Neighborhood News

The California Department of Education (CDE) recently distributed a handout entitled “Early Intervention Special Education Resources.” It gives a brief overview of three important programs:

• Desired Results (DR) Access Project
• Seeds of Partnership Project
• Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP)

Read the overview here:

If you’d like to read more about the DR Access Project, check out “Resources to Support the Use of the DRDP with Infants and Toddlers with IFSPs”:

Finally, if you’d like to read more about Supporting Inclusive Practices, take a look at this handout:

Very interesting reading. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. Nearly every aspect of life has changed since then, including early learning and care experiences for young children and their families. What has been the impact of this pandemic on young children’s learning and well-being? The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) set out to answer this question through national surveys to parents of children ages 3-5. NIEER researchers described the results of these surveys in a recent publication entitled “Seven Impacts of the Pandemic on Young Children and their Parents: Initial Findings from NIEER’s December 2020 Preschool Learning Activities Survey.” This report compares factors like preschool participation, supports and services to children with disabilities, social-emotional wellbeing of young children, and parental hardships both between Spring and Fall of 2020, as well as between pre-pandemic times and Fall 2

Here’s another great parenting resource from our friends at Zero to Three: Getting Ready for School Begins at Birth. The booklet is available in both English and Spanish (see below) and describes four important skill areas to support children in becoming “eager learners”:

* Language and Literacy Skills

* Thinking Skills

* Self-Control or “the ability to express and manage emotions in appropriate ways”

* Self-Confidence

This resource stresses the concept that “children learn best through their everyday experiences with the people they love and trust, and when the learning is fun.” It also provides families with specific strategies targeted to the first, second, and third years of life. The message of Getting Ready for School Begins at Birth wraps up with some things for parents to think about, like reducing screen time and how our beliefs and values shape what we teach our children. Give it a read and let us know in the comments below what you thought.

This resource is related to one or

This week on the Neighborhood News, we’re spotlighting a valuable Early Start professional resource: the Early Start Personnel Manual: A Guide for Planning and Implementing Professional Development in Support of Early Intervention Services (ESPM). As implied by its title, the ESPM details the “foundational principles, competencies, and evidence-based practices” essential for high-quality Early Start service delivery. Topics covered include the early intervention team composition and roles, personnel entry and advancement pathways for Early Intervention Specialists and Early Intervention Assistants, foundational principles for providing Early Start services, and core knowledge and skill competencies for Early Start personnel. 

The ESPM is recommended by the California State Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention and supports the California Early Start Comprehensive System of Personnel Development to strengthen California’s system of qualified personnel providing services

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University offers the field a timely infographic entitled “What We Can Do About Toxic Stress.” It explains the concept using a clever analogy of an overburdened truck hauling too much cargo and offers some practical advice about ways to lighten the load. “Just as a truck can only bear so much weight before it . . . stops moving forward, challenging life circumstances can weigh caregivers down (making) it hard to do the things they need and want to do.” The infographic suggests seeking out supports and services that “allow caregivers to focus on caring for themselves and their children,” such as food pantries, free activities for children and families, connecting with other parents, and seeking help from professionals. Once the stress has lifted, it can also be beneficial to help others by “joining in advocacy to expand family supports.” Being connected to others really helps to lessen the burden of toxic stress.

This resource is related to

A study from the Princeton Baby Lab reveals new insights into brain development related to social and communication development. In the study, researchers recorded brain activity (safely!) for both babies and an adult during face-to-face interactions. They found that “during the face-to-face sessions, the babies’ brains were synchronized with the adult’s brain in several areas known to be involved in high-level understanding of the world — perhaps helping the children decode the overall meaning of a story or analyze the motives of the adult reading to them.” Findings also suggested that the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for a wide range of functions like planning and decision-making, may be more active in infancy than previously thought. Researchers also noted a “feedback loop” occurring between the baby and the adult, where each seemed to predict and influence the other’s actions during the interaction.

Read more about the study and its results here: https://www.pri

Sponsored by the California State Screening Collaborative and First 5 Association, an exciting Webinar was just announced. On Wednesday, January 27, from 9:30-11:00 AM, join a host of notable speakers to learn and share your knowledge related to services for infants & toddlers with developmental and behavioral concerns from tribal communities. Click here to register for this informative Webinar. Feel free to download and share the flyer below to help spread the work about this important event.

This is exciting! The folks at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) have published a 25-minute online module on the topic of attachment. Development of Attachment: Learn How Children Form Lasting Bonds with Their Caregivers contains a series of narrated slides as well as a handout and a discussion guide in case an early intervention team would like to view it as a group. The presentation is currently available in English only, but I-LABS has plans to repost it in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali. Transcripts of each narrated slide are also available as is an extensive list of the references cited. If attachment is an area of interest, be sure to check this module out. Then leave us a comment below to tell us what you thought.

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.

“Temperament” is the term for how we react and respond to the world. Our temperaments show up as early as infancy. For parents, understanding their child’s temperament and being able to predict and plan for their child’s reaction to different situations can help them better support their child’s learning as well as avoid frustrating scenarios. With this in mind, ZerotoThree.org has published Tips on Temperament, a resource for parents on how to understand and work with their young child’s temperament. Tips on Temperament is written in family-friendly language and shares facts, strategies, and questions to consider as families learn more about their little ones. Check out this resource at https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/243-tips-on-temperament.

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.

