Neighborhood News

Tips for Infants

Tips for Toddlers

These information-packed documents from the U.S., Department of Health and Human Services offer “tips to help caregivers use co-regulation to support early development of self-regulation skills” in infants and toddlers. Aimed at practitioners who work in childcare or other caregiving settings, the tips cover evidence-based practices in six broad topics:

• Start with you;
• Establish a warm and responsive relationship with each child;
• Create calm and structured childcare environments;
• Respond with warmth and structure during stressful moments;
• Work closely with parents; and
• Cultivate a sense of community.

These documents also include definitions, real-world examples, and strategies to try right away. Dive in to your appropriate age group and leave us a comment about the piece of information you are most excited to have discovered.

This resource is related to one or more competencies in the ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM). To find out

With California’s current focus on improving social-emotional outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities, we here at the Neighborhood are always on the lookout for helpful, family-friendly tools. One such resource is What to Expect & When to Seek Help: Bright Futures Developmental Tools for Families and Providers. Developed by Bright Futures at Georgetown University and the National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health, the Tools* are available for any caretaker or professional to access and download for free, both in English and in Spanish. The Infancy tool (English version, Spanish version) and the Early Childhood tool (English version, Spanish version) are the most pertinent to those who are parenting or providing services for children receiving Early Start services. These handouts describe what to expect at each stage of social-emotional development, ways to identify both the child’s and the parent’s strengths, some guidance for talking about a child’s

Screen time is a frequent concern among parents and professionals alike, specifically how much screen time is too much and how early is too early? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has weighed in on the discussion with specific guidelines. In order to make those guidelines more accessible to parents, Dr. Christine Ly, school psychologist with Garden Grove Unified School District, developed a series of pamphlets. “Screen Time and Your Preschooler: Social-Emotional Development” is the specific piece we are focusing on today. In it, Ly cites the recommendations of the AAP, defines social-emotional development, and outlines its relationship with screen time. The pamphlet also includes Positive Parenting tips, organized by age, and a variety of resources to check out. We learned about these brochures through Comfort Connection Family Resource Center in Orange County. They house the other brochures in the series on their website. Take a look.

Screen Time Handbook

Screen Time and Your

Today on the Blog, we’re highlighting a resource for parents to help young children build strong relationships with others. Healthy relationships are a key component of social-emotional development, and it’s within these relationships that children learn and grow. ZerotoThree.org gathered seven tips for parents to support their infant’s and toddler’s relationship-building skills. Check them out at the link below!

 https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/227-tips-on-helping-your-child-build-relationships

 This resource is related to one or more competencies in the ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM). To find out more, visit this resource in the Neighborhood here.

One of the resources mentioned in the SSIP Resource Guide to Social-Emotional Initiatives and Programs is Strategies 2.0, a program funded by the California Department of Social Services which provides free training statewide on the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors. Strategies 2.0 offers a variety of training and supports in-person and online to organizations and individuals serving families throughout California. Registration is currently open for the following dates:

9/8/17, 8am-4pm in San Diego

9/21/17 in Mammoth Lakes (Mono County)

9/28/17 8:30am-4pm in Sacramento

To register, or to find out more information, visit http://familyresourcecenters.net/, select “Services” in the top menu, and select “Trainings.”