Connecting with Colleagues and other Professionals

Over the past couple of months, I have found that a lot of my colleagues share some of the same interest and passions that I have when it comes to healthy child development.  Through research, I have developed more of an interest in factors affecting early childhood development.  My areas of interest are:

• The Importance of Attachment and its implications on the developing child;
• Are there differences in results when the attachment is between the biological mother vs. another caregiver?
• Social/Emotional Development in the developing infant;
• Is there a time frame for attachment and bonding in order for the child to experience optimal results later in childhood?
• Environmental risk factors and its impact on child development;
• Best strategies to reach children at risk; and
• Infant/Toddler Language Development;
• Public Awareness-Is enough being done to educate communities and policy makers on the impact of adversities and the effects of toxic stress on childhood develoment?  What can we as colleagues and professionals do?

Parents, policy makers, early childhood professionals can find valuable information on the above topics at the following web sites:

• The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child;
• The Alliance for Early Success;
• Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child ;
• Zero To Three
• California Department of Education (www.cde.ca.gov)
• The American Speech-Language Hearing Association

Other resources:

Johnson, P. L., & Flake, E. M. (2007). Maternal depression and child outcomes.

     Pediatric Annals, 36(4), 196-202. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com

     /docview/217555191?accountid=14872

Molfese, V. J., Modglin, A., & Molfese, D. L. (2003). The Role of Environment in the

         Development of Reading Skills. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 36(1), 59

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2004). Children’s emotional development is built

     into the architecture of their brains: Working paper no. 2. Retrieved from

     http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/reports_and_

     working_papers/working_papers/wp2/

Rauch, S. A., & Lanphear, B. P. (2012). Prevention of disability in children: Elevating

     the role of environment. The Future of Children, 22(1) Retrieved from

     http://search.proquest.com/docview/1519298061?accountid=14872

Shonkoff, J.P., Garner, A. S., Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M.I., Earls, M.F., McGuinn,

       L.,…Wood, D.L. (2011). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic

      stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), E232-e246. Retrieved from

      http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/1/e232.full.pdf

Colleagues and other professionals should feel free to contact me via this blog site, email, or via class discussions.

 

The Importance of Attachment with Infants

A Message to Mothers and Caregivers

How important is being a responsive parent and interacting with your newborn?  It is extremely important!  In fact, it’s so important that your newborn’s entire future depends on it.  You as the parent, particularly mothers, are the providers of your child’s first emotional and social experience.  The affection and nurturing that you give to your newborn is creating an attachment or an emotional bond.  This occurs most often in such activities as interacting with your newborn or infant during feeding time, when comforting him or her, and during play.  These interactions are shaping your baby’s emotional development.  Gerhardt, (as cited in Altamirano, 2009), defines the brain as a social organ that is shaped by our interactions that we have with others, in this case, the interactions that you have with your newborn.  Gerhardt stated that the area of the brain, the orbitofrontal cortex, that is responsible for emotional intelligence and allows us to read social cues and to identify feelings, develops in infancy (2004).  For this reason, the early social interactions that you create with your newborn is so very important to his or her future!  Your child’s emotional well-being will affect your baby’s ability to functionally adapt in school and affect his or her ability to form healthy relationships throughout life.    Bowlby, (as cited in Lee, McCreary, Breitmayer, Kim, and Yang, 2013), stated that consistent interactions with a responsive caregiver will give infants feelings of confidence and will foster positive emotional development, which is the foundation for later psychological functioning.   Mothers and other caregivers must be attentive and responsive to their babies.  Of course respond to their cries, but also be sure to respond to their eye gazes, their coos, and their giggles.  This will not only foster their social development, but it will also encourage reciprocity and language development.  So when you are interacting with your newborn, rather it’s singing, playing, talking, feeding, or holding, remember that you are shaping your child’s future.  You are molding your little one to become a healthy, well educated, well-rounded adult that will become a productive member of society.   There is no substitute for the attention and love that you, the mother, can give to your baby!  Remember, your baby’s future depends on it.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

-Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist and civil rights leader 

Altermirano, R. (2009). [Review of the book Why love matters: How affection shapes a baby’s

            brain, by Sue Gerhardt]. Clinical Soc. Work Journal, 37, no. 3, 260-261.

Doi:10.1007/s10615-009-0223-3

 

Lee,G., McCreary, L., Breitmayer, B., Kim, M., & Yang, S. (2013). Promoting mother-infant

Interaction  and infant mental health in low-income Korean families: Attachment-

based cognitive behavioral approach. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 18,      

                265-276. doi:10.1111/jspn.12034

Optimizing Brain Development

Did you know that the development of the brain begins in the first few weeks following conception and continues to grow and form throughout the remainder of the gestational period?  According to the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, The first three years of life are a period of incredible growth in all areas of a baby’s development.  The newborn’s brain is about 25 percent of its approximate adult weight.  By the age of 3, the brain has undergone a significant growth of billions and trillions of cells, connections, and synapses (2014).  But a child’s potential for success is not solely reliant upon genes.  Environment plays a large role in shaping the lives of children.  This combination of genetics along with environment and early experiences shapes the architecture of the brain, impacting the child’s cognitive development as well as all other areas of a child’s development.  Knowing this fact, we as early childhood professionals must take advantage of this huge window of opportunity to lead our children towards a future of achievement and success.   This issue is very important to me because I have witnessed so many three and four year old children entering the public school system who are delayed secondary to a lack of exposure.  What must we as early childhood professionals do?  We must advocate for improved early childhood programs, seek to educate parents on how to stimulate and how to facilitate their children’s learning through play and activities of daily living, and we must diligently continue working towards growing minds and shaping futures.

