Languge development- blends

Observation:
October 28,2014
7:34 am
Ajani is up looking for his spider man hat . He finds it . Na Na I find my hat it on the floor . He is not  able to say the blend Fl  . We will need to  help him to learn how to  say the word " floor ". We will see how long it will take him before he will be able to pronounce that word correctly. Each time he says the word we will repeat it the correct way two times. If you try to have him repeat the word more than two  times he gets frustrated and begins to say no . They do not like to feel like they are not in control of the situation.


Young children need time to develop these skills . The first three years should be focused on giving young children the foundation (skills) that they need for late learning.

Painting-letters

3yrs 1 month
Ajani was painting  and he called  me. When I went  "pointing to his picture with  big smile look I made V. "


He made a big V with his paint brush. He was never taught how to make V however, the  experiences that he has had with letters and writing materials allowed him to paint the letter. Young children must be provided the tools and they will discover learning on their own this makes learning a pleasure.
This type of learning is more meaningful and it stays in the child's memory .


Painting helps to develop fine motor skills (pre writing) among other things.

Pretend -play

Observation
3years 1month
Ajani came into the kitchen . He had a pot on his head and the cover in his hand. Na Na look I am a knight.
He has a lot of vocabulary. It is very important for you to read  different books and have your toddler watch educational videos. Take him to different places .


Experience is the major  ingredient that builds a brain.

Language development - the fist three years

For the developing brain is a huge portion because when children are not able to express themselves it becomes a big problem. Children can get frustrated ,their self-esteem can be affected and learning can become a task rather than a pleasure. It is very important for  you  to listen when your toddle is speaking and when she has a challenge saying certain words correctly you  should repeat the word and she will repeat it. She may not get it correctly the first time this should be  red flag for you . This means you will repeat the word every time she says it incorrectly or you may need to find a jingle to help her . For example there are some blends that are a challenge for young children who are leaning language: here are some blends ch, pl , st  and  L when it is in the beginning of a word . Ajani was not able to pronounce  some of these blends and L in the beginning of words( eg) Look.
We have him sing the La La  jingle for a few days. We also have a CD with a LaLa song that we played.
He had to learn how to pick up his tongue to the roof of his mouth in order to make the L sound at the beginning of the word Look. He is now able to say it.


The section of the brain that is called the cerebellum is responsible for movements and coordination of muscles . Language is new for your infant/ toddler it is very important that you are in tune with your young child and help them to develop  the skills that they  need before she gets to kindergarten. If you do not she may end up needing speech therapy .
So Ajani  is now able to say look without correction. We are working on other blends and as we

Language development -Brain development

This is  an observation.
Saturday October 5th 2014
Time 9:00am  Age of child 3.1yrs


Today I had to take my 17yr for  an exam in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. We all went with her . Ajani was still asleep we wrapped him in a blanket  instead of waking him up to get him dressed. We got to  Bay Ridge at 7:30am. We waited until 7:50 then I walked my daughter to the  entrance  door and gave her a kiss  wished her good look and went back to the car. We sat wondering what can we do in the area for three  hours.

We began driving round the neighborhood admiring the beautiful homes and well kept lawns. We ended up on main street and picked up  parent magazine. I began leafing through the pages. Ajani  yelled "Na Na I want the book ". I turned my head and he is pointing to the floor. It was a magazine and I gave it to him and continued to look for an activity that we can do.


A few minutes later his mom called him"Ajani Ajani " he did not respond . "Ajani I am calling you what happen you do not want to talk to me "  "No". "Why you do not want to talk to me"? Ajani responded "I m reading". I turned my head to see what he was reading.

Setting limits and learning consequences

Setting limits is a critical part of your child's developmental milestone under social skills.


If you say to her it's time to clean up and then we can play with the ball and she does not clean up; You could say to after you give her the first directive and she does not begin to clean up and continues to play, "if you don't clean up we will not play with the ball".


You tell her again to clean up. She still does not and she wants the ball. After you clean up let her know there will be no ball time right now. It is very important you explain to her why there is no ball time right now. You could say, "I asked you to clean up, you did not and I said there would be no ball time if you did not clean up."  She may cry or fuss, it's ok as you must set the limits and ensure she begins to understand consequences.