Photo by Shanice McKenzie from Pexels

Did you know the Service Coordination Handbook has gone digital? It’s available here to view, download, or print out. Chapters include:

• Service Coordination and Coordinators
• Introduction to Procedural Safeguards
• Multidisciplinary Team Process
• Interagency Agreements
• Evaluation and Eligibility
• Assessment
• The Individualized Family Service Plan Process

Think of it as a one-stop shop for the answers to all your questions about service coordination in Early Start. There’s also a section of Handbook Resources, which includes 21 additional documents and useful tools. Even more chapters are planned for the future, so bookmark the Service Coordination handbook here.

The National Service Coordination Training Workgroup, with support from the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the Early Childhood Personnel Center, have recently published Knowledge and Skills for Service Coordinators (KSSC). The KSSC describes “the foundational knowledge and skills that are necessary for quality service coordination in early intervention.” Early Start personnel with service coordination responsibilities may find this resource useful for self-assessment of their own knowledge and skills; supervisors may find this document helpful for developing role and job descriptions for hiring, supervision, and staff development.

Click here to access the KSSC.

Click here to read the announcement about the KSSC on the DEC website.

We may be a little late for Halloween, but the ideas in No Tricks, Some Treats, All Fun: Top 5 Fall Activities for Toddlers, by Zero-to-Three, can be adapted for use throughout November and into December. “Apple Taste Off” works any time this season. “Ghost Painting” may need a new name, but the “Fall Sensory Bin” is sure to be a hit any time. “Seek a Treat” can become a scavenger hunt for fun and festive fall items, which is especially exciting to do in a dimly lit room with a flashlight. “Ghostbusters!” could become a turkey hunt as you catch your gobbling friends and use them to decorate your space. Check out this resource and let us know in the comments below what adaptations you might make. It’s always good to share ideas with parents that they can make their own.

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.

UPDATED 11/09/20

From DDS: 

"The Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention (ICC) and the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) are pleased to share these outreach materials with you in Spanish. Additional languages of these materials are forthcoming and will be forwarded to you as they become available. The Early Start Community Flyer has also been updated to include a fillable box for you to input your local contact information."

To download these updated resources, click the links below.

1. Early Start Healthcare Provider Brochure (Spanish)

2. The Early Start Community Flyer (English) – Fillable Local Contact Information Version (English and Spanish) – This flyer, for families who may have a concern about their child’s development, was developed by the ICC in collaboration with the Family Resource Center Network of California. This flyer now contains a customizable area for local referral agencies to add in and share their local contact information.

3. The Early Sta

This article from WestEd's R&D Alert highlights the California Inclusion and Behavioral Network (CIBC) and its impact on supporting California's early childhood educators to foster supportive and inclusive environments for children with challenging behaviors, disabilities, and other special needs. Read more about how CIBC consultants use reflective practice to build capacity of early care and education staff, and how the program has adapted to meet the needs of educators during the COVID-19 crisis: https://www.wested.org/rd_alert_online/challenging-behavior-empowering-early-childhood-educators-through-reflective-practice/# 

In Tips for Video Chatting with Young Children – Staying Connected While Far Apart, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers some practical guidance on how to make video chatting a rich and meaningful experience. The author reports that “children as young as 8 months old respond very well to interactions with people via video chat platforms.” It’s all about the real-time interaction capability of today’s video chat platforms (like Skype, Facetime, and Google Hangout). This resource provides tips on supporting children as they use the platforms and adults as they chat with young children as well as ways to make video chats more interactive. The article ends with a link to some exciting research on the topic. Check it out and leave us a comment below to tell about your video chatting experiences.

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 N

A recent study found that for young children at risk for learning and behavioral challenges, reading together with a parent can help support their language development later in life. Researchers studied the impact of parents reading to children as young as 1 year old with certain risk factors that make them susceptible to delays in development. The results? “Children with genetic variations that put them at-risk fared just as well as their peers” on later vocabulary assessments when they were read to as babies. This study adds to the existing body of evidence that supports close relationships with caregivers and early actions like talking, reading, and singing as positive influences on infant and toddler development.

Learn more about the study at https://www.rutgers.edu/news/young-children-and-infants-read-parents-have-stronger-vocabulary-skills.

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

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a wealth of resources on its website. The one we’d like to call your attention to this week is entitled Information on Safety in the Home & Community for Parents with Infants & Toddlers (Ages 0-3). Click on the title to be taken directly to the site. There you’ll find a series of links on topics ranging from burns to medicine safety to water safety and everything in between. These links will take you to topic-specific pages within CDC’s website, many of which include prevention tips. Once you’ve explored, leave us a comment below to let us know which topic you found to be most useful in your day-to-day work with families.

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.

Relationships are the heart of Early Start; they are also at the heart of development for infants and toddlers. Young children learn best through relationships with the important people in their lives, like parents, caregivers, siblings, and peers. Parents and other caregivers can support the skills needed to build these relationships through everyday actions. ZerotoThree.org shares seven tips for helping children build strong relationships: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/227-tips-on-helping-your-child-build-relationships

Click the link above to read the tips, and tell us in the comments below: Which tip stands out to you as the most important for supporting relationship-building skills in infants and toddlers?

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.

The Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) and the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute offer parents of infants and toddlers a host of resources on their site. These include practice guides for parents to provide their young children with “fun and exciting literacy learning experiences and opportunities.” The site also includes CELLcasts—video versions of the practice guides—and CELLposters, which can be used as quick reminders about practices parents want to try. Selected practice guides are also available in Spanish and with adaptations written specifically with children who have disabilities in mind. “The practice guides describe everyday home, community, and childcare learning opportunities that encourage early literacy learning.” Check them out!

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.