News

*Most current news will always be at the top of the list.

  • October 24, 2014 8:48 AM | Anonymous

    Two New Studies Look at how Infants and Toddlers Acquire Language

    Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

    Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

    Research on how infants develop language skills is providing crucial insights on how language-rich environments benefit babies. And helping babies develop language skill is a crucial early step in helping them grow into proficient third-grade readers who can tackle the challenges of school and careers.

    Two new studies that describe some of the fine points of boosting infants’ and toddlers’ language come from the University of Iowa, Indiana University, and the University of Missouri.

    The research from the University of Iowa encourages parents to try to figure out what their babbling babies might be saying because doing so could help babies learn to communicate sooner.

    “Pay attention, mom and dad, especially when your infant looks at you and babbles,” a university article explains.

    “Parents may not understand a baby’s prattling, but by listening and responding, they let their infants know they can communicate which leads to children forming complex sounds and using language more quickly.”

    This advice is based on a new study undefined “Maternal Responsiveness and the Development of Directed Vocalizing in Social Interactions” undefined conducted by researchers at Iowa and at Indiana University. The study, which was published in the journal Infancy, found that “how parents respond to their children’s babbling can actually shape the way infants communicate and use vocalizations.”

    “It’s not that we found responsiveness matters,” study author Julie Gros-Louis, an assistant psychology professor at Iowa, says in the article. “It’s how a mother responds that matters.”

    To conduct the study, researchers “observed the interactions between 12 mothers and their 8-month-old infants during free play twice a month for 30 minutes over a six-month period. They noted how the mothers responded to their child’s positive vocalizations.”

    The article explains: “What researchers discovered is infants whose mothers responded to what they thought their babies were saying, showed an increase in developmentally advanced, consonant-vowel vocalizations, which means the babbling has become sophisticated enough to sound more like words. The babies also began directing more of their babbling over time toward their mothers.”

    “On the other hand, infants whose mothers did not try as much to understand them and instead directed their infants’ attention at times to something else did not show the same rate of growth in their language and communication skills.”

    “Gros-Louis says the difference was mothers who engaged with their infants when they babbled let their children know they could communicate. Consequently, those babies turned more often to their mothers and babbled.”

    Gros-Louis explains: “The infants were using vocalizations in a communicative way, in a sense, because they learned they are communicative.”

    *     *     *

    Researchers at the University of Missouri found that “toddlers learn words differently as they age, and a limit exists as to how many words they can learn each day,” according to a university article. The study is called “The Type, but Not the Amount, of Information Available Influences Toddlers’ Fast Mapping and Retention of New Words.”

    These findings could help parents support their child’s vocabulary development and help them “assist speech-language professionals in developing and refining interventions to help children with language delays.”

    Judith Goodman explains: “We found that babies’ abilities to accurately guess the meaning of new words increases between 18 and 30 months of age; and by 24 to 36 months, toddlers are able to accurately guess the meanings of new words at a significantly higher level.”

    “Interestingly, we observed that even from the time children mature from 18 to 30 months of age, the cues toddlers use to learn new words change.”

    Goodman is an associate professor in Missouri’s School of Health Professions and chair of the Department of Communication Science and Disorders. The study was published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

    The research methodology: “researchers taught six new words to children, who ranged in age from 18 to 36 months, using three types of cues. The cues were presented alone or in pairs, and the researchers recorded the children’s ability to accurately guess what the words meant.”

    Those cues ranged from social cues to inferring what one object was called, by knowing the name of another accompanying object. The article explains:

    “‘When children were presented with a new word and asked to choose between an item for which they already had a name and an unfamiliar object, they appropriately assigned the new word to the unfamiliar object, and this ability improved as children aged,’ Goodman said. ‘The toddlers’ ability to infer a word’s meaning from linguistic context, such as figuring out that a ‘kiwi’ must be a food item when they hear, ‘Sammy eats the kiwi,’ also improved as the children aged. However, using social cues, such as eye gaze, became less effective as the children matured. By 36 months of age, children were less likely to assume a word referred to the particular object a speaker was looking at – looking at a kiwi when teaching the child the word ‘kiwi’ – than younger children were.’”

    The article adds: “Children who are struggling with learning language may benefit from being presented with specific cues, Goodman said. Additionally, the research reinforces the importance of providing children with rich word-learning environments, in which toddlers are exposed to many words and are provided with a variety of cues to help them learn and remember those words and what they represent, Goodman said.”

    Our graphic, “A Developing Reader’s Journey to Third Grade,” provides additional context for “ways adults can support children’s language and reading.”


    Link to article.

  • October 24, 2014 8:44 AM | Anonymous

    ZERO TO THREE Launches Beyond the Word Gap

    Please see the announcement below from ZERO TO THREE about their new multimedia web portal to help close the gap around early language and literacy. This follows a White House Conference last week on federal, state and local efforts to bridge the word gap, co-convened with Too Small to Fail.
     