Here is an example of something that happened not too long ago which inspired this entry (seeing my daughter with Ajani).


Ajani was watching Little Einsteins and began to through his dinosaurs. His mom told him to stop. He paused then started throwing the dinosaurs, his mom said, "if you continue to through the dinosaurs I will turn off your show." His response, "No". He threw another. His mom got up, reminded him in a stern voice he should not have thrown his toy and turned off his show (as she walked to turn off the program she reminded him why she was doing it).


He fussed, when he stopped she asked him, "why did I turn off your show?" his response, "because I threw the dinosaur". My response, "that is correct".


The important items: he didn't fuss for long--Self sooth; I explained why there was a consequence; most important he could tell me why. All of these are part of Social skills

Partnership

Education is a partnership and feeling comfortable to visit your child's classroom any time must be an option. When you drop your child off you should be able to take your child inside  her classroom. Too any time parents are not allowed inside . They just drop the child off and leave. There will no school without you and your child. I observed this activity at a few childcare programs that I have visited. You are the child's first teacher and will  remain in that position for the rest of your life. You need to have a family friendly setting where your child is being cared for.

Adjusting to the new school year

It is  a few weeks into the school year  and how are you both adjusting ?
You just have your first child how are you adjusting to  parenting ?
There is no book on parenting  but there are several sources that can help .
There are classes
Books
Videos
Grand parents
Professionals
Other parents
There blogs
Friends
Do not be afraid to ask for advice . Parenting can be overwhelming .

Recording your infnt/toddler activities

It is a great idea to record the different   stages that your infant/toddler goes through. You can it several ways, You can use  videos, a  note book to record conversations, observations and pictures. You can also keep a scrap book.


As you baby grows both you and her can review these things. This helps with memory skills, language development ,literacy skills , the ability to focus , listening  skills . These are just a few of the  ways that both of you can benefit form tis project.
Keeping  records  is also helpful when you go to the doctor if there is a developmental mile stone  that your infant/toddler is not mastering.

observation -confidence

At three years and one month your toddler should be able to ask for help when they need it. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and Ajani what yelling" NaNa help". I went to see what  he needed help with. He was stuck between two chairs hanging up-side down. He kept saying help till I took him down.


This is one of the skills that young children need before they get to kindergarten. The ability to ask for help and knowing that an adult will be there to guide and support them. This builds self-esteem and self-confidence and  reduces stress  on the brain. When young children cry a lot it creates stress. You should be in tune with young children in order to meet their needs. Children whose needs are met :
Are usually  calm , is able to self-regulate, will cooperate  and makes it easier to teach .

This is a conversation that you do not want to miss

 If you  are in the NYC area  come join the conversation

Join us for a Leadership Forum Breakfast Building Community Partnerships This event will focus on helping early childhood leaders navigate and help families access resources in order to empower themselves. Our diverse panel will share ways in which developing partnerships with programs benefits the development of a well rounded child and assist families being served in your early childhood program. Click here to view the flyer.  Please RSVP by sending an email to office@nycaeyc.org by Monday, October 20, 2014. A discussion and networking event not to be missed! When:     Friday, October 24, 2014                 Directions:  2/3 to 135th St & Lenox Ave walk 1 block   Time:       9:00 - 11:30am                                   west                      Where:    Harlem YMCA                                                      180 W 135 Street                      New York, NY 10030

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Pretend play

Pretend  play is very important for brain  development. You should provide pops for you infant/toddler. They love to become someone or someone or something else. You can provide hats, shirts, dresses ,mask (you can make at home) . You can listen to different songs . Introduce the word pretend to your toddler and do the action . Let's pretend you will say. Your toddler will also substitute objects  for example he will use his toy pot for a hat. He is thinking outside the box. This is a skill that is needed for life being flexible being able to adjust and being open minded .
The experiences during the  early years lay the foundation for later years.

