#Early Childhood Development

[fosterwhat]

My home reopened for foster care last Friday, and a couple hours later a new kiddo was here.

We’ll call him Kai.

Kai is 3 years old. An emergency removal. He came dressed in girl’s clothing (I guess all the office had on hand). DCFS had grabbed one of their pre-packed bags — it had size 7/8 clothing. Girl leaning again. Kai is a peanut, he fits into size 18 month at age 3. So, you can imagine that size 7/8 was a no go.

I was told he was non-verbal and autistic, but he walked into my home said “hello, Mommy” and proceeded to talk my ear off for the next three days.

He declared our puppy “cute, but a little crazy,” which is honestly spot on. Though I will say my dog stayed so very patient, given that Kai hit him suddenly out of nowhere.

So much trauma, so many injuries that the child abuse doctors missed (drives me crazy, treating and documenting that is their only job).

I stressed to everyone who would listen that he is not autistic, that it’s just early childhood trauma, that there is so much potential there. (Autistic kids have tons of potential too, but a lot of people sadly find it harder to see, and if you’re not willing to accept an autistic child that’s sad but reality, and getting mislabeled helps no one). He reminded me of Felix, a lot. He was a lot. But also within days I had him on a routine and understanding basic rules. But he also likes to elope and screech and has never had any type of schedule. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve loved* it. Those of you who are foster parents probably know exactly what I mean. A three year old who fell through the cracks.

*this was supposed to say “lived” but autocorrected to love. And I’m leaving it, because maybe that’s what I really mean. That you don’t really get it, the combination of the hard and the potential, until you’ve loved a kid like that

[brutalcomplex]

[princesscatherineblog]

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visiting the Social Bite cafe to meet with locals for her Early Childhood survey on February 12, 2020 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

[writtenroses1813]

“Whatever that didn’t affect you that much you were too young to understand.”

Girl that’s the whole point???? It’s WORSE because I was young. You ruined my whole social development because I was that young.

[hello-sweetheart]

It’s so cute to see small kids figure out the world.

I was in the mall and this little girl was waddling around with a sippy cup and she starts shaking it and sees drops of juice fly. So she opened the lid and just, shook it.

Then looked baffled at the mess, looked in her cup, saw there was no juice left, and started crying.

The mom had her back turned for one ☝️ second 😭

I just witness her discover fluid dynamics 🥹

[babyspacebatclone]

Another point about “Appropriate” play re: Autistic Children:

A person is going to play at a level that matches their current engagement.

If a person - child or adult - is engaging in play for internal reinforcement (aka they are doing it for personal enjoyment) they are going to adjust the play to an acceptable level of challenge.

And you know what that makes button sorting an exact equivalent to???

image from the Wikipedia page for Sudoku

I swear to the fusion that powers the sun.

Button sorting (for personal enjoyment) is directly equivalent to Sudoku.

You are going to pick a challenge level that suits your current engagement interests.

Some days, you want a basic Sudoku puzzle.

And maybe you want a nice basic button sort, three holes in this pile, four holes in this pile.

And if that’s not matching your engagement level, you will make it more challenging.

And the more rules you add to your button sorting…

Well, congratulations, you’ve created Algebra.

Algebra, according to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition:

A branch of mathematics in which symbols, usually letters of the alphabet, represent numbers or members of a specified set and are used to represent quantities and to express general relationships that hold for all members of the set. (emphasis mine)

Figuring out if a button is shiny enough to go into a specific pile is more skill usage than determining where to put the 8 in the top center square up there.

I say this as someone who does Expert Sudoku variants for fun.

You need to compare qualities, have a consistent set of rules.

And, again, if you’re doing Sudoku or button sorting for personal enjoyment, you’re only going to keep doing it if it continues to be an appropriate level of challenge.

And the only reason that’s less true for children is they understand their capabilities less, and so will continue to do something too challenging for longer than an adult despite their frustration.

Unless you destroy the link between their own personal determination of challenge, engagement, and reinforcement.

TL;DR: Fuck ABA “specialist” who want to extinguish “inappropriate” play, you don’t actually fucking understand learning (which is extraordinarily sad, if you know how fucking obsessed they can be with being “scientific.”)

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

15 November 2023: The Princess of Wales arrives for the Shaping Us National Symposium at the Design Museum, London. The Princess has convened experts from 21 countries to consider how we “grow, think and behave throughout life” to build resilience in early childhood.

[theroyalweekly]

Health visitors are the vital link between families, hospitals and through to the education system - the role they play in #ShapingUs is critical.

Families today are dealing with so many pressures, and spending time with Health Visitors in recent weeks has been eye-opening and an incredible insight into their work.

