Boost Activity with Music

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The Learning Station has put together this great printable that explains what is going on in your child’s brain when she is engaged in music & movement, along with activities & techniques for enhancing learning opportunities. Click here to download a copy to share with parents & teachers! 

Patriot Day

As this is a day to look back and honor the memory of lives lost, take advantage of the opportunity to teach young children the importance of history and the significance of patriotism.

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Healthy Hygiene

Learning healthy hygiene habits can cause any child to struggle. Children who have disabilities might have additional trouble learning these habits, but promoting a child’s independence is important. Here are some things to keep in mind when instructing a child in healthy hygiene:

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• Realistic Expectations: Know when the child is ready to take on a new task, and develop basic skills before moving towards bigger goals.
• Creativity: A child with a disability may need to start with modified or partial instructions in order to achieve gradual success.
• Patience: It can be difficult for a parent to watch a child struggle with something seemingly simple, remember to allow time to go at the child’s pace.
• Praise: Frequently affirm a child attempting a new skill – everyone needs a personal cheerleader when trying something new!

For specific examples and more ideas, refer to this PDF from the Government of South Australia.

Grade-Level Reading

Check out this video from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and visit http://gradelevelreading.net/ to learn more.

7 Readiness Skills Kindergarten Teachers Look For

If your child's preschool years are coming to an end, your thoughts are probably turning toward kindergarten. But is your child ready to move on to the "big" school? What skills do kindergarten teachers expect their new students to have? To help answer those questions (and ease your mind), the team at Scholastic asked kindergarten teachers from around the country to share their insights. Their answers might surprise you. Read the article and discover the top 7 readiness skills.

Also, check out a list of resources compiled by the Alabama Partnership for Children.

Family Engagement

Help Me Grow is designed to help connect children and families to needed services. The latest blog post from Dr. Paul Dworkin, founder of Help Me Grow, helps us to consider how we can reach families where they are and provide the best possible connections. Below is a snippet - click here to read more.

Engaging families in the planning and design process is challenging. These are some of the questions we face:

• How do we best ensure parents’ comfort in participating in deliberations convened and typically dominated by presumed experts?
• How do we meaningfully reward parents for their time and effort? 
• How do we logistically accommodate the busy schedules of parents and respect their child care responsibilities and demands?
• How do we best ensure that consumer involvement is representative of the diverse constituencies served by our childhood systems? 
• How do we best capitalize on the voice of the family to enable our evaluation strategies to be meaningful and valid?

Let's Play!

Let's Play!

ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization focused specifically on the healthy development of babies and toddlers. They've released a new app for Apple and Android products. Check out Let's Play!

"Let's Play provides parents and grandparents with fun ideas for keeping babies and toddlers entertained and learning, especially during daily routines like commuting time, chores, bedtime and bathtime, mealtime, shopping. There are also 'boredom busters' for any time. Parents can search activities by age (0-18 months, 18-36 months, and 3-5 years), tag favorites, and share activities via social media. All of the activities reflect children's typical skills at each age and are designed to support development in the context of play and family routines."

For more information from ZERO TO THREE follow the link or download now for Apple or Android.