they understand what the child needs help with by setting up the environment for learning where the child is struggling.

Resources

CDC. January 17, 2025. Learn the Signs. Act Early.

https://padlet.com/cselechildcare00/understanding-the-big-picture-children-with-exceptional-need rw5sfkintwb9cp5i/wish/MxrmZYkr7b49aGOq

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When Developmental Assessments are needed

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When Developmental Assessments are needed

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Understanding the milestones will help a parent or teacher know when to find help for their child when the child is not meeting the milestones. Not all children develop the same, parents are the first teachers for children, sometimes the way families teach a child can change how the child learns. When adults understand that children need to do more for themselves at different ages, families will work more with the child to accomplish those milestones. When the child is not able to learn or do task that other children at that age can do, this can be a red flag and indicate that more help may be needed for the child. Sometimes adaptive equipment needs to assist the child to learn better. Hearing aids, eyeglasses, calming devices, and larger crayons are some devices that can help a child learn more.

Assessments can help tell where the child needs the help the most or how much an exceptional child knows and how they learn.

Resources

The Children's League. 2017-2025. Developmental Red Flags. Signs and Symptoms of Developmental Delays. Developmental Red Flags - The Children's League

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Risk Factors for Children with exceptional needs

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Risk Factors for Children with exceptional needs

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Environmental risk factors for a child with exceptional needs include the way the child lives. Does the child live where there is secondhand smoke? What is the child exposed to on a daily basis? Low-income families are at more risk for developmental issues. Not enough support to help families understand what they are dealing with when their child is not learning the way they should be. Low-income families try to raise a child the best way they can but find it difficult with work and stress. Stress of not having enough money to raise a family can cause other issues with anger and exhaustion causing more issues mentally for a child, setting the environment up for unhealthy living and learning.

Biological risk factors include genetic and heredity. Passing down traits to a child can happen from living with a person or by blood relative. Alcohol can cause many issues with a family. Abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and other issues can hold a child back from growing and learning. Genetic Trates can be good with eye color, skin, hair, and height of a child. Genetics of Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Kleinfelter's syndrome, or Turner Syndrome can change the appearance of a child, mental growth, and understanding of how things work around the child, these genetics challenge a child's learning and make it difficult for a family to raise the child. Help is needed to overcome obstacles the child might face.

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Individuals for Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-Examples of Disabilities 

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Individuals for Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-Examples of Disabilities 

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Disabilities are not easily seen on a child. Sometimes we need to learn how the child is able to communicate, understand, and learn before we can learn that a child has a disability. Knowing how the family works with the child helps educators understand if the child has a disability. Hearing, vision, learning, communicating, mental health, and social relationships are just a few disabilities a child may have. Children that have disabilities have more issues with trauma and abuse. Children with disabilities don't know how to respond to abusive behaviors or understand what correct behavior is or not. As adults, we need to teach and guide children how to respond to situations when they don't feel safe.

Under IDEA there is thirteen categories for disabilities. Autism, emotional disturbance, deaf blindness, hearing impairment, intellectuality disability, deafness, multiple disabilities, orthoptic impairment, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, specific learning disability, and visual impairment including blindness. Assessments of a child can determine if they have a disability that is needing services by the state to help with education along with families and educators' documentation on behaviors and abilities.

Resources

NICHCY. March 2012. Categories of Disability under IDEA. GR3-2011.p65

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How does a child with disabilities impact a family

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How does a child with disabilities impact a family

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A child that has disabilities is not easy for families to raise. Families don't always understand what all is needed to help support the child with education and daily living skills. Educators and the community can support a child and their families with the tools they need to function and work normally. School buses that equip doors and ramps to make it possible for a child helps families support a normal lifestyle for a child and removes one stress that can happen during a normal day. Doors and elevators installed in buildings to help wheelchairs have access easily helps families function normally around town. When working with dual language learners, having more than one language available in reading materials and in the environment will help support the child and family with more than one language. Knowing and understanding a child's skills and what helps a child function during the day normally will help a teacher or parent know what to do in order to support the child's learning. Accommodations and modifications can be done to support the child's learning. Changing things so the child can function can make it difficult for others in the family. When a family has children that are being loud from a fun party and the one child is covering their ears from the laughter and joy, the family might have to change the environment for the child or use nose canceling headphones to change the environment for the child so all can continue to function normally. It can be embarrassing to family members to have to deal with a child that can have outburst and behaviors that others don't understand. Looking at family strengths can help get over issues with a child with disabilities. Strengths can help overcome any situation if you look at what makes the situation for the child work.

Some families do not see their child having a disability so they do not accept the help there is for a child and may struggle daily with issues that come up with the child. When people do not see a physical handicap, some people do not believe there is an issue with their child. Denial can make it hard for the family and cause anger or other issues that can pull families apart.

