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2012年7月9日 星期一

Practical Techniques For Early Childhood Development and Stimulation


There are several practical techniques for early childhood stimulation that help to promote intellectual development, physical and mental skills in pre-school children. Almost all methods of sensory or intellectual stimulation employ some type of stimulation based on one or more of the five senses. One of the most effective methods involves stimulation of the visual senses in a variety of ways. Audio or hearing stimulation is also a strong method used during early childhood that can achieve significant results in pre-school aged children.

Early Childhood Development: The Five Senses

Among the theories predominant in intellectual development and learning, the theory of multiple intelligences is one of the most frequently and extensively applied. Parents who want to accelerate or promote mental and sensory development ion their children can always rely on the use of games and playing. For example, using the sense of touch to give the child experience with a variety of textures, or changes in temperature are simple, safe ways to stimulate a child's sensory experiences. Taste is stimulated by experiencing a range of different flavors. Colors and flashing lights on toys or other play objects are likewise ways of effecting substantial stimulation in early childhood skills and sensory development. Physical stimulation using motion and moving objects including rolling, bouncing, flopping or tumbling toys and objects can also be highly effective.

Early Childhood Development: Audio Stimulation Techniques

Parents and caregivers of young learners can use stimulants such as noise makers to activate audio senses. Nature sounds or environmental sounds recordings played to children are gentle but effective audio input that greatly help with early childhood stimulation. Another frequently used method for neural stimulation includes playing classical music selections in the background while the child is doing other things including during their "nap time". Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart especially, are classical music composers often used for this purpose. While the music is relaxing, it's also able to activate multiple areas of a child's brain. Surprisingly, smooth jazz (vocals) has been found to be an excellent auditory stimulant for young learners in a broad range of situations. New age (Kitaro) music can likewise be an effective stimulant as an aid to early childhood development. In addition, many children love noise makers from banging on empty pots and pans or shaking rattles, tooting whistles and horns to extracting sound from musical instruments of all kinds. It may be nerve-wracking to parents and siblings, but is essential to the child's development.

Pre-Natal Stimulation in Early Childhood Development

Not only pre-school aged children can benefit from sensory stimulation but forms of pre-natal stimulation can also be effective. Ways to introduce this can include:

• Playing soft, low-volume music through headphones placed 180 degrees apart against the mother's skin

• Talking or reading to the unborn child

• Gentle massages

Important Note: Before engaging in any of these or other techniques, parents or care-givers should consult with their obstetrician or pediatrician.

Benefits of Early Childhood Development through Sensory Stimulation

Any of the aforementioned areas can be successfully used as an effective means of early childhood stimulation to promote intellectual and sensory development in pre-school age children. Proving this stimulation allows the brain to develop more extensively and at a faster rate than non-stimulated children. This early childhood stimulation will give the child a developmental advantage over other children of the same age or level in more than 85% of cases. Such early-developed children ultimately do better in school, integrate better with peers, siblings and parents, they also tend to be happier and better adjusted overall according to numerous clinical studies. Teachers at the pre-school and primary school levels also note a higher level of social and educational integration among children who have had some type of early development stimulation.




Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, expert author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 120 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" and English language teaching and learning information at: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Contact the author at the above blog address for more information.





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2012年5月5日 星期六

Confused About Early Childhood Development Milestones?


Early childhood development is the foundation to everyone's life. Nevertheless, each child has their own personalities and ways about them as well as similarities such as meeting developmental milestones in a relatively similar time in their lives from talking to walking.

Doctors tell parents not to compare their child with other children according to their early childhood development. One child might start walking at nine months and one might be 14 months. Both could be healthy yet have their own time schedule. Often children are around a year old when they are walking or at least starting to walk.

