Socialization among groups--Observation at the museum

Many times when I speak with individuals about the importance of providing certain experiences to your infant/toddler people say... oh she is too young. Unfortunately most of the comments come from one group.


Yesterday I took my son to a museum and I observed the interactions between different cultural groups. It was rather interesting. A Black woman with her 6 year old daughter, a White woman with her 5 year old son. I paint this picture to demonstrate a point.

There were a few children in the area we were in. As I interacted with my son there were 2 other parents with their children playing in the water. The Black mother was focused on her cell phone. The White mother was in her own world. I was interacting with my son asking him which item he wanted to play with.

Outings are an opportunity for your child and you to socialize but also a time for you to interact with your child within another environment; do not consistently interrupt they play time as you want to see what she does.

The little boy had a truck my son wanted to play with and my son was trying to take the truck, I explained to him that the little boy was taking a turn and I guided Ajani to another toy. The boy's mother offered Ajani another toy as well but I was able to distract him for a moment.


The Asian family was interacting with their children (ages: 2, 3, 12 months old); Ajani sat next to one of the children and the father told the son to say "hi" Ajani and I told Ajani say "hi" and they both did.

This is an example of socialization, too many times as our children get older they only interact with their immediate family or their own cultural group. As the children move on to higher grades even college socialization is a major challenge, I know because I've recently spoken to several young people in college and they said one of the biggest challenges was socialization, not knowing how to interact with other cultural groups because growing up they remained around their own cultural group.

Please keep this in mind they next time you take your child out to a family/child friendly outing with other parents and children your child's age.

 

Social Emotional School Readiness

First 2000 days-Social emotional school readiness

It is getting close to beginning of the school year. You are looking for childcare it maybe a provider mother (small setting in a home) or a center base environment or  a baby sitter. Quality care is very important  and it begins with the caregiver being  trained in infant/toddler care and child development. The ages of  0-3 are the most critical years  brain development and this period should be nurtured. It is very important for young children to have developmental toys, they must be allowed to explore . Their care giver must understand what are social emotional school readiness skills and how to help an infant/toddler develop those skills. You as the parent or primary care giver must also help the child at home .  It does not take a long time to teach these skills. Here are the skills :

·         Confidence- A sense of control and mastery of one’s body, behavior and the world; the child sense that she is more likely than not to succeed at what she undertakes, and that adults will be helpful.

·         Curiosity- The sense that finding out about things is positive and leads to pleasure

·         Intentionality- The wish and capacity to have an impact and to act upon that with persistence (this is clearly related to a sense of competence of being effective).

·         Self-control- The ability to engage with others based on the sense of being understood by and understanding others

·         Capacity to communicate- The wish and ability to verbally exchange ideas, feelings and concepts with others. This is related to a sense of trust in others and of pleasure in engaging with others, including adults.

·         Co-cooperativeness-The ability to balance one’s own needs with others in a group activity.

Children who lack these skills before they get to school will   have a difficult time catching up. Development is a process that occurs in stages and when a stage is missed it is very hard to revert to it.
  As a parent it is very important that you are aware of what your infant/toddler needs for school. You should be educating yourself also. There are many things that you can do at  home to your infant/toddler to develop the social emotion school readiness skills.
You should try not to have more than one caregiver for your infant/toddler because positive relationship is a what helps to build a healthy brain

Culture - socialization

It is very important that you expose yourself and your infant/toddler to different cultures.

This is a great event that I  usually attend and I will be going on Sunday. Check it out.

www.shinnecocknation.org/powwow

Hakame! Welcome to The Shinnecock Indian Nation, a continuously self-governing tribe residing along the shores of Eastern Long Island for thousands of years

Emotional Development

Emotional development for  child under 3 years old- The refers to the child's ability to recognize, express and manage their feelings and to understand and respond to the feelings of others. A child needs to  express a full range of emotions -from joy to sadness to frustration and anger, in a  healthy and appropriate ways , this is called self regulation this process begins in infancy and as you guide the child they will get better by the time they are three years old.
How your child feels about herself-  whether she likes herself and thinks that she can succeed at what she tries is a major part of emotional development.

Socil emotionl development 18-36 mos

Your toddler should be able to establish a relationship with other adults other than her family members or her primary care giver. That is one of the reason why you should have one baby sitter for the child or try to have the infant in the same daycare for at least the first three years. Continuity of care helps toddlers  learn how to build relationships. It makes them feel safe .

They will begin to imitate adult activities like sweeping, moping , wiping up spills  and reading. You must have these  materials available  for your toddler in order for her to get the  experience. All these experiences are pre-writing skills ,fine motor development .

