Developmental Milestones 6 months to 1 year

Last week we talked about developmental milestones from birth to 6 months, this week we will talk about the milestones of babies 6 months to 1 year. The second half a baby’s first year is very busy and very fun. Developmental milestones get even more complex and challenging for your baby. Their aware of their environment, and they really want to begin to explore and become a little more mobile.

Development: Milestones 6 to 9 Months

Your baby is really beginning to move his body into different positions. Don't expect them to stay in one place for too long. Being able to move from place to place will give your child a sense of power and control and their first real taste of physical independence.

Here are some of the key milestones to look for:

•Gets to sitting position without assistance

•Crawls forward on belly by pulling with arms and pushing with legs

•Assumes hands-and-knees position

•Creeps on hands and knees supporting trunk on hands and knees

•Uses pincer grasp

•Bangs two cubes together

•Puts objects into container

•Takes objects out of container

•Responds to simple verbal requests

•Responds to “no”

•Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”

•Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)

•Shy or anxious with strangers

Developmental Milestones: 9 to 12 Months

At this time your baby exhibits extreme curiosity about their surroundings. They can now pick up things that they could only look at before. One way to help avoid them getting into danger is to get down on their level. Get on your hands and knees and look around your home for safety risks. Look for small items and other choking hazards like cords for blinds or draperies. Lock cabinets and put safety plugs in electrical outlets.

Developmental milestones 9-12 months

•Pulls self up to stand

•Walks holding on to furniture

•Stands momentarily without support

•May walk two or three steps without support

•Lets objects go voluntarily

•Tries to imitate scribbling

•Says “dada” and “mama”

•Uses exclamations, such as “oh-oh!”

•Tries to imitate words

•May be fearful in some situations

•Finger-feeds himself

•Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed

•Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver)

•Enjoys imitating people in play

•Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development, please contact your pediatrician or for more information please visit the American Academy Pediatrics website

Source:

http://www.aap.org
http://www.emedtv.com/

Imaginary Friends

Imaginary friends come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're human, other times they're animals, or character from your child’s favorite book or TV show. They also keep very odd schedules, sometimes they are infrequent visitors and at other times they stop by only every few days and other times they are your child's constant companion.

Talking to imaginary friends, drawing them, read books to them and even sitting at the dinner table with them are all common activities for kids and their imaginary friends but should these actions be a cause for concern?
In most cases, the answer is No. A child’s imaginary friend are a typically a normal part of the toddler years. They can actually serve as a good outlet for child’s creativity.

Imaginary friends are known as “Symbolic Thinking” by Developmental Psychologists. Symbolic Thinking can include playing with dolls or action figures or using everyday objects as an imaginary item like a spoon used as a race car at the dinner table. Like our favorite children’s story it’s the simple concept of make-believe.
There is generally no harm in humoring your child in their claims of having an imaginary friend. However, you might find the following ground rules helpful:

•Don't force your child to admit that their imaginary friend is not real. In fact, have some fun with the concept by greeting them by name, and looking out for them as you travel around the house.

*If you’re not the imaginative type don’t force yourself to interact with your child’s imaginary friend. Do whatever you feel is natural to support your child’s imagination and creativity.

*Avoid using your child’s imaginary friend as leverage to complete tasks like cleaning up after play or brushing their teeth.

Imaginary friends tend to disappear between the third and fifth birthdays. They leave as easily as they arrived, they are forgotten, sent to a distant planet of they go live with the neighbors. In the meantime, enjoy the wonder and creativity of your child’s imagination.


Sources: http://www.babycenter.com
http://www.familyresource.com
http://www.greatschools.org

Goddard School Ashburn Named Top Daycare

The Goddard School® Earns Top Honor


Ashburn preschool receives "Top Daycare Centers: 2010"

The Goddard School located at 45091 Research Place (University Center) in Ashburn has recently earned the "Top Daycare Centers: 2010" recognition.

The Northern Virginia Magazine selected the Goddard School “in recognition of going above and beyond what is required for molding the children who walk through your doors”.

"We’re proud to earn this top honor and be recognized for our commitment to reach the highest professional standards," said Madhu Govil, owner of The Goddard School located in Ashburn. "This recognition demonstrates to our community that children in our program receive the best possible care and early learning experiences. Our management and faculty have earned this achievement by performing their very best every day."