Sharing- understanding the of brain development

They usually  say they young children do not know how to share. That is correct because they have to be introduced to the word and the action at n early stage. You should introduce the word share at nine months . When your baby is eating or dinking ask can you  share your milk with me? You also have  to do the same thing when you are eating say to your infant/toddler lets share and give the infant/toddle a bit of your item. Remember  that it will take a while for your infant/toddle to understand  concepts so you should also do the action that goes with the word, give meaning. It will take a few months before your infant/toddler gets it but once she gets it you move on to a new skill. It is vey important for you to be in tune with your infant/toddler to help them along  the developmental  stages.

Receptive Language

This means being able to understand language . That is why you need to speak with your infant/toddler all the time. Ask her questions that are open ended and wait for her response, and if she's not able to respond assist her by completing full sentences. This is how you develop language.

Math-when driving or walking talking math

Talking with your infant/toddler is the only way to build cognitive skills, what you know. You should  also have several  picture books(board books) for your infant/toddler  to leaf through at her leisure they should be on the floor in a bin. Books also help to build your infant/toddler cognitive skills and fine motor skills, alphabet skills , and just introducing your infant/toddler reading readiness.


When you are outside  it is a great time to talk math. You can point out big trailer trucks, you are also building vocabulary. The long bus  ,big letters on the stores . When you enter a store you can talk about the big store. You can talk about small cars, small trucks . When you see tall people you can mention that . Point out the high train tracks .
The different parts of the brain must be stimulated together.

Math vocabulary-4

Math is very important for children to learn . The vocabulary and then the concept . Once the infant/toddler  understands the concept and the action he will begin to use it during his play. Play is very important as young children learn a lot of important concepts during play . They may not be able to articulate it but as you observe you will see that they are problem solving .


 For example if they are playing with  blocks you will observer how they will stock blocks based on the size  once they figure that  that when you stock different  sizes they tend to topple over . This is their ability to problem solve, however, if you interrupt by telling them "no if you stack this  it will topple over " you must give your infant toddler the opportunity develop  her problem solving skills".
This is where  the foundation begins.

Math language durning the infant/toddler years

Young children need to learn math language very early . It begins by you introducing that language to them. You can do this by using two empty laundry bottles : Johnny I see that you are playing with the big red bottle . Once the baby gets the concept he will begin to use the word with other objects . If the baby has toys cars you can say can I have the big car? If the child is able to pick out the big car and give it to you he got it.  Now you can add a new vocabulary to the same object : bigger /smaller . Give the infant/toddler time to understand the language and to be able to add the concept to the object. Understanding language is the first step to ward reading.

Math language starts early .Long/ short, high, more, less ,half are just a few of the math words that you should introduce and give time for your toddler to understand their meaning . Uses concrete activities to help him to understand. During play is a great time . Wow you made a high tower. That is a long train line.

Music-Helping your child to focus

Playing children music  for young children helps them to develop a number of skills.

Here are a few :

Listening skills

Language

Multi-culture

Math

Balance

Patterns

Body control

Rhythms

Following directions

Moods

These are just some of the  benefits that music helps the brain with. You can play back ground music for  young children all the time. Playing music in the car is a great way to keep your young ones engaged. They like to sing along with the music. These skills are needed for kindergarten and life.

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"The brain is like a circuit breaker, in order for your infant/toddler to learn you must provide the tools to connect the wires" -Daseta Gray

Independance-early years

Observation :
8:30 am
October 7,2014
3yr.1month
Ajani   tried to zip his coat up yesterday. He was not able to put the zipper into the whole. His mother started the zipping and the said "ok you  can finish zipping it." He did and when  he was finished he said ."look I did with a big smile on his face".


This is the root of self-esteem and self-confidence and feeling competent . This may seams like a small thing to you but for a 3 year old it is a big accomplishment.


When he get to kindergarten he must be able to get himself dressed including the ability to zip up his coat, put on his gloves and his scarf. His ability to do these task makes it easier for the teacher and himself. He will not need to hear these words " you are a big boy and you should be able to zip your coat up . Look at peter he is able to put his coat on and zip it up". These are negative words that makes children feel incompetent and it does  something to the developing brain.


