Welcome! This page features resources organized by service type (service coordination, service provision, and family support). Use the tabs below to view a selection of resources under each type of service. To view all resources of a certain service type, use the following Menu:
Service Coordination
Service Provision
Family Support
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The Department of Developmental Services has recently approved the digital publication of Darby’s Legacy: Best Practices When Serving Families with Infants and Toddlers Who Are Medically Fragile. This document, endorsed by the California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention, is now available here on the Neighborhood, and elsewhere, to assist Early Start personnel who provide supports and services to families with young children who are medically fragile and likely in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Darby’s Legacy can be downloaded for later retrieval, emailing to a colleague or family, or for printing to share with others. Producing Darby’s Legacy, which honors the memory of Darby Jean and her family, was a labor of love for all involved. …
This week’s post was inspired by a blog by speech-language pathology professors Carole Zangari and Robin Parker, called “PrAACtical AAC.” (Their blog is a great find, too, if you’re interested in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).)
The post we are featuring is from 2014, and it’s entitled, “Does AAC Really Work with Infants and Toddlers?” The blog post provides a link to a valuable research article on AAC, but you can access the article itself here:…
This resource is quite the find! It’s chock full of great ideas to share with families about ways to “encourage infants to focus attention, use working memory, and practice basic self-control skills”—core components in the development of executive function and self-regulation. The suggestions the authors provide range from lap, hiding, and copying games to simple role plays, finger plays, and conversations. Many of the ideas will sound familiar and serve as a great way to reinforce the importance of supportive, responsive interactions between adults and children. They can also help parents recognize the incredible brain-building benefits of activities they already enjoy doing with their young children.…
Head Start’s Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center recently updated their brief on “Infant and Toddler Behaviors that Can Challenge Adults.” The article includes information about what the research says, what challenging behaviors look like, and ideas to try. The authors do an excellent job in succinctly describing all these elements and provide links to other related articles and learning opportunities. The strategies offered are clear and seem easy to implement. Give this brief a read at the link above or the attachment below. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section. We love hearing from you.…
This week we’re featuring a series of articles from our friends at Zero to Three. They’re all about “What You Can Do to Support Babies’ Brain Development,” and are divided up by the age of the baby:
Each handout is subdivided into sections about the various domains of development pertinent to each age group and offers tips…
This week’s resource comes to us from the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. It’s entitled Sign Language Use for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Babies: The Evidence Supports It, and it may be just what you’ve been looking for. You can access it on the Clerc Center’s website under Resources, then Publications, or below for your convenience.
The Clerc Center collaborated with the American Society for Deaf Children to provide a Spanish translation to this publication. This colorful handout is perfect to share with families who may be considering introducing signed language to their child.
The Clerc Center also offers a wide variety information in an array of formats, including the following webinars you might find…
This week we are highlighting a resource from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) entitled, “Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age 2.” It’s a very interesting and quick read, filled with practical examples and age-specific suggestions. The authors also include, “Three Steps to Understanding Your Baby’s or Toddler’s Behavior,” which is intended to help parents sort out the meaning of the cues they may see and hear from their young child. There’s also a fourth bonus step on viewing tantrums as communication with a variety of effective ways to respond. Check out this week’s resource…
Last year, Head Start’s Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) updated their “Effective Practice Guidelines” on social and emotional development. This Web resource is divided into four subdomains:
Each subdomain is further divided into four sections: Know, See, Do, and Improve.
In these sections you will find teaching practices for infants and toddlers; videos featuring young children; suggested practices for teachers and home visitors; and planning goals, actions steps, focused observations, reflections, and feedback to support the work of professionals who work with very young children… including Early Start service providers.
