One of the most exciting and baffling things about being around young children is decoding the way they think. As a proud aunt of four (currently ranging in age from 9 months to 3 years), I am regularly delighted as I watch these little people make connections. It can be truly thrilling to watch them
Definitions: Majority Language – Most widely spoken language among a population (often one children will hear at school) Minority Language – Less widely spoken language among a population (often spoken in the home) I recently spoke to a friend from Mexico, who lives in the United States, and speaks Spanish to her almost 2-year-old at
Let’s say a child goes to stack blocks into a tower but struggles to balance them. Frustrated, he may cry out, “I just can’t do it. I’m not good at building towers.” Despite encouragement from a caregiver, the child insists on giving up, convinced that building a tower is beyond his abilities. This is just
Before working at Help Me Grow Utah, I spent ten years as a children’s librarian and fell in love with early literacy. No, I was not teaching toddlers and preschoolers to read, but I was instead teaching parents to put into practice the underlying skills kids need to be good readers when they are ready.
I remember babysitting my young niece not too long ago. All evening she asked, “Cars?” This was code for, “Could we watch the movie Cars?” Soon I turned on the TV and sat with my niece as she watched intently. I became intrigued as I started to notice she did not take her eyes off
Have you ever heard the terms “language delay” and “speech delay” being thrown around almost interchangeably? Perhaps you’ve heard that children who learn two languages are more prone to speech delays? These terms and possibilities can be very overwhelming, especially when we want the best possible speech outcomes for our children. Hopefully, this article will
I have had the opportunity to teach struggling readers in grades 1 – 3 for the last 8 years in a public school setting. We are a Title 1 school and have a fairly large percentage of students that come from poverty and generational poverty. Because of that, I see students who struggle with reading
Fostering creativity helps children grow mentally by providing new opportunities for self-expression, problem solving, and trying out new ideas. Parents can have a vital role in creating an open environment where children can be free to explore and self-express. There are some simple yet rewarding ways you can promote creativity in your child. Here are
New parents have a million things to worry about. From finding childcare to making sure their new baby is receiving the healthcare they need, new parents can sometimes be overwhelmed by all the new responsibilities they now have to juggle. Building attachment is just one of these new responsibilities that parents face with their babies.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all been using screens more, and overall, that’s OK. Screen time is less about the hours than the content. Screens can connect and educate, and keep us all safe indoors. However, research shows that for our youngest children, under age three, we need to be more careful and deliberate with
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