The next time that your toddler wants to try a do a task allow and encourage it .

Problem solving

Observation :
Age : 3years and 2 weeks.
October 3,2014
Time 8:15 am
Yesterday  Ajani was playing with a small lint remover roll . I told him that I did not want him to play with it . I took it from him and put it on top of the microwave  that is sitting on a cabinet. I moved away and sat down at the table. Ajani found a an Asian fan (circle) on the floor . He threw it toward the lint remover on the micro-wave. The fan hit the lint remover and it fell to the ground." Look NaNa with a big smile on his face I got it".


I wanted to laugh but I could not . Realizing that the new three year old has out smart me I stood amazed . I reflected on the opportunities  that he has had in the past three years that allowed him to develop his problem solving skills, the ability to think on his feet, self esteem, self confidence ,competence and the ability to take risk.
 His wiring in his brain has had a chance  to connect. We will observer the development of his brain within  the next 12 months.


I would like to hear your comments

Language development -durning the early years

The Thirty Million Word Gap

In this groundbreaking study, Betty Hart and Todd Risley entered the homes of 42 families from various socio-economic backgrounds to assess the ways in which daily exchanges between a parent and child shape language and vocabulary development. Their findings were unprecedented, with extraordinary disparities between the sheer number of words spoken as well as the types of messages conveyed. After four years these differences in parent-child interactions produced significant discrepancies in not only children’s knowledge, but also their skills and experiences with children from high-income families being exposed to 30 million more words than children from families on welfare. Follow-up studies showed that these differences in language and interaction experiences have lasting effects on a child’s performance later in life.
The Early Catastrophe
Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley Mission:
Betty Hart and Todd Risley were at the forefront of educational research during the 1960’s War on Poverty. Frustrated after seeing the effects of their high quality early intervention program aimed at language skill expansion prove unsuccessful in the long-term, they decided to shift their focus. If the proper measures were being taken in the classroom, the only logical conclusion was to take a deeper look at the home. What difference does home-life make in a child’s ability to communicate? Why are the alarming vocabulary gaps between high school students from low and high income environments seemingly foreshadowed by their performance in preschool? Hart and Risley believed that the home housed some of these answers.
Experimental Method:
Hart and Risley recruited 42 families to participate in the study including 13 high-income families, 10 families of middle socio-economic status, 13 of low socio-economic status, and 6 families who were on welfare. Monthly hour-long observations of each family were conducted from the time the child was seven months until age three.  Gender and race were also balanced within the sample.
Results:
The results of the study were far more severe than anyone could have anticipated. Observers found that 86% to 98% of the words used by each child by the age of three were derived from their parents’ vocabularies. Furthermore, not only were the words they used nearly identical, but also the average number of words utilized, the duration of their conversations, and the speech patterns were all strikingly similar to those of their caregivers. 
After establishing these patterns of learning through imitation, the researchers next analyzed the content of each conversation to garner a better understanding of each child’s experience. They found that the sheer number of words heard varied greatly along socio-economic lines. On average, children from families on welfare were provided half as much experience as children from working class families, and less than a third of the experience given to children from high-income families. In other words, children from families on welfare heard about 616 words per hour, while those from working class families heard around 1,251 words per hour, and those from professional families heard roughly 2,153 words per hour. Thus, children from better financial circumstances had far more language exposure to draw from. 
In addition to looking at the number of words exchanged, the researchers also looked at what was being said within these conversations. What they found was that higher-income families provided their children with far more words of praise compared to children from low-income families. Conversely, children from low-income families were found to endure far more instances of negative reinforcement compared to their peers from higher-income families.  Children from families with professional backgrounds experienced a ratio of six encouragements for every discouragement. For children from working-class families this ratio was two encouragements to one discouragement. Finally, children from families on welfare received on average two discouragements for every encouragement.
To ensure that these findings had long-term implications, 29 of the 42 families were recruited for a follow-up study when the children were in third grade. Researchers found that measures of accomplishment at age three were highly indicative of performance at the ages of nine and ten on various vocabulary, language development, and reading comprehension measures. Thus, the foundation built at age three had a great bearing on their progress many years to come. 
Inferences:
Within a child’s early life the caregiver is responsible for most, if not all, social simulation and consequently language and communication development. As a result, how parents interact with their children is of great consequence given it lays a critical foundation impacting the way the children process future information many years down the road. This study displays a clear correlation between the conversation styles of parents and the resulting speech of their children. This connection evidences just how problematic the results of this study may truly be.
The finding that children living in poverty hear fewer than a third of the words heard by children from higher-income families has significant implications in the long run. When extrapolated to the words heard by a child within the first four years of their life these results reveal a 30 million word difference. That is, a child from a high-income family will experience 30 million more words within the first four years of life than a child from a low-income family. This gap does nothing but grow as the years progress, ensuring slow growth for children who are economically disadvantaged and accelerated growth for those from more privileged backgrounds.
In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words, the words a child from a low-income family has typically mastered are often negative directives, meaning words of discouragement.  The ratios of encouraging versus discouraging feedback found within the study, when extrapolated, evidences that by age four, the average child from a family on welfare will hear 125,000 more words of discouragement than encouragement. When compared to the 560,000 more words of praise as opposed to discouragement that a child from a high-income family will receive, this disparity is extraordinarily vast.
The established connection between what a parent says and what a child learns has more severe implications than previously anticipated. Though Hart and Risley are quick to indicate that each child received no shortage of love and care, the immense differences in communication styles found along socio-economic lines are of far greater consequence than any parent could have imagined. The resulting disparities in vocabulary growth and language development are of great concern and prove the home does truly hold the key to early childhood success.
Sources Cited:
Hart, B. & Risley, T.R. “The Early Catastrophe” (2004). Education Review, 77 (1), 100-118. <http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/The_Early_Catastrophe_30_Million_Word_Gap_by_Age_3.pdf>
— Prepared by Ashlin Orr, Kinder Institute Intern, 2011-12.
For more information about putting this research into practice, please explore our work at the Rice Oral and Written Language (OWL) Lab. Click here to learn more.