Taking notice of early childhood development is important though. If a child continues to miss milestones and aren't meeting early childhood development there could be a problem. This is why doctors are parents observe these things. Talking, crawling and other important elements are important parts of development. Doctors will monitor a child. It could be the child is not sitting up on schedule, but they are doing other things related to gross motor skills, such as crawling and rolling over. It could be a sign of something or it could be the child is just skipping that part of development then it will come in eventually. Otherwise a child continues to be monitored and eventually tested to ensure they don't have a disorder or condition that needs treatment.

Another part of early childhood development is fine motor skills. This includes the movements of their fingers, toes, lips, tongue and hands as well as their feet. Sometimes it might be something small that a parent doesn't even notice could mean anything. An example is walking on their tiptoes. Doing this a little is normal, but constant tiptoe walking could indicate an issue. Giving complete answers to every question presented by the doctor and the nurse will help determine if there are any early childhood development disorders that need immediate attention.

Any child with a neurological disorder or sensory integration dysfunction can hear properly but process the information differently leading to confusion. Such children are hypersensitive or insensitive to any of the five senses or with all of the senses. Most of the early childhood development disorders are diagnosed by an occupational therapist, especially sensory processing disorder.

Speech skills and articulation are also parts of early childhood development. Your baby won't be able to answer questions with words as they are still learning about speech. Parents are suggested to talk to their baby. They will learn to answer you even if it is only in babbles now then it will continue to actually words when getting older. A baby can articulate, even if they are not making words they are starting to make clear sounds, which leads to speech. Once they understand the proper sounds by listening they will be learning the correct pronunciation of every word. However, each child is different and may reach the required milestones within a flexible range of 3-4 months and sometimes that is what makes the diagnosis about late development so difficult.




For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula please visit www.childdevelopmentmedia.com .





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2012年2月8日 星期三

Early Childhood Development and the Media


Waldorf education likens the developing human being to the three-fold image of a flower: root (birth to seven-focus is willing), stem (seven to fourteen-focus is feeling), and blossom (fourteen to twenty-one-focus is thinking). The healthy development of the "roots" is a predictor of strong emotional and cognitive capacities in later life. The roots represent the critical window of time in which the child learns through the will-that is, by "doing" and through movement, the limbs, play, and imitation. Everything we do in the kindergarten is premised upon this insight.

All too often today, children are not allowed the freedom of movement necessary for healthy sensory integration. Science strongly supports the idea that movement is crucial to healthy development, yet this is not reflected in mainstream early childhood education and practice. Some examples are infants immobilized in car seats, which also serve as carriers, allowing for little "floor time"; children who have little to no outdoor play; and exposure to media, which today has so many aspects, including computers, cell phones, and portable devices, in addition to TV and movies.

Four foundation senses come into play in early childhood: proprioceptive (which gives the child a sense of body geography and a sense of orientation in space), tactile, vestibular (or balance), and the life sense. In the Waldorf kindergarten, we strive to provide the child with as broad and rich a palate of sensory opportunities as possible. This is facilitated by the use of natural play materials and by domestic activities such as sweeping, chopping vegetables, and kneading dough-activities that naturally train and harmonize the developing senses and that are no longer a regular part of many children's daily lives. Additionally, there are many opportunities for healthy fine and gross motor movement during circle time and outdoor play.

One of the signatures of the Waldorf kindergarten is work with the life sense. This is the sense that gives information about inner, organic well-being or lack of it. The sense of life is particularly nurtured through warmth-both physical and soul warmth-and by predictable, strong rhythms.

The media, or screen time, is a major culprit in hindering full and healthy motor-sensory development. Some points to note are:

While watching TV, brain activity is less than that of a person who is in a state of deep sleep.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children younger than two and limited screen time for all children.

An excellent resource for parents regarding media use is Consuming Kids, a hard-hitting documentary on the science involved in creating consumer habits starting with the very youngest children. You can view this film online for free.

