Neighborhood News

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.

Today on the Neighborhood, we're sharing a new resource developed by the Family Resource Centers Network of California (FRCNCA). The Early Start Community infographic highlights various kinds of community supports for families of infants and toddlers with disabilities. This one-page resource includes links and descriptions for each type of resource, and can be printed or posted online for families to access. Click here to download the PDF directly to your device. To learn more about the FRCNCA, visit their website at www.frcnca.org.

“Getting Ready: Promoting School Readiness through a Relationship-Based Partnership Model” was published by Sheridan et al in 2008. “In the ‘Getting Ready’ model, collaborative partnerships between parents and professionals are encouraged to promote parent’s competence and confidence in maximizing children’s natural learning opportunities and preparing both parents and children for long-term school success.”* A more recent article by Marvin et al (2019), “Getting Ready: Strategies for Promoting Parent-Professional Relationships and Parent-Child Interactions,” expands on the original text and describes a set of “evidence-based ‘Getting Ready’ practices . . . which highlight daily opportunities” in which the practices can be implemented. Waters & Catlett (2020) review the more recent article and include suggestions for professionals who work with young children and their families as well as instructors and faculty in pre-service programs. The ideas highlighted by Waters & Catlett are sou

The closures of many workplaces, summer camps, and daycares due to the COVID-19 pandemic mean that many families are spending most of their time at home with their young children. The home life of infants and toddlers is rich with learning experiences;  one way that early childhood professionals can support families is by sharing strategies to enhance these natural opportunities for learning.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has many resources designed specifically for families that are perfect for sharing, including “Building Social and Emotional Skills at Home,” which features a handful of low- and no-tech tips for parents on different ways they can regularly support their child’s social and emotional development at home. If you are a professional working with young children with developmental disabilities, review the tips and think about how you might modify them for the families of the children you work with. If you are the parent of a young chi

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) offers earthquake resources, focusing on things that can be done to support children before, during, and after an earthquake. For example, the site recommends that parents be encouraged to “give children factual information about earthquakes in simple terms,” appropriate to their developmental level. They also offer an app they created called Help Kids Cope, which provides information on how to talk with children of different developmental levels. Immediately after an earthquake, parents can “model calm behavior; provide simple but accurate information in a quiet, steady voice; encourage comforting or distracting activities; and practice their own self-care.” The NCTSN article concludes with a host of downloadable resources for both parents and teachers. Be sure to check out the earthquake resources so you can be prepared to support the families you serve. Feel free to leave us a comment below and tell us what you thought of this reso

The Daddy Factor: The Crucial Impact of Fathers on Young Children's Development, from Zero to Three, discusses exciting research evidence that supports the important role fathers play in the lives of their young children. From being involved during pregnancy to nurturing strong attachments afterward and everything in between (e.g., feeding, bathing, and playing together), fathers help children develop confidence which leads to stronger peer relationships as they grow older. The Daddy Factor also helps to raise IQ and improve communication and cognitive skills in the long term. The article summarizes its message by saying that “the more time fathers spend in enriching, stimulating play with their child . . . the better the child’s math and reading scores are at 10 and 11 years old.” So, the impact starts early and has lasting benefits that are evident years later. Join us in celebrating dads and the tremendous supports they have to offer young children.

Click here to view the article

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Wow! What a wealth of information the American Academy of Pediatrics brings to us on their Drowning Prevention page! There are articles to read, videos to watch, and infographics to download. Everything you could ever want or need on the subject from newborns through the teen years. Water safety is always a priority but especially this time of year. Parents share their heartfelt stories of losing a child to drowning, and there other articles and videos about drowning prevention, swimming safety tips, and social media graphics you can use to help promote the Drowning Prevention campaign. Take a few minutes to check out the website and share your thoughts in the comments below. Stay safe out there!

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.