Parent involvement

As we begin the new school year . We should remind ourselves how important your involvement is in your child's education. If your child is 0-5 and they are in in childcare setting you should understand what quality for young children means:

Parent involvement-1

Is your four year old adjusting to pre-K or her school  culture?


This is a major transition for both of your .I am taking it that the crying is not that much as the first w days . You may have cried but she did not .lol I have seen it happen.
Now that your baby is in school parent involvement is very important both at home and at school.
Here are a few things that you can do :
Ask your child how was his day ?
What activities did you participate in?
Have you made any friends as yet?
You should always engage your child in conversation
These questions will begin  the  conversation . Language  development is very important for young children. The ability to express one self is a life skill.
At school you can volunteer a few hours
You can donate items to the school
You can participate on the  Parent Association  all pre-schools should have a Parent  Association
One of your school's objectives should be to empower the families
You should get to know the parents in your class
Encourage more males to take part in the school
These are a few things that you can start with .
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Things to keep in mind--how you know your baby needs Occupational Therapy

Your child might need occupational therapy if:

• They seem to have weak hands and/or get tired easily while doing fine motor tasks.
• They have difficulty with learning gross motor tasks such as riding a bike, skipping, or hopping.
• They are overly sensitive or emotional to sensory stimulation including touch, textures, tastes, sound, and movement.
• They are under responsive with decreased reactions to movement, touch, sound, or have unusually low emotional responses.
• They have trouble with writing including pushing too hard or not hard enough, not being able to develop and maintain a good grasp on the pencil, and having trouble with size and spacing of their letters.
• They have trouble learning how to dress them selves.
• They have difficulty with coordinating the muscles that control their eyes for good vision.

We work on assisting parents and child care providers in developing the various skills to minimize the possibility of needing occupational therapy. We love occupational therapists, however the rate of referral they receive for their service is very high. Imagine if you knew some things to do at home to help your little one build self esteem and self confidence and most important life skills.


Hope to see you at one of our Pop us Baby & Wee class or a Tea & Tots session




Be well




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