In order for a child to be ready for  writing her fine muscles must be developed and that time and experience. Allowing your infant/toddler to wipe up spills develops her wrist muscles, using a broom (buy a small boom) allows the  infant/toddler to develop her finger muscles and arm muscles, sweeping also helps with eye hand coordination. These skills are need for school.

Concepts-- The alphabet

 Young children learn through repetition and practice. Introducing concepts to your baby early allows her time to process them and there is no pressure therefore learning becomes fun. My 23 month old grandson has been listening to the alphabet song  for  a while, on TV (educational DVD and age appropriate TV programs), and CDS  when he reads he calls everything P . We made him a P from card board and gave it to him.

The letter P is now a part of his play items he is able to not only say it but feel it ,see it  ,observe the shape etc. You  should not introduce the alphabet to children in order. By having the letter to manipulate the form of the letter will be imprinted in section of the brain that controls written language.

Making decisions

Your child is able to make decisions at an early age but you must be in tune with your child in order to give her the opportunity to make decisions. A good example is during feeding time you give your child a mean and she pushes it away although she had it before. You should try something else because your child is communication to you that she  is not in the mood for  that meal. This is called "being in tune".

Co-operation

Many parents, teachers and care givers will say she/he does not listen. It is really getting your infant/toddler to co-operate. Your infant's brain is developing. The Cerebral cortex is the third section of the brain that develops it is responsible for conscious ,voluntary actions. This development of the cerebral cortex  section of the brain is not complete until a child is around twenty years old. However ,you should keep in mind that development is a process and during that process you must guide your child.
You need to have discussions with your child that will help to develop her logical reasoning ability. You must have discussion with your child that will help her to develop empathy . These discussions
will help your child to make positive decisions when you are not around and the child is in a situation.
 For example- many teens get influenced by others to join  gangs and is persuaded to engage in anti-social behaviors.

Speech

 A part of the brain-
Wernicke's area is located in the temporal lobe and it   plays a critical role in the ability to understand  meaningful speech.
It is very important that you read with your baby . You should also wean your baby from a pacifier beginning at 9 months. The pacifier prevents speech and language development. When you speak with your baby  she will begin to repeat what you say but if she has a pacifier in her mouth she will not be able to make the sounds that are needed before she speaks . If she gets  to be 24 months and she is not saying words she will be  referred for speech therapy. This is very costly and also will keep your daughter behind . Your baby understands once you are consistent, patient  and allow time for her to learn the concept.
It is best to get it right the first time.It is very difficult to rewire  a brain.

Language development - Brain development

The Broca's Area
  is located in the frontal lobe of the  brain and it controls the production of spoken word and written language.

 It is very important for you to speak with your with your baby ,read to your baby , play age appropriate music for your baby. Take your baby to different places  for her to see different people and things this is also a part of language development. You should also
 Remember your baby is learning although she is not able to speak as yet  and you should speak regular  with  your baby . Use a low tone of voice when you are speaking with your baby because yelling will just confuse your baby.
You should also purchase age appropriate books for your baby( board books these are thick )that your baby will not able to  rip put a few books in a box on the floor ,this will allow your baby to read when she wants to . This will also help her to expand her vocabulary. She will  begin  learning how to make decisions by making choices. Leadership skills begin during these years .

Sensory Activities - Brain development

The Parietal lobe: is a section of the brain it is located on the crown of the forehead  this section of the brain processes sensory information for smell, taste and touch. An area at the front of the parietal lobe  called the motor cortex is responsible for motor coordination. It is very  important for you to understand that you have to develop all areas of the brain together.

Just  think about all the things that your baby has to learn within three years, these skills are called school readiness skills. In order for you to give your baby the experiences that  will help her to develop a healthy brain you must understand brain development.
It is very important to hold, hug and play with your baby as that is a part of sensory activity. Provide different experiences that will allow that section of your baby's  brain to develop. This does not mean that you will ignore that other areas. The brain must be develop  simultaneously,  happening at the same time .
You saw the pictures  of the children  making play dough: These are some  of the skills that they were developing:
 their fine motor and gross  skills,
 their co-ordination, eye hand
 they get a chance to socialize 
language skills
team work
vocabulary
following directions
taking turn
science
Math

Baby & Wee Session Sat. Aug. 24, 2013 @ 10am - 11am

Developing a self -confidence

Remember that babies are  wired for leaning and  learning is a natural  with babies however you must give them the opportunity to begin  building self-confidence.  For example at four months many babies begin holding on  their bottles when you are feeding them, you should encourage it by giving the child an opportunity hold her bottle while you guide the process. At four months you should encourage the baby to sit  with the support of a pillow. Babies learn from repetition and it takes time for them to learn these new skills. You should have been giving your baby tummy time from she got home. You want to develop a self confident baby.