▶️ Watch the full film: https://youtu.be/SvBL-vS6qWc

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

==

These people are cult priests masquerading as "teachers."

[koyoba]

Baby Linguistic Inventory Post #1 - 2024-07-01

Today in "things that only I care about but I have nowhere else to post them"- My sister had a baby last June! As she and her husband currently live with us, I get to see the baby everyday, and as a former linguistics major, I have been endlessly fascinated with monitoring his linguistic development. Today, having heard him spontaneously repeat the word "smoothie" (pronounced "moo-ee") with clearly intentional meaning, I've decided to start keeping an inventory of the words that he picks up.

To my recollection, the "using words with meaning" started roughly around February or March of this year, with a larger leap in late April/early May, so he's moving along at a good clip! He's up to roughly 20 words as of this writing, by our measure.

The current word inventory, as of 7/1:

mama

dada [dada, or the outdoors as a whole; his dad is outside most of the day]

berry - beh-wee [berries, or flowers, or anything resembling a berry] [+hand sign]

blue - bwoo [+hand sign]

honorable mention: blueberry - bwoo-wee [his favorite food; he will try to combine the signs]

banana - na-na

more - moh-ah [food]

food/eat - [hand sign only]

booby - boo-bee [milk/nursing] [+hand sign]

potty - [hand signal only]

yay - ehyee [+clapping]

kitty - dee-dee [may mean cat, or it might just be the way you greet a cat]

momo [all cats; one of the cats is named Momo so he has generalized this as the easiest form of address]

puppy [baba?]

dog - da-da

night night - neh-neh [+wave]

bye bye - buh-bah [+wave/also means hello maybe]

baby - buh-bee [unclear if himself or just a sound]

ab'n/bab'n/gab'm [who knows, he just says it a lot and it seems to mean something to him 😂]

please - ba [+hand sign]

light?/fan? - beh [indeterminate ceiling fixture; usually while pointing at it]

smoothie - moo-ee [new 7/1]

Anyway, nothing pithy to say about all that! I just think it's neat 🎉

[snehaimagination]

Learning Story: Avyukt’s Night Sky Masterpiece by Sneha’s Imagination Station

Unlocking the magic of early childhood: Children are born with an innate thirst to create!

Through play and exploration, they embark on a journey of discovery, fueled by endless imagination and boundless curiosity.

Let’s nurture their natural inclination to ‘try’ and watch as they blossom into confident, creative beings!

Today, I had the privilege of witnessing Avyukt’s incredible journey of creativity unfold during our art time. Armed with sidewalk chalks in hues of blue and white, along with a cheese grater, Avyukt embarked on a mission to bring his vision to life.

Despite the array of colors of paper available, Avyukt confidently chose black as the backdrop for his masterpiece. With focused determination, he began covering the entire paper with blue chalk shavings, meticulously observing how the black peeked through, resembling the depths of a night sky.

As Avyukt immersed himself in his work, I stood by as a silent observer, respecting his request to protect his creation from any disruptions. His assertion, “I am not done yet,” echoed his determination and served as a reminder of my role as an educator and advocate for play — to support and nurture his journey.

True to his word, Avyukt returned with an even wider smile, ready to add the finishing touches to his masterpiece. With careful precision, he grated white chalk to create the illusion of stars scattered across the night sky. The sheer delight on his face as he admired his creation was truly infectious.

Avyukt’s pride in his work was evident as he delicately held it, ensuring that not a single shaving would fall. His satisfaction with his night sky filled with stars was palpable, a testament to the joy that comes from creative expression.

As Avyukt moved on to other explorations, I couldn’t help but reflect on the valuable lessons embedded within his artistic journey — the power of perseverance, the importance of autonomy, and the sheer joy of creation. It is moments like these that remind me why I am passionate about early childhood education and the profound impact it has on shaping young minds.

For more details visit us at Toddler Programs for early childhood education and development

Also you can check Home — Sneha’s Imagination Station

[princesscatherineblog]

Catherine, Princess of Wales joins a Portage Session for her 'Shaping Us' campaign on early childhood on September 27, 2023 in Sittingbourne, England.

[writtenroses1813]

Someone pls normalize treating early childhood bullying as severely as other types. It’s like the most underrepresented because “they don’t know better” and “older kids pick on younger kids it’s just how it goes” like no???? This is how psychopaths are made actually???

[imaginationsnehas]

[parentingremixwithmj]

Being in the field that I am in, I often notice how many children respond to a lot of negativity because this is what they are used to.

Children are often a product of their environment, speak positively, and react positively and children will learn how to self-regulate positively.