Zero to Three. (2014). Brain development. Retrieved from                             http://www.zerotothree.org/childdevelopment/brain-development/

 

 

What is an Early Childhood Professional?

Consider this scenario: Imagine that you are in an elevator on your way to a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference. Someone sees your identification badge and asks you about the conference. You explain that you are attending a conference for early childhood professionals. The person laughs and replies, “What’s an early childhood professional? Someone who babysits all day?”

An Early Childhood Professional is certainly not a person who babysits all day sir.  An Early Childhood Professional encompasses many professionals who work with young children between the ages of birth and 8 years of age.  These services are provided directly or indirectly to the child and to the child’s family with the goal and intent to contribute to the overall health, wellbeing, and to the child’s future role in society.  There are so many professionals that work together for that common goal.  You asked if an early childhood professional is one who babysits all day.  “Babysitting” is what immediately comes to mind whenever society sees or hears of a day care facility or nursery school, when in fact, daycare centers are required by law to follow an approved curriculum and provide educational activities to all of the children attending their centers; yes, and even the babies are engaged and stimulated.  Sure there is a lot of playing going on in these centers; playing is a part of learning for this age group!  Other early childhood professionals are child development specialist, professors of early childhood education programs; educators in the primary grades of 1^st through 3^rd grade; after-school programs; healthcare providers to include physicians, speech therapists, occupational therapist, physical therapist, etc.; federal and state level programs such as state licensing agencies, the Department of Education, and Head Start; as well as those state agencies that provide early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities.  Other professionals who may not work directly with children, but are charged with ensuring that educational programs and services are ran efficiently and in compliance with the law are program directors, administrators, coordinators, and principals.

There’s tons of research that shows the importance and benefits of early childhood professionals and how vital they are to society and to the field of education.  One example is the benefits of early intervention services for children with disabilities.  Rickards, Walstab, Wright-Rossi, Simpson, and Reddinough conducted a study on the impact of home-based intervention services for children diagnosed with autism and for children with developmental delays.  This study noted the sustained improvements in the children’s cognitive development one year after receiving early intervention services (2008).  Early intervention gives these children the early start and boost that they need, increasing their potential for success as they enter the school system.

The evidence is also clear concerning the impact of Head Start on children and their families.  A study was done on a parent-focused early Head-Start program that showed intervening early helped to keep children developmentally on track who were otherwise at risk for getting off-track because of poverty, by teaching the parents to support their children’s early attachment and cognitive development. (Roggman et al. 2009).  Because Head Start targets children and families from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, educating the parents as well as the children will, in a lot of cases, aid in helping to break the cycle of poverty, thereby helping communities by helping these children to become productive members of society.

The infant and toddler years are a crucial time of development and the parents and other caregivers are the most important teachers and nurturers during this period.  Many infants and toddlers are not afforded the opportunity to stay home with mom or other family members during the day because the parents have to work outside of the home.  For these children, quality daycare centers fill the gap and supports the child’s development.  Suzanne Quay conducted a study of the role of caregivers and peers on language development in daycare settings.  According to Quay, this study showed that the daycare environment can have the same significant impact on language acquisition as the home environment (2011).  Having age-appropriate language skills when entering public school will decrease the amount of children entering special education.  This will have a long term effect on the children’s future roles in society.

 

 

 

 

Rickards, A. L., Walstab, J. E., Wright-Rossi, R. A., Simpson, J., & Reddihough, D. S. (2009). One-year

follow-up of the outcome of a randomized controlled trial of a home-based intervention

program for children with autism and developmental delay and their families. Child: Care,

                Health & Development, 35(5), 593-602. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.00953.x

 

Roggman, L. A., Boyce, L. K., & Cook, G. A. (2009). Keeping Kids on Track: Impacts of a Parenting-Focused            Early Head Start Program on Attachment Security and Cognitive Development. Early Education &        Development, 20(6), 920-941. doi:10.1080/10409280903118416

 

Quay, S. (2011). Trilingual toddlers at daycare centres: the role of caregivers and peers in language

development. International Journal Of Multilingualism, 8(1), 22-41.

doi:10.1080/14790711003671853

Welcome to Growing Minds, Shaping Futures!

 

The purpose of this blog is to provide and share information and resources for professionals and most importantly, for parents of children who are in the early childhood developmental stage.

It is my hope that the information shared will allow each and every visitor the knowledge and inspiration needed to shape the lives of a child as that child blossom, grow, and develop through this very important period of growth and development.