Sensory experience...Don't cheat

Many times as parents we hesitate to give our infants/toddlers certain experiences because we believe they are too young. In fact certain experiences should be given during their infant/toddler years it's known as sensory experience. Feel and touch. It's also the begin of their introduction to science.

The first picture is from one of our Baby & Wee sessions where both mom and baby are experiences the feel of paint. It's also no toxic it's special paint for children.

 

 

Another sensory experience at the Baby & Wee session at the Brooklyn Children's Museum. Making playdough. Something you can do at home rather than purchasing ready made playdough. Besides it's more fun for you and your toddler to make it at home. She will be able to see how things change also known as cause and effect.

 

 

What will be your infant/toddler's next sensory experience.

 

I look forward to hearing about them.

 

Be well

Getting the other parent on the same page

In order to get the results you want to ensure your baby/toddler is not behind (examples have been given and statistics in previous posts) it is important to get the other parent on the same page. Yes your parenting techniques will be a little different because you are drawing on your own childhood experiences; at the same time you are creating a new process with your own child(ren).

If you are the only one reading and understanding the importance of brain development in your infant/toddler then help the other parent to understand. You may know that there are different types of learners so identify which type the other parent is rather than frustrate yourself trying to get your point across.

There are plenty of videos and articles online that discuss brain development of infants and toddlers. We have a few websites mentioned under our recommended links section.

Let me know how it goes

Be well

Potty training = consistency... it's a MUST

As many of you know potty training is a real challenge. It takes dedication and most of all consistency. You must make it part of her daily routine. Select the same timeframe daily to take her to the potty; I personally work with the morning when my son just wakes up. He wakes up around the same time and he is usually dry (the pull up I put on him before he goes to bed is the same one he wakes up wearing and it is dry).

Some parents/caregivers get frustrated but you must understand you should help her to correlate the peeing sensation with the potty. You should not work with her for 3 days then stop and then start the following week. The brain is wired  a certain way at while her brain is still developing you must provide the tools (road map) that will help her get through the potty training process.

If your child is 3 years old and not potty trained it is going to be a major issue with school. You  have read (hopefully) previous blogs when we speak about our children are behind. A good example of being behind would be having a 3 year that is not potty trained.

There will be a few days when you place her on the potty and she does not pee. It's ok just try again (5-10 minutes later) or another day. The key is consistency.

Good luck

Be well

The First 2000 Days-- Literacy

 Book appreciation

Your needs to be introduced to books before birth, You should read books to your baby while you are pregnant, so you did not realize that you should have been reading to your baby now you should begin. Read to your baby every day ,you should read to your baby in different places. When you are at the doctor's office, when you are on the train ,when you are at the air port ,on the  train, in your car etc. You should get a cloth or plastic book and attach it to your baby's stroller. Books should be a part of your baby's every day activity that is the only way she will make books a part of her being. Travel begins with a book there are so many places you and your baby can visit.

The first 2000 days----Brain development

The brain has different sections and each section is responsible for a Domain(area of learning) the brain is like circuit  box all the wires must be connected in order for it to function as a unit. The infant's brain is no different she is born with all the  parts but you have to develop them in order for them to connect. You must allow the child different experiences  that will facilitate brain development.

Ten Components of Quality care

3. The environment should be age appropriate; Children should be allowed to explore because learning is  interactive .
There should be areas for quite  and active play
dramatic and messy play
small group and individual  activities
Multiple sets of toys and books must be available at the infant/toddler eye level to promote decision making. Toys and books should be arranged in  an orderly fashion and they should be rotated regularly .
4. Small group
Small group determine the amount of time that the caregiver is able to spend with each infant/toddler
Small group size creates a sense of safety and intimacy
Small group means less noise  and less activity that will interfere with the toddler's ability to learn
Small group with the correct ratio allows infant/toddlers to  have more one on one
Caregivers are able to adopt activities to meet changing interest and needs of the group

Socialization-Twenty two months

Your toddler is now 22mos . When you take anything from him he hits you or he will try to bite you. This behavior  is normal for this age. Your toddler is not able to express her frustrations with words as yet, however you must explain to your toddler that   the behavior  is not appropriate ,that is not the way she get things done. Remember that you need to be persistent, be patient and most  of all stay calm. If you get excited your message will not get to your toddler. Once your toddler becomes more verbal you will begin teaching her to negotiate  her needs . If your toddler continues to bite way into toddler -hood that will become a  problem . This can be cause for an evaluation  . You should teach your toddler to use their words to get things done. There are also books that you can read with your toddler.

