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…

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…

Head Start’s Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center recently updated their brief on “Infant and Toddler Behaviors that Can Challenge Adults.”…

Teaching Your Child to: Cooperate with Requests explains in family-friendly language why young children may be having trouble following rules and listening to requests, and offers tips to help parents support this important social-emotional skill in their children. Access the full resource on the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) website here:…

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…

We all know that talking, reading, and singing are great ways to baby’s and caregivers to bond, but recent research suggests that eye contact can be just as important to a newborn’s development. Infants naturally begin to make eye contact at six to eight weeks and capitalizing on this behavior may help to promote social and emotional development.

In June 2018, Child Trends reported that “researchers conducted two different experiments to determine if eye gaze mattered when an adult sang to an infant. They used EEG [electroencephalogram] to measure brain activity and found when adults and babies looked directly at each other, their brain waves would sync up more than when the adult avoided eye contact. The babies also tried to…

In 2015, a “Research-to-Practice Brief” from the Network of Infant-Toddler Researchers, stated that “infants and toddlers are disproportionately exposed to trauma.” The brief, entitled Services for Families of Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Trauma, also noted that young children “show severe and long-lasting consequences of this exposure on their development.” Early childhood education, early intervention, and child welfare programs are all poised to assist in the identification of these infants and toddlers who have experienced trauma and to provide trauma-informed services.

While only a small number of interventions have been studied for effectiveness with the birth-to-three age group, existing data do suggest…

As a part of Tutorial 7: Recognizing and Addressing Trauma in Infants, Young Children, and their Families, "Module 4," the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation provides a short list of evidence-based therapeutic interventions for young children and their families affected by trauma. This resource includes “the treatment developer, intended age group, level of evidence, and a brief description of the focus and design of the intervention” and is available here. Detailed fact sheets about each intervention, except for Preschool PTSD Treatment, may also be found…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) released a Position Statement on Challenging Behavior and Young Children in July 2017.

The paper (posted above for easy reference) defines challenging behavior as “any repeated pattern of behavior . . . that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with the child’s optimal learning or engagement in pro-social interactions with peers and adults (Smith & Fox, 2003, p. 6).” It goes on to provide…

Social Emotional Tips for Providers Caring for Toddlers was published by the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at Georgetown University. This resource includes five full-color, single-sheet posters with five routines-based tips per page. Each tip includes sample language staff can use (e.g., “I like the  carrots; do you like the carrots, Jayden?”), and each poster offers a research-based rationale for using the tips.

Staff can hang the posters throughout their classroom and refer to them during specific daily routines (e.g., dressing, meal time, play time, rest time, and diapering/toileting) in order to learn more about and understand the importance of social and emotional health and to practice teaching strategies and language that support…

Social Emotional Tips for Providers Caring for Infants was published by the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at Georgetown University. This resource includes five full-color, single-sheet posters with five routines-based tips per page. Each tip includes sample language staff can use (e.g., “You like the orange carrots, Calvin; I see that smile!”), and each poster offers a research-based rationale for using the tips.

Staff can hang the posters throughout their classroom and refer to them during specific daily routines (e.g., dressing, meal time, play time, rest time, and diapering/toileting) in order to learn more about and understand the importance of social and emotional health and to practice teaching strategies and language that support…

Social Emotional Tips for Families with Toddlers was published by the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at Georgetown University. This resource includes five full-color, single-sheet posters with five routines-based tips per page. Families can hang the posters throughout their home and refer to them during specific daily routines, such as dressing, meal time, play time, resting, and diapering/toileting.

These resources mention Early Head Start home visitors, but the strategies are appropriate for many professionals to share with families, including Early Start service providers and family resource center staff who facilitate support groups.

• Home visitors may want to offer one of the posters to a family as a way to begin and “expand…

Social Emotional Tips for Families with Infants was published by the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at Georgetown University. This resource includes five full-color, single-sheet posters with five routines-based tips per page. Families can hang the posters throughout their home and refer to them during specific daily routines, such as dressing, meal time, play time, resting, and diapering/toileting.

These resources mention Early Head Start home visitors, but the strategies are appropriate for many professionals to share with families, including Early Start service providers and family resource center staff who facilitate support groups.

• Home visitors may want to offer one of the posters to a family as a way to begin and “expand…

This resource was compiled by Sharon Ringwalt for the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center in 2008.

The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge in early intervention. To access the ESPM, CLICK HERE

This resource is related to the following ESPM knowledge-level competencies:

 …

SSIP stands for State Systemic Improvement Plan. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced a revised accountability system under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The new system shifts accountability efforts from a primary emphasis on compliance to a framework that focuses on improved child outcomes. Each State is required to develop a State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) as part of the State Performance Plan / Annual Performance Report that the State submits annually in accordance with the IDEA. In developing the SSIP, States use data to identify gaps in child and family outcomes, analyze State systems, and then implement targeted, evidence-based reforms to address the gaps. States develop the SSIP in a manner that is aligned with the State’s existing improvement initiatives and reform efforts.

To learn…

ES SSIP to Improve Social and Emotional Development from WestEd CPEI on Vimeo.

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is implementing a revised accountability system under the IDEA known as Results-Driven Accountability (RDA), which shifts the Department’s accountability efforts from a primary emphasis on compliance to a framework that focuses on improved results for children and youth with disabilities, while continuing to assist States in ensuring compliance with the IDEA’s requirements. Find information about RDA, including SSIP information, on this Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services page.

RDA Page on OSERS Web Site

On the OSEP GRADS360° site you can find highlighted SPP/APR resources, other OSEP materials, and an events calendar with important dates to remember.  GRADS360° is also the platform for States to submit the IDEA Part B and Part C State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR), including their SSIPs, electronically each year.

GRADS Home Page…

Early Start SSIP Information on DDS Web Site