    Dear Partners,
     
    ZERO TO THREE is excited to announce Beyond the Word Gap, our new multimedia web portal designed to provide parents, professionals, and policymakers the resources they need to close the word gap and support early language and literacy.
     
    We are thrilled by the momentum being created through conversations about the “word gap” and the growing recognition that learning happens from the start. Beyond the Word Gap builds on this conversation by highlighting the critical role that close, nurturing relationships with trusted adults play not only children’s early language skills, but all aspects of development.
     
    Beyond the Word Gap features resources in both English and Spanish, and includes mobile apps, interactive online tools, videos, infographics, podcasts, policy materials, and more.  A key feature of the Beyond the Word Gap web portal is ZERO TO THREE’s new, free app, Let’s Play!, which provides parents and caregivers easy, fun ideas for engaging babies and toddlers during daily routines, emphasizing the importance of making all activities a language-rich experience. To learn more, visitwww.beyondthewordgap.org
     
    As sponsors of last year’s Rally4Babies, we are asking that your organizations join us by sharing Beyond the Word Gap with your networks.
     
    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact edilauro@zerotothree.org or 202-857-2677.
  • October 24, 2014 8:26 AM | Anonymous

    October is SIDS Awareness Month

    Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is the unexpected death of a child less than a year old that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation. In many instances of SIDS, a child is thought to be sleeping, but when checked is found dead. SIDS accounts for nearly 4,000 infant deaths every year in the United States alone and is the third leading cause of death in infants aged 1 to 12 months. This October, we urge families, child care providers and other caregivers to spend some time learning about safe sleep practices and ways to reduce the risk of SIDS.

    Visit cdc.gov for more information on SIDS and Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed. To find SIDS awareness materials and learn more about the Safe to Sleep campaign, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, click here.

    Child care providers can earn continuing education units in safe sleep training to use toward their annual training requirements by enrolling in the Child Care Aware Training Academy. For archived webinars on safe sleep and proper crib regulations, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics' Healthy Child Care America page.

  • October 23, 2014 3:50 PM | Anonymous

      Release Header

     

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Date: 10/23/14
    Contact: LDOE Public Affairs, (225) 342-3600, Fax: (225) 342-0193


     DEPARTMENT RELEASES STREAMLINED REGULATIONS 

    AND REPORT CARD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

    Webinar, Statewide Roundtable Discussions and Survey Offer Multiple Opportunities for Public Input

    BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Department of Education today released a draft of streamlined licensing regulations for early learning centers in Louisiana. For the first time, licensed providers that take public funding will be required to meet a minimum academic standard in addition to health and safety standards. To illustrate these new academic expectations, the Department has also released sample report cards for early childhood programs and community networks.  These report cards will ensure that parents have a clear and simple way to make choices based on how well early childhood programs support children's development and learning in addition to health and safety practices.

     

    "Connecting an academic expectation to licensing helps ensure that all early childhood programs that take public funding support young children to develop and learn" said  State Superintendent John White.  "For too long there have been inconsistent expectations across the different programs, resulting in children falling through the cracks. Establishing a consistent expectation for how early childhood teachers interact with children and support them to learn will help ensure that our young children and families will have equitable access to safe, high-quality early childhood care and education."

     

    By linking licensing regulations to the report cards, the Department will unify academic expectations for all publicly-funded early childhood programs that serve children from birth to age five including licensed child care centers, Head Start and school-based PreK. At the same time, these streamlined, family friendly regulations help ensure more consistent health and safety regulations across programs, while also reducing redundant measures and enabling more efficient operations.

     

    These sample report cards measure the quality of teacher-child interactions in classrooms, which can predict how well a program prepares children for kindergarten. They also include information on teacher preparation and practices, enrollment and family satisfaction. These report cards are being field tested in seven Community Network Pilots in 2014-2015 with the expectation that all publicly-funded programs will participate in a Learning Year for report cards in 2015-2016.

     

    Starting today, the Department is seeking public input on the licensing regulations and report cards.

     

    There will be a webinar today to review the streamlined regulations, kicking off a series of interactive roundtable discussions statewide. Following statewide outreach, the new Early Childhood Care and Education Advisory Council will provide formal recommendations at its next meeting on November 5. The Department then plans to take the streamlined regulations with the kindergarten readiness expectation to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in December. Approved regulations would likely go into effect in summer 2015.

     

    Today, the Department will also launch a brief, online survey to collect feedback on the report cards. As the report cards are currently being tested in the field, the Department will continue to solicit extensive feedback prior to bringing a report card policy proposal to BESE in June 2015.

     

    To view the proposed licensing regulations, please click here. After reviewing the proposal, feedback can be submitted by sending an email to earlychildhood@la.gov. There is also a webinar scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. to provide an opportunity to learn more about these shifts and provide feedback.
     