There’s a lot of information in this…
The…
As part of their Parenting for Social Justice series, Zero to Three has published Celebrating Differences: Antiracist Parenting Right From the Start. The article includes “five facts about how children come to understand differences.” These include:
The author supports the idea that “talking to children about racism is part of our responsibility as parents” but acknowledges that this may not always be easy. She suggests reflecting on one’s own biases and re-thinking one’s views on race. This…
The Department of Developmental Services has recently approved the digital publication of Darby’s Legacy: Best Practices When Serving Families with Infants and Toddlers Who Are Medically Fragile. This document, endorsed by the California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention, is now available here on the Neighborhood, and elsewhere, to assist Early Start personnel who provide supports and services to families with young children who are medically fragile and likely in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Darby’s Legacy can be downloaded for later retrieval, emailing to a colleague or family, or for printing to share with others. Producing Darby’s Legacy, which honors the memory of Darby Jean and her family, was a labor of love for all involved. …
No parent or caregiver wants to hear their child is being aggressive. However, aggressive behavior is a natural part of healthy human development. In this week’s article from Zero to Three, parents are given examples of what to expect during different stages of development and what strategies might be helpful in the future.
Knowing what to expect and then adjusting one’s actions can be valuable in producing a positive result. The author provides 12 helpful coping strategies which can help parents channel their child’s aggression during a transitional period.
You can read the complete article by using the link below. …
“The Brain Architects” podcast is hosted by the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child and features experts discussing a variety of topics related to early childhood development. The runtime of this episode, “Building Resilience Through Play,” is around 55 minutes, and a transcript is provided on the website.
Visit the Center on the Development Child’s website to listen to the podcast episode and read the transcript: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/podcast-resilience-play/
The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge and role-specific competencies needed for early intervention service provision, incorporating current…
The folks at Very Well Family, a trusted pregnancy and parenting advice site, published a highly informative and medically reviewed article in 2020, on How to Survive (and Thrive) When You’re Sleep Deprived. The posting includes an explanation of what to expect when baby arrives, statistics on parental sleep deprivation, how sleep deprivation affects our health, and tips on how parents can get more sleep. It also links to other articles on the Very Well Family site about establishing a sleep schedule for baby, getting your baby to sleep through the night, and postpartum depression. So check out How to Survive (and Thrive) When You’re Sleep Deprived. The parents you serve will thank…
This week we’re highlighting an informative article from the journal Childhood Obesity 15(3):206-215. In “Adverse Childhood Experiences in Infancy and Toddlerhood Predict Obesity and Health Outcomes in Middle Childhood,” McKelvey and her colleagues expand on the knowledge derived from the well-known Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, that indicated the “negative effects of childhood trauma on adult weight and health.” The authors specifically looked at the association between “ACEs in early childhood and their correlation to obesity and other health-related issues in middle childhood.”
Data came from 1335 demographically diverse families in an Early Head Start study, when children were ages 1, 2, 3, and 11. Analysis of these data indicated “significant associations between (ACEs) in infancy/toddlerhood and obesity, respiratory problems, taking regular nonattention-related…
“The Story of Max” is an animated video resource designed to provide parents with an introduction to the Early Start program, guiding them through the evaluation, assessment, and IFSP processes to the point where services are received!
…
This week we are highlighting a resource from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) entitled, “Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age 2.” It’s a very interesting and quick read, filled with practical examples and age-specific suggestions. The authors also include, “Three Steps to Understanding Your Baby’s or Toddler’s Behavior,” which is intended to help parents sort out the meaning of the cues they may see and hear from their young child. There’s also a fourth bonus step on viewing tantrums as communication with a variety of effective ways to respond. Check out this week’s resource…
The…
The Clerc Center at Gallaudet University offers 15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children. The principles are described as “best practices for how to read aloud to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children” in American Sign Language. The principles were derived from research on how Deaf parents read to their Deaf children and are presented here as tips for both parents and educators about the skills and strategies useful in sharing books with young children. The principles are contained in one 15-minute video, which is captioned and voiced for non-signers. The site also provides bookmarks within the video so that a viewer can access a specific strategy without having to scan through the entire video. We think you’ll like it, so take a look. Let us know what you…
This resource from Zero to Three explains the science behind why a baby’s cry can cause a parent distress and underscores the importance of parents taking a moment to care for themselves in order to better care for their young child. The article also offers tips for parents on how to cope when their baby is upset. Read more about this resource on the Zero to Three website: https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/how-to-stay-calm-when-baby-wont-stop-crying/.