During the first few years of their lives, young children are developing communication skills to let the adults in their lives know what they need. These early years are rich with opportunities for caregivers to promote communication and language developing in infants and toddlers. One tool to support caregivers in capitalizing on these opportunities is More Than Baby Talk: 10 Ways to Promote the Language and Communication Skills of Infants and Toddlers. This resource from the Frank Porter Graham Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill outlines ten simple ways that parents, teachers, and other caregivers can help build the language skills of the infants and toddlers in their care. These low- and no-tech strategies can be implemented during everyday routines and activities. Some examples include:

• Talk through or comment on routines (e.g., when washing hands, “We are washing our hands. We are making lots of big bubbles.”).
• During playtime or mealtimes, introduce new

Did you know that “research shows . . . having a strong foundation in early math . . . can lead to higher achievement in both math AND reading later in school.” That’s the kind of wisdom you’ll find in this tip sheet from the U.S. Departments of Health & Human Services and Education. The article defines S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in easy-to-understand terms then offers a long list of tips that families can try in their home language. These tips address such concept areas as measurement, counting, shapes, spatial relationships, patterns, and many more . . . all things inquisitive young minds are interested in learning. Give this tip sheet a read and see what S.T.E.M. skills you can support with children from birth to age three. You might be surprised! Leave us a comment below and let us know what your child found exciting about this important area of education.

This resource is related to one or more competencies in the ICC-Recommended Early Start P

NOW AVAILABLE: Online Peer/Expert Networking (OPEN) Source site, a brand new area of Early Start Online dedicated to sharing resources and fostering peer support for California’s Early Start professionals and families during the COVID-19 crisis.

To access OPEN Source with your existing Early Start Online account, OR to visit as a guest, CLICK HERE. (Existing users will need to Sign In to their account to enter a discussion or upload resources.)

Recently added to OPEN Source: Last week, California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris released two Stress Management Playbooks to help Californians mitigate the effects of stress brought on by the massive changes to our daily lives during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One guide is for parents and caregivers to help recognize and alleviate stress in young children. You can find that resource here:

California Surgeon General’s Playbook: Stress Relief for Caregivers and Kids during COVID-19 (PDF): https://covid19.ca.gov/pdf/caregi

“Winning the Food Fights,” published on healthychildren.org by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is a light-hearted yet informative review of the book Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insights, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup, by Laura A. Jana, M.D., FAAP, and Jennifer Shu, M.D., FAAP. In the review the author poses such mind-bending questions as “Why do (toddlers) insist they hate something they’ve never even tried?” then proceeds to describe the “practical, reality-based answers” spelled out in the book. The areas addressed include “palatable peace-keeping strategies,” weight and eating habits, practicing patience, and applying the suggestions outside the home (which may not be helpful right now, but will be in the future). It’s a quick read and one you’ll enjoy if Food Fights is a topic that touches your life or the lives of the families you serve. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below.

This resource is related to

Researchers at Zero to Three have developed a guide for early childhood professionals to support parents and caregivers in fostering their child's resilience to adversity. This guide, titled Building Resilience: The Power to Cope with Adversity, offers a brief background on understanding resilience, the four levels where resilience can be recognized and promoted, and actionable strategies for supporting parents to build the resilience of their young children every day.

Read more and download the guide here: https://earlystartneighborhood.ning.com/resources-for-everyone/building-resilience-from-zerotothree-org

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.

For nearly four decades, the not-for-profit organization Pathways has been a “positive, trusted, inclusive partner to parents everywhere.” The dedicated staff at Pathways.org provide “free, trusted resources” based on the best available research and the expert opinion of pediatricians and therapists (e.g., OT, PT, SLP). Pathways’ resources include information on milestones; ability descriptions divided by age group; suggested activities to stimulate development; downloadable checklists, in both English and Spanish, that are easy to print and share; and countless video examples of the skills being discussed. Visit Pathways.org and take a few minutes to look around, then leave us a comment about what you found most interesting. We’d love to hear from you!

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.

Have you seen the online California Early Start Central Directory of Early Intervention Resources? It's worth a visit! 

A few highlights:

• 24/7 access to some 2,000 early intervention services and resources throughout the state
• An easy-to-use search bar allows users to quickly find their selected service or resource in their county
• Includes comprehensive information about the Early Start system—what it is, how it works, how to get referred, and more
• Features nformation on where to start and how to get help immediately for those concerned about their child or a child in their care
• Users can help keep information current and give feedback about the directory via a link on the site

Access the Central Directory on the Early Start CEITAN website here: https://www.ceitan-earlystart.org/central-directory/

Have you used the Central Directory in your work with families? Let us know in the comments below!