Child Trends Video: Babies May Understand Words Before They Can Talk

I hardly talk on a more personal level here, but it has been a truly fascinating experience witnessing my infant daughter (now almost 7 months) change and grow particularly in terms of language development. We have been talking a great deal to her (giving a "play-by-play" of what is happening), reading to her (Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You Hear? and Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon have been longtime favorites), singing to her, etc... and while I know she is absorbing everything before she can actually express what she knows, I'm always curious about what she understands.

A newly released video from Child Trends explains how babies may understand words before they can talk. The video is available in English and Spanish. 

How do we support parents in exposing their child to language within their existing routines and activities? 

Friday Feature: Building Family Capacity

#FridayFeature:

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center's Family Capacity-Building Online Module

What does it mean to build family capacity, and how do we do it? 

What do you currently do to support parents and caregivers in implementing intervention between our visits, within their naturally occurring routines and activities?

See this online module to learn more!

Here's the description from the ECTA Center:

This online module:

• introduces family capacity-building to practitioners and service providers,
• explains the steps of introducing new practices to parents and families,
• includes short video excerpts demonstrating family capacity-building,
• checks a learner's knowledge understanding through a variety of interactive formats, and;
• includes a family capacity-building checklist for self-assessment or planning home visits.

Part C funding

This chart from the ECTA Center illustrates how funding for Part C has decreased, while the number of children being served is increasing.

Have you seen/felt the direct impact of funding cuts in your work in EI? How has it impacted you as a professional? As a program? How has it impacted the children and families with whom you work?

As the $ per child goes down, and the number of children served in Part C goes up, how do we ensure high-quality services for families of infants and toddlers in Early Intervention?

How can we advocate for increased funding for Part C?

It's a million-dollar question, pun intended...

Friday Feature: Recommended Practices Modules

To what extent does the DEC Recommended Practices guide your work in EI?

Which specific RPs are you routinely able to implement?

Do you experience any challenges in implementing the DEC Recommended Practices? 

Here's a resource for today's #FridayFeature:

Early Childhood Recommended Practice Modules (RPMs) are free modules developed for early care and education, early intervention, and early childhood special education faculty and professional development providers. The modules support the implementation of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices. This page also links to a resource library of audio clips,
handouts, and activities related to the DEC Recommended Practices.

https://rpm.fpg.unc.edu/

Friday Feature: A History of EI/ECSE in the United States: A Personal Perspective

It's been a while since we've done a #FridayFeature -- here's an article hot off the (cyber)press:

A History of EI/ECSE in the United States: A Personal Perspective
by Diane Bricker, Huichao Xie, Sharon Bohjanen

An interesting read on the evolution of the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education field... Download the PDF here.

Bricker et al (2018) wrote: "service delivery has been predominately a “patchwork” of separate and nonaffiliated offerings across communities" (p. 12).

Questions to think about:

• Does this "patchwork" of separate/fragmented services ring true in your EI community? What have some of your experiences and challenges been like?
• What needs to change? What are your ideas for implementing coordinated, comprehensive, and cohesive services for young children and families?
• What can YOU do as an EI practitioner or program to move towards more cohesive services? 

Social-Emotional Toolkit from Brookes Publishing

While we Early Interventionists have been letting go of our "toy bags", it doesn't mean we can't have resources in our toolkits!

Here's a new resource on social and emotional development from Brookes Publishing:

"Early identification of social-emotional challenges can make a huge difference in the life of a young child. With this free toolkit, you’ll get more than 25 pages of resources that help you conduct successful screening with ASQ®:SE-2, the trusted, widely used social-emotional screener for children from 1 month to 6 years.
Use these tip sheets, parent handouts, and activities to effectively implement ASQ:SE-2, involve families in the screening process, and boost a child’s social-emotional development between screenings. Whether you’re new to social-emotional screening or looking to enhance your current system, these resources will help you make the most of ASQ:SE-2—and ensure that the children in your program have the best chance at success in school and life."

Get your FREE Social-Emotional Toolkit from Brookes Publishing HERE.

Coffee Break Webinars for Better Hearing and Speech Month

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!

By far, in my experience most of the children with whom I worked in Part C were referred because of a speech concern. Is this similar to what you are experiencing?

In celebration of Better Hearing and Speech Month, the Office of Head Start's Early Childhood Hearing Outreach (ECHO) Initiative is joining the the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to host a coffee break webinar series to celebrate this year’s theme “Communication for All.” Throughout the month of May, ASHA partners with national and local stakeholders to engage in a multifaceted public education campaign to raise awareness about the critical need to intervene early when young children are identified with communication disorders. 

The Coffee Break Webinars will focus on raising awareness about the importance of frequent hearing screenings, language development, and family engagement.

There is no pre-registration to join the webinars. Click on the links below when you are ready to join.

Monday, May 7, 2018, 2:00-2:15 p.m. EDT:
What You Need to Know About Quality Hearing Screening for Children Birth to Five Years of Age
Will Eiserman, Early Childhood Hearing Outreach (ECHO) Initiative

Click HERE to join the webinar.


Thursday, May 10, 2018, 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. EDT:
Family Engagement: Living It Out in the Real World
Janet DesGeorges, Co-founder and Executive Director of Hands & Voices

Click HERE to join the webinar.


Monday, May 14, 2018, 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. EDT:
Unplug and Engage: Creating Language Rich Everyday Routines at Home
Juliann Woods, Ph.D., Professor and Researcher at Florida State University School of Communication Science and Disorders

Click HERE to join the webinar.


Thursday, May 17, 2017, 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. EDT:
Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Strategies to Promote Children’s Language Development
Rosa Milagros Santos, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Special Education the University of Illinois

Click HERE to join the webinar.