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Communication with family is very important when working with a child. Both educators and parents need to be on the same page when working with any child. Having a plan for the child set up both by parents and educators will help the child to learn a routine and understand rules and expectations that need to be established to function on a daily bias. Emails, notes, person to person communication, and phone calls can help keep communication open between families and educators. When a change is happening with a child, it is important that all know what is happening. Like a child that did not sleep well over the night, when a parent informs this to the teacher, she can plan ahead for the child's need and not over stress the child. Show understanding in a different way than just assuming that the child is having a behavior for the day. The teacher will be ready for the child not to be so willing to participate like they normally would. Respecting the family and the challenges that they face with their child, shows support and encouragement that families need. Showing understanding that they had a stressful situation and will work with the child in a different way for the day will give the family the encouragement that they did the best they can, and things will get better. Families struggle on many issues throughout the day. Showing the families that they have a safe environment for their child to learn during the day, helps support the family's need when they are struggling in other issues.

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Having routines that a child can follow helps them learn what is expected of them on a daily basis. Routines show a child that they can do more for themselves. Having a place for a child to hang their coat and hat will help the child learn responsibility over how they take care of their things. Waking up and going to bed at the same time, helps children understand time and how to manage what they do. Helps with bedtime and sleep too. Reading a book to a child before bed can help a child calm down and having a bonding with a parent, child can communicate needs when a parent takes a few minutes out of the day to hold a child and read to them. A child feels safe when they can be part of their parent's life. Children enjoy helping parents and feel that they are accomplishing a lot when a parent acknowledges the child for helping. When I work in the kitchen, I clean up a highchair table, I will give that to the child to sit in their highchair seat. When I am working on cutting up fruit, I will give the children near me the skin of the cantaloupe to throw in the garbage. Supplying dustpan and small hand brooms will help a child clean up when I am sweeping the floor. Modeling behaviors I want to see the children do will help a child follow and do things. Lowing my voice when a child is talking to loud will signal the child that their voice is to loud. A child might be around a parent or grandparent during the day that might be hard of hearing and does not realize that they are speaking too loud for others when they need to do it at home all the time. Excitement can make a child louder too. Doing deep breathing exercises can calm a child down enough to rethink their behaviors. Placing hands along the child's side, when they take a deep breath in, they can slowly raise their arms over their heads to form a bubble, and then when they let their breath out, they slowly let their arms drop to their sides again. The exercise can calm a child down to stop screaming, thinking clearly, and refocus on what they are doing. Another thing I did with my children was when it is time for laundry, folding clothes by everyone is possible. Youngest children can fold wash clothes, and match socks, older children can fold other clothes and place clothes in their piles to place in their own drawers. Children learn by doing things with adults. My son could walk into a shoe store and tell you everything about shoes, he was fascinated by shoes. Brands, years, and colors he could tell you about shoes and who the shoe companies supported. My son did not show interest in reading books about Pokémon, or dragons he read shoe store catalogs. Later in life he read about bikes and how they work, took his bike apart all the time. I had to watch that happen and hope he could put them back together. Now he is an air conditioner and heater installer for a company. My son had many issues with learning as he grew up but many of the issues was what adults believed he should be doing versus listening to what he wanted to do with his hands. I let him take bikes apart, the school did not give him opportunities until his senior year to take motors apart and build houses. The skills he was interested in and able to learn from was mechanical and physical, not to sit and read. Look at a child closely to help them out, they will show you what they are interested in, and parents and educators can help that child by giving them those opportunities.

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Under IDEA, children that have a disability have a right to free education and in the classroom with other children. A child's ability should not remove them from the classroom. Parents have the right to know and understand the work that is being done with their child in the classroom, this is done by communication during IEP meetings or IEE. Parents have the right to have access to their own children's paperwork. Information about a child is confidential and not shared with anyone that is not directly working with the child. Parents can obtain copies of paperwork about their child. If parents do not agree about a decision on a child's learning or education, a parent has a right to refuse services for that child. Education needs to be done for the child to help the child grow and learn. Parents are included in meetings over their child's education.

Resources

Center for Parent Information and Resources. October 2021. Parents Rights Under IDEA. Parental Rights under IDEA - Center for Parent Information and Resources

IDEA. 2025. Statute and Regulations - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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Help Me Grow, is a website that is through Minnesota that helps families understand Milestones and what to look for in their child. A parent can set up screening for their child off the site if they see signs of issues in their child's growth and development.

Refer a Child - Help Me Grow MN

Northwest Community Action Inc. is a place for people that live in northwestern Minnesota to receive services from different agencies. Anything from childcare, housing, legal services, and other issues can be found on the website to help families in need of help from financial to medical.

Family Services Available at Northwest Community Action

Sevita in Thief River Falls, Minnesota is to help children infant to twenty-one months for physical therapy, speech, and occupational therapy.

All Locations in Thief River Falls - Sevita

Thief River Falls Public School, Special Education. Cassey Farrell and DeeAnn Erickson are the ones to contact about special services in the Thief River Falls School district. Special Education - Thief River Falls Public Schools

Pediatric Partners is located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota to help children and families deal with mental issues and other issues that causes learning and development to be difficult. Family help and support is given through counseling.

Mental Health Counseling – Pediatric Partners – Children's Therapy & Counseling