The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge and role-specific competencies needed for early intervention service provision, incorporating current research and evidence in the field of early…
The Department of Developmental Services has recently approved the digital publication of Darby’s Legacy: Best Practices When Serving Families with Infants and Toddlers Who Are Medically Fragile. This document, endorsed by the California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention, is now available here on the Neighborhood, and elsewhere, to assist Early Start personnel who provide supports and services to families with young children who are medically fragile and likely in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Darby’s Legacy can be downloaded for later retrieval, emailing to a colleague or family, or for printing to share with others. Producing Darby’s Legacy, which honors the memory of Darby Jean and her family, was a labor of love for all involved. …
This article highlights the Inclusive Early Education (IEE) web page on the website of the Early Education Division at the California Department of Education (CDE). It can be found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/op/iee.asp.
Early Start service coordinators and family resource and support personnel can share the information from CDE with families who have children navigating or approaching transition from Early Start to preschool (at age 3). The page includes general information about the IEE Program and the State Early Education…
This week’s post was inspired by a blog by speech-language pathology professors Carole Zangari and Robin Parker, called “PrAACtical AAC.” (Their blog is a great find, too, if you’re interested in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).)
The post we are featuring is from 2014, and it’s entitled, “Does AAC Really Work with Infants and Toddlers?” The blog post provides a link to a valuable research article on AAC, but you can access the article itself here:…
The professionals at the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) have developed a resource for early learning personnel to support engagement of young children in classrooms; however, many of the tips they share can be modified for use in an infant or toddler’s natural environment. Some of the tips may even be useful to families to keep their child engaged in activities like mealtime or reading books before bed. You can access the resource at the following link: http://earlyliteracylearning.org/TACSEI_CELL/project_files/content/level_2/pdf/2_8b_DifficultEngage.pdf
The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge and role-specific competencies needed for early…
No parent or caregiver wants to hear their child is being aggressive. However, aggressive behavior is a natural part of healthy human development. In this week’s article from Zero to Three, parents are given examples of what to expect during different stages of development and what strategies might be helpful in the future.
Knowing what to expect and then adjusting one’s actions can be valuable in producing a positive result. The author provides 12 helpful coping strategies which can help parents channel their child’s aggression during a transitional period.
You can read the complete article by using the link below. …
This paper was highlighted by ICC Chair, Dr. Marie Kanne Poulsen, at the October 2022 ICC meeting. It reviews the literature and available services and federal funding streams to support young children and families experiencing homelessness. The paper concludes with recommendations to streamline early childhood and homelessness…
“The Brain Architects” podcast is hosted by the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child and features experts discussing a variety of topics related to early childhood development. The runtime of this episode, “Building Resilience Through Play,” is around 55 minutes, and a transcript is provided on the website.
Visit the Center on the Development Child’s website to listen to the podcast episode and read the transcript: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/podcast-resilience-play/
The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge and role-specific competencies needed for early intervention service provision, incorporating current…
This resource is quite the find! It’s chock full of great ideas to share with families about ways to “encourage infants to focus attention, use working memory, and practice basic self-control skills”—core components in the development of executive function and self-regulation. The suggestions the authors provide range from lap, hiding, and copying games to simple role plays, finger plays, and conversations. Many of the ideas will sound familiar and serve as a great way to reinforce the importance of supportive, responsive interactions between adults and children. They can also help parents recognize the incredible brain-building benefits of activities they already enjoy doing with their young children.…
The folks at Very Well Family, a trusted pregnancy and parenting advice site, published a highly informative and medically reviewed article in 2020, on How to Survive (and Thrive) When You’re Sleep Deprived. The posting includes an explanation of what to expect when baby arrives, statistics on parental sleep deprivation, how sleep deprivation affects our health, and tips on how parents can get more sleep. It also links to other articles on the Very Well Family site about establishing a sleep schedule for baby, getting your baby to sleep through the night, and postpartum depression. So check out How to Survive (and Thrive) When You’re Sleep Deprived. The parents you serve will thank…
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