Considering Your Child's Development

Are you wondering if your child’s development is on track? You should contact Help Me Grow! To get an idea of some of the developmental milestones we’ll be looking for, here are some typical indicators of healthy child development from Family Education:

Age 0-6 Months - A lot happens during your baby's first months. Your baby will begin his development by learning to open and focus his eyes. He will begin responding to his name and your voice, and will learn big and small body movements. He might begin to babble and will use his fingers to grab, hold, and shake objects. As his development continues, he'll learn to grasp smaller items, release objects, sit and play on his own, and may begin to move around by creeping along on his belly.

Age 6-12 Months - Your child will continue learning how to move his body, and will begin creeping, crawling, pulling himself up to cruise along furniture, or may begin walking. He'll also learn to play with toys appropriately, wave good-bye, and begin to babble simple words like "Mama" and "Dada".

Age 1-2 Years - As your child grows into his first year, he may begin to stack, bang, and place objects inside others. His grasp will be precise, and he might begin scribbling and using a sippy cup independently. He'll also begin to engage in pretend play by feeding dolls or stuffed animals. His walking and running skills will also become more steady and established.

Age 2-3 Years - As your child's language continues to develop, he will begin using two-word sentences and will know and understand upwards of 50 words. He will also show an interest in playing with children his own age, and will begin alternating his feet when climbing the stairs.

Age 3-4 Years - Building towers and drawing shapes are just some of the developmental milestones your child will reach in his third and fourth year. Aside from buttons, he will begin dressing himself, can speak in simple six-word sentences, and will continue to develop motor skills such as learning to catch a tossed ball.

For ideas for age-appropriate activities, check out FamilyEducation at: http://life.familyeducation.com/child-development/activities/63988.html

What Is Epigenetics?

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According to KidsHealth.org, epigenetics is the idea that environmental factors (such as diet, lifestyle choices and behaviors, and stress) can change the health not only of the people who are exposed to them, but also the health of their descendants. Help Me Grow connects children and families to the services they need to ensure that children are developing with the best set of environmental factors possible. Help Me Grow is dedicated to providing parents with helpful information about healthy living that can be passed down from generation to generation. Knowing the facts about how to help children grow and develop is vital. KidsHealth.org is full of free and reliable information for children, teens, and parents about general health, growth and development, infections, diseases and much more.

Halloween Crafts

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The month of October often brings to mind one thing for children: Halloween! One of the best ways to prepare children for the holiday is by making fun, age-appropriate crafts. As they grow, children are constantly developing many important skills including fine and gross motor skills, language development and even cognition. We have provided some links that include Halloween crafts which are not only fun for children, but can sharpen their skills and help you to bond!

What will you and your family do for Halloween? Follow this link for some fun craft ideas like a Wooden Spoon Cat Puppet.

Find activities for bats, owls, spiders, and much more here: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/halloween_crafts.html

Hug Your Baby Today!

Mary Mackrain from the Devereux Center for Resilient Children, recently spoke at the 3rd Annual Alabama First Teacher Home Visiting Conference and 2nd Annual Infant/Toddler Academy on the importance of promoting resilience in young children and the adults who care for them by offering tips and resources that could be useful in many different settings. She began the session addressing the common misconception that mental illness is untreatable and is therefore just “the cards dealt” to a person, which not only discourages investment into needed services and research, but also discourages the need for early identification and intervention. To combat this misconception, she encouraged everyone who interacts with children and families to actively participate in reducing the stigma that is often associated with mental health by being “billboards for social-emotional health.” Additionally, she offered simple everyday tips for parents and providers working with young children that included practicing social-emotional surveillance every day; using screening tools; ensuring that every child feels loved by calling them by name, looking into their eyes, giving hugs and kisses, and laughing when they are being silly; and providing a safe and nurturing environment for them to explore and grow. She also explained that taking care of yourself, as a parent or provider, is just as important! It should be a parallel process where caregivers should be given the experiences they need to nurture their children, who may not have been shown those same skills throughout their past. Finally, she highlighted the need for providers to use “reflective practice” when working with families by actively listening to the families’ needs, always begin by assuming the family is competent in knowing what their needs are and fully capable in leading the decision making process, and “sitting on our hands” long enough to allow them to come to the conclusions of how to move forward.

See the list below for additional resources that can help you become a billboard for social-emotional health, and remember your message can be as simple as, “hug your baby today, it helps their brain to grow!”.

Additional Resources:
Adverse Childhood experience study: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/
Toxic Stress: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/
Five numbers to remember about early childhood: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/five-numbers-to-remember-about-early-childhood-development/
CDC Learn the Signs. Act Early Resources: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/
Parents Interacting with Infants: http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/training_piwi.html
Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning: http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu
Magic of Everyday Moments- Zero to Three: http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-development/magic-of-everyday-moments.html
Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: www.ecmhc.org
Michigan Social Emotional Toolkit: www.michigan.gov/socialemotionalhealth
Environmental Checklist Group Setting: http://ecmhc.org/documents/CECMHC_Observation_Toolkit.pdf
Devereux Adult Resilience Survey: http://www.centerforresilientchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/DARS.pdf
Maternal Depression Posters: http://ecmhc.org/documents/CECMHC_Depression_Providers.pdf