Fine motor skills - The cerebellum

I have blogged about this before and I will continue to mention it as it is critical , many children are referred for occupational therapy and it could have been prevented. You must work on those fine motor (small muscles) the fingers and wrist and eye hand coordination..
You can do many of these activities at home with items that you do not have to purchase:
You need a shoe lace and a cover from a bottle if you buy at Costco you can use the cover from the peanut jar and just put a hole in it use a hot knife or you can use the top from  chief  BOY ARDEE beef   Ravioli. During bath time give your baby two tops from the empty laundry bottle to play with . You should show your baby how to pour water from one container to the other. You only need to show him once. Each time that he takes a bath allow him to play a little with the two containers.

Brain development- Motor skills- Gross and Fine

I have blogged about this before but  I will be mentioning it often because it is critical during the developmental stages of 0-3 yrs old. Fine motor/eye hand co-ordination (small muscles) and gross motor skills.  The Cerebellum is one of the four major parts of the brain , it is responsible for initiating and timing movements and is important for balance  ,posture and coordinating how muscles work together. The cerebellum  begins to develop after the brain stem, but before parts of the brain that is responsible for conscious thought and action.
That is why you have to watch your baby at all times  because they are impulsive they are not able to make rational decisions .As their brain develops  you need to teach them reasoning skills.
 They will need these skills in order to lean how to make independent decisions. It is very important to allow your infant/toddler to have choices.

Unfamilar places

When you travel you must take familiar items with your  infant/ toddler this helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Familiar items allow your infant/toddler to feel comfortable it helps them to adjust to new surroundings. When you take your baby to a childcare program you must also take a familiar item with her .
 Put yourself in your baby's shoes. As an adult when you go to a new place it tales you a while to adjust and worm up to the space and the people. When you go to the doctor, if you are on the train etc  just think about your baby.

Hitting - Guidance

Your 20 month old is now hitting . Your  toddler cannot express her frustrations and also has not yet learned how to articulate her needs/wants verbally. She hits if you tak an object away from her. You should be reminded that your babies brain is developing . The Broca's area controls the speech and written language and the Wernicke's areas of the brain is responsible for speech and plays a critical role in understanding meaningful speech.
 Your baby understands speech but is not yet able to articulate. When your baby exhibits unacceptable behaviors  you must guide her and it must be positive . do not yell DONT DO THAT ! you should speak in a calm voice and explain  you can begin by  saying" Peter that is not how you get things done. you do not need to hit just ask and I will give it to you. If an object is dangerous and she is crying for it  just calmly explain that the object is dangerous and it is not safe for him to play with it." Your toddler will keep crying but as time goes on he will understand.  The brain is developing and you must guide your infant/toddler this will allow her to develop self discipline. These two sections must be developed  together .

Social skills - The power of language

Yesterday I was at the children museum and it was very crowded. We were having fun until  we decided to enter the infant/toddler section. A parent was standing by the entrance with has daughter that looked like 3 years old. As we approached the  door he said to hid child" move out of the way so other people can pass". They  culturally different . I said to him  . Sir it is not appropriate for you to speak in that manner you could have said "move out of the way so the lady can pass" because you are teaching your young child to see people who are culturally different "as other people". "you are right mam you know I did not think of it like that and I will be careful". I think that we have to help each other  without .... parenting today is more challenging.

First 2000 days-Social emotional school readiness

It is getting close to the end of summer. You are looking for childcare it maybe a provider mother (small setting in a home) or a center base environment or  a baby sitter. Quality care is very important  and it begins with the caregiver being  trained in infant/toddler care and child development. The ages of  0-3 are the most critical years  brain development and this period should be nurtured. It is very important for young children to have developmental toys, they must be allowed to explore . Their care giver must understand what are social emotional school readiness skills and how to help an infant/toddler develop those skills. Here are the skills.

·         Confidence- A sense of control and mastery of one’s body, behavior and the world; the child sense that she is more likely than not to succeed at what she undertakes, and that adults will be helpful.

·         Curiosity- The sense that finding out about things is positive and leads to pleasure

·         Intentionality- The wish and capacity to have an impact and to act upon that with persistence (this is clearly related to a sense of competence of being effective).

·         Self-control- The ability to engage with others based on the sense of being understood by and understanding others

·         Capacity to communicate- The wish and ability to verbally exchange ideas, feelings and concepts with others. This is related to a sense of trust in others and of pleasure in engaging with others, including adults.