    • To access the webinar by computer, please click here.
    • Select the option to have the webinar call your phone.
    • Enter your phone number and join.
    • To join the call by phone only, please use the following:
    • Call-in #: 1-800-832-0736
    • Conference Room Number: 9174840

     

    The roundtable discussions will be hosted by three Early Childhood Care and Education Community Network Pilots, along with the Department. As seating will be limited, please use the following information to select a roundtable to attend and RSVP:
     

    Lafayette Parish: Tuesday, October 28, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

    • Vermilion Conference Center
    • 326 Gauthier Road
    • Lafayette, LA


    Ouachita Parish: Wednesday, October 29, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

    • Children's Coalition Office
    • 1363 Louisville Avenue
    • Monroe, LA


    Jefferson Parish: Thursday, October 30, 10 a.m. - Noon

    • Jefferson Parish Public School System Administrative Building
    • 501 Manhattan Blvd.
    • Harvey, LA


    To RSVP for a roundtable discussion, please click here.

     

    For more information on Act 868 of the 2014 Regular Legislative Session which transferred licensing authority to the Department of Education from the Department of Children and Family Services, please click here.

     

    For more information on Early Childhood Care and Education in Louisiana, please click here.


    Louisiana Department of Education Website >>>

     

    Contact the Louisiana Department of Education >>>

  • August 13, 2014 12:21 PM | Anonymous

    NDTAC Practice Guide on Addressing the Needs of At-Risk Children

    The National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent or At-Risk (NDTAC) developed this practice guide entitled, Early Learning Is Essential: Addressing the Needs of Young Children Potentially at Risk for System Involvement. This guide examines the principle that early learning is essential for children and focuses on helping children avoid involvement in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems. Four new practices, along with strategies for their implementation, are suggested in this guide: (1) Conduct Early Identification of Vulnerable Children; (2) Provide Access to Evidence-Based Early Intervention Practices; (3) Promote and Identify Authentic Family/Caregiver Involvement and Collaboration; and (4) Ensure that Vulnerable Young Children Begin School Ready to Succeed. (July 2014)
    http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/resource/ndtac-practice-guide-early-learning-essential-addressing-needs-young-children-potentially
  • July 25, 2014 12:02 PM | Anonymous

    NEW KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK RELEASED

    In its 25th Edition, New KIDS COUNT Data Book Highlights Wins in Child Well-Being Since 1990 Demographic, social and economic shifts since 1990, combined with federal and state policy efforts, have significantly shaped child well-being today, says the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its 2014 KIDS COUNT Data Book. Looking back on major trends in child health and development since the year of its first Data Book, the Foundation finds a number of improvements for children. More kids are attending preschool, are proficient academically and are healthier than in 1990. However, the economic recovery for families following the recession continues to be slow, and concerns about inequalities in opportunities for children in low-income families are growing.

  • June 03, 2014 2:30 PM | Anonymous

    Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers
    This resource developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s (NCTSN) Childhood Traumatic Grief Committee describes how teens may feel when struggling with the death of someone close to them and offers suggestions on what caregivers can do to help. Link to resource.
     

  • June 03, 2014 2:25 PM | Anonymous

    Essentials for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed this free online resource designed for parents of children between the ages of 2 to 4 years old.  This resource addresses common parenting challenges, provides positive parenting skills and techniques that can reduce parenting stress and help parents to handle their child’s misbehavior, and addresses frequently asked questions.  It also includes helpful resources, including parenting videos, free print materials, and additional online resources. (May 2014)
    http://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/index.html

  • February 16, 2014 8:18 PM | Anonymous
    This toolkit will help you navigate your child’s journey from pre-kindergarten through high school. It is designed to help you track and support progress at each stage.
    Included on the website are:
    • Academic Growth Charts
    • Tips for Parents
    • Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences
    • Information in English and Spanish
    • News Blog
    The site is sponsored by Pearson and produced by NBC News.

    To visit the site, go to: http://www.parenttoolkit.com/ 

  • January 06, 2014 11:30 AM | Anonymous
    Dear Colleagues,

    I wanted to help get the word out about new online modules that are available to providers/practitioners. Bradley Early Childhood Clinical Research Center in collaboration with Bradley Department of Behavior Education (DBE) and the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health (RIAiMH) developed an online course entitled, “Foundations for Infant/Toddler Social Emotional Health and Development: Provider Modules”.  This course augments work completed by The National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative (NITCCI) at ZERO TO THREE, a project of the federal Child Care Bureau. Bradley’s Foundations Course offers high quality professional development for front line providers across various community sectors serving infants, toddlers, and families. Attached is more detailed information about these modules.  If you have any questions you can contact Susan Dickstein at susan_dickstein@brown.edu.

    Happy New Year

    Jodi Whiteman, M.Ed.

    Director, Center for Training Services and Special Projects

    ZERO TO THREE

    1255 23rd Street, NW, Suite 350

    Washington, DC 20037

    202-857-2634 (direct office line)

    919-426-5271 (cell)

    202-638-1144 ext.2634  (main office)

    202-638-0851 (office fax)

    jwhiteman@zerotothree.org | www.zerotothree.org

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