More Resources:

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (commercialfreechildhood.org)
Alliance for Childhood (allianceforchildhood.org)
The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World, Susan Linn
Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World, Nancy Carlsson-Paige




The Clover Hill School is an emerging Early Childhood Center that is committed to bringing Waldorf education to lower Fairfield County (CT). We offer a Mixed-Age Kindergarten for 3 to 6 year-olds and a Growing Together program for moms, dads and children 2 months to 3 years of age. Our campus, including beautiful, newly renovated classrooms and a private play yard, is located in East Norwalk, CT.

For more information, please visit http://www.thecloverhillschool.org





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2012年2月3日 星期五

Early Warning Signs of Childhood Apraxia of Speech


Childhood Apraxia of Speech (often abbreviated as CAS) is a somewhat rare speech disorder. It is estimated that 1 in 1,000 children will be diagnosed with apraxia. In comparison, 1 in 150 will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many parents, and indeed doctors, are not aware of what apraxia is, and thus the early warning signs may go unnoticed. Like many other neurological disorders, early treatment is the key to helping your child overcome the difficulties this speech disorder can present.

In medical terms, Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor-planning disorder that is characterized by difficulty sequencing the speech movements necessary for volitional speech. In layman's terms, the messages sent by the brain to the muscles and nerves that control voluntary speech get scrambled and the muscles and nerves can't decode them to understand what to do. This is not a speech delay, but a true neurological disorder. It is unclear what causes apraxia, but it appears to be related to immature neurological development, rather than caused by an injury to the brain, such as is seen in stroke patients with apraxia. Though it has been named "childhood" apraxia of speech, it is not strictly a childhood disease. A child diagnosed with apraxia will struggle their entire lives with their speech, though it will probably get easier to speak as they get older.

Many children with Autism, Down Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy have been diagnosed with CAS, though apraxia does appear in children who have no other disabilities. Common co-morbid conditions include hypotonia (low muscle tone), sensory integrations problems, and language delay. Many older children with apraxia have trouble with reading, writing, and spelling. Because of this, early intervention with speech therapy and occupational therapy is very important for a child's future at school.

While there are some warning signs that are commonly seen in apraxic children, many parents are told by well meaning friends, family, and even pediatricians to "just wait and see." If your child shows several of the warning signs listed below, don't take the wait it out approach. As your pediatrician to refer you to a speech-language pathologist for an evaluation. Early detection and intervention is key for a bright future for your apraxia child. If your child is older and has speech problems, it's never too late to get them evaluated.

Early warning signs:


little or no babbling during infancy
difficulty with nursing or feeding during infancy
few consonants
slow, effortful or halting speech
poor speech intelligibility
difficulty imitating sounds or words
late onset of first words (or "losing" words)
inconsistent or unpredictable speech errors
groping during speech attempts
high frequency of vowel and voicing errors
high receptive language, but low or no expressive language (child understand everything being said, but can't say anything back)
"soft" neurological signs, such as sensory problems, sensitivity to touch, fine motor problems
slow or no progress with traditional speech therapy (apraxic kids benefit from specialized, intensive therapy that isn't necessarily know by all speech-language pathologists)

As the mother of a severely apraxic child, I understand the fear that hearing such a diagnosis can bring. My son is not on the spectrum, nor does he have any other disability (well, he does have minor sensory issues and minor hypotonia). Unless you hear him talk, you would never know that he can't talk. My first thought upon hearing the diagnosis was "Will he ever speak?" You are probably wondering the same thing about your recently diagnosed child. The answer is yes, more than likely your child will speak, especially with early intervention. You child may not speak "normally," he may need to use ASL (as mine does) or a communication device, but he will be able to communicate and lead a pretty typical life. The most important thing a parent can do is recognize the early warnings signs, push your pediatrician or other professional for help, and get involved in your child's treatment. With hard work, and possibly years of therapy, most people will never even know that your child has childhood apraxia of speech.




When my son was diagnosed with Apraxia, he was also diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. I found that having a variety of fidget toys on hand helps his attention and focus tremendously. I've reviewed a variety of sensory toys to help others pick the best fidgets for their kids.





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