·         Co-cooperativeness-The ability to balance one’s own needs with others in a group activity.

Children who lack these skills before they get to school will   have a difficult time catching up. Development is a process that occurs in stages and when a stage is missed it is very hard to revert to it.
  As a parent it is very important that you are aware of what your infant/toddler needs for school. You should be educating yourself also. There are many things that you can do at  home to your infant/toddler to develop the social emotion school readiness skills.
You should try not to have more than one caregiver for your infant/toddler because positive relationship is a what helps to build a healthy brain.

5. Components of Quality Care: Primary care and Continuity of Care
A warm, close relationship with at least one caregiver allows an infant/toddler to flourish in group care. Each child enrolled in a group care is matched with a primary caregiver who has the "mommy/daddy" role-the one who the child runs to with smiles and hugs when arriving, and turns to for comfort when upset.
While other staff function more like favorite  aunts/uncles, the primary caregiver builds positive, constant, intimate relationship with the child and the family by being the staff person most : changes the child, and puts him or her down for nap; cuddles and looks at a book with the child one on one  every day; Chats about the child's day with the parent on arrival and departure
Having the same  primary caregiver for more than one year is important for the child's emotional development( the ideal is having the same primary caregiver for three years)
Each change from one caregiver to the next is deeply upsetting to a young child
Having to relearn a caregiver's ways may slow down the child's overall development and leave them reluctant to form new relationships.

 

Lets revisit potty training

It has been a few months since Ajani has been peeing in the potty. When he wakes up the first thing happens he is told " let's go potty" he walks to the bathroom and sits when he uses it there is a celebration clapping hands and a big yes you did it followed with a high five. This morning (7.30.13) he stood up and peed in his potty . He shoot his fist in the air and yelled Yes ! with a big grin on his face. He gets it finally now he is learning the word dodo .
 He is working associating the feeling dodo with the action in  his  brain . Brain development is a process and it takes time, practice, persistence and guidance  which equals love . These are life skills your are giving your infant/toddler. The  foundation of self-esteem begins with you.

Part 2-Quality care--what to look for in the childcare

Care Quality improvement Project: taken from Teen Parent Child Care Quality Improvement Project(ten components of quality care)
1. Your program should be licensed and following the appropriate Health and Safety Practices

• Separate areas for food prep, diapering and toileting
• Detailed procedure for emergencies
• Frequent hand washing
• Infants placed on their back to sleep
• Nutritious meals and snacks

2 .Staff well trained in Early Childhood Development (0-3)
 on going education and training is very important  for quality care.

• Caregiver apply their knowledge of infant/toddler development to plan appropriate activities
• Based on their knowledge of infants' and toddlers' developmental needs :
• Care givers  will use routines to promote learning
• provide meaningful opportunities for conversation and interaction with infants/toddlers

You should  have a monthly classroom meeting with your teachers this way you will be able to interact with your co-parents. You can help to plan activities for your classroom. Daily communication is an essential part of that relationship you should get a daily sheet telling you the activities that your infant/toddler did for the day. Your infant is not able to speak so this is one way for you to know what is going on. You  can see more of these tips- 10 components  for quality care for infants and . I will add the others  as we go.

Reading readiness- The First 2000 Days

Now that your baby is 23 months she begins to pay attention to signs, books etc. When you are walking she will begin to point out things that she did not notice before.
 If you observe your toddler you will notice that when she is interacting with a book she is looking at it intensely  as if she is reading yes she is ready for reading . You should have books that are age appropriate for your toddler. The books should be hard cover with large print and colorful. You should  have  at least 8 books  in a bin on the floor this will allow your baby to have access when she wants to read. Learning should be fun so that your toddler will enjoy learning. You should praise your toddler as you want to build confidence this is one of the social emotional skills that is needed for school. It is good to read the same books to your baby a few times. This will allow your baby to remember the story and she will usually pick up the book and begin reading it and she will remember sections of the book. Each time that you read the story your toddler will enjoy it.

Language development -Sight Words

Sight words are words that are immediately recognized without having to think about them. Sight words  are  frequently used  words,  these words make up  more than 50 percent of the words that kindergartners and other young children will come across. Some sight words don't sound the way they are spelled so rather than relying on phonics to sound them out, learning and recognizing the word by sight is easier. You will need to expand your toddler's vocabulary you cannot wait .There is a good article about sight words at this link. Information is key to successful parenting. We all need to help each other to create a great future for our nation by investing in quality care for our infant and toddlers.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/info_7936356_sight-words-kindergarten.html#ixzz2aOZhzLoA
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