Excerpt from the Northern Virginia magazine (January 2010) states: “With so many households having both adults working and placing their bundles of joy in the hands of daycare providers, we here at Northern Virginia Magazine want to help parents make informed choices…The centers on the Top Daycare listing are centers whose staff and facilities go above and beyond both the state’s licensing requirements and the average center in Northern Virginia.” The evaluation was comprehensive and based on the Virginia Star Quality Program and NAEYC standards and the School was graded in five different areas: Teacher certifications, Teacher-to-Student ratios, Parent and Teacher Communication, Curriculum and Facilities. The Goddard School earned one of the highest Grades of all the Loudoun County Centers.


"We are humbled by this recognition and sincerely appreciate confidence and continued support of our parents. We encourage everyone to let their family and friends know about their School's achievement. Thank you" said Mrs. Madhu Govil.

About The Goddard School®:
The Goddard School located at 45091 Research Place in Ashburn, VA 20147 opened in January 2007. The premier preschool accommodates 140 children, ages six weeks to 6 yrs old. On-site owner, Mrs. Madhu Govil, along with her executive director, Ms. Teresa Roberts, and faculty, which includes teachers trained and experienced in early childhood development, are always looking forward to welcome children into this nurturing environment where the curriculum encourages learning for lifetime.

To learn more about The Goddard School, families are encouraged to please contact Mrs. Madhu Govil at 703-724-0601.

The Importance of Locomotor Skills

Locomotor skills include walking, running, skipping, hopping, galloping, leaping, jumping and sliding and they are the foundation of human movement. From basic human development we understand that generally, children are ready to practice walking at around 12 months, they can start running/hopping/jumping at 24 months and galloping/sliding/skipping at 36 months. As the building blocks of coordination, it’s very important the you practice locomotor skills with your child.

Play is a great way to provide opportunity for practice of these critical skills and these skills should come naturally to most children. The key to teaching locomotor skills is proper modeling and repeated guided practice.

Here are a few tips on what to look for and how to reinforce the proper development of locomotor skill:

· Walking: look for smooth, straight steps with arms swinging gently in opposition of feet.
· Galloping: one foot leading and the other foot following behind.
· Jumping: feet should be close together, pushing off with both feet and landing on toes. This is a good time to try
jumping rope.
· Hopping: with one foot on the ground, push with the toes. Landing should be fairly quiet.
· Side-sliding: move sideways with one foot leading (a sideways gallop).
· Leaping: go over an object leading with one foot and land on two feet.
· Skipping: march with knees high; each time the knee is in the air, hop on the other foot - step/hop, step/hop, step/hop

Locomotor skills can be mastered by most children with some simple guidance. In some cases the skills are leaned by following the lead of older siblings. But a little direction from you can be a big help and as your child masters the different locomotor skills you will see them gain more confidence.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development, please contact your pediatrician.

Sources:
www.familyfitness.about.com
www.greatschools.org

Developing Reading Skills in Young Children

Developing early reading skills plays an important role in laying the groundwork for independent reading in the future. You can help your young child develop these skills in everyday life, where ever you are, shopping, at the playground or at the doctor’s office.

Reading Together is one of the most important things you can do with your child. Reading stories with your child, if only for 10 minutes a day, helps to capture your child's interest in books. Even babies enjoy looking and listening to books.
Here are a few tips on how to help children develop good reading skills at an early age:

1. Teaching Direction
Use your finger to run across the words and guide your child's finger as you read. This will help them understand that the writing moves left to right.

2. Letters
Children need to make the connection between the letter, its name and the sound it makes like “b” makes the sound "buh". Children can gain a familiarity with the alphabet and the sounds they represent at a fairly young age.

3. Language skills
Children can begin to understand the connection between spoken and written word at a young age. Teaching word recognition at a young age can help with reading comprehension at the later stage of learning and reading. Have them listen to and tell stories.

4. Rhyming
Dr. Seuss and other rhyming books are loved by children and they teach kids that words and sentence often have a natural rhythm.

It may seem challenging to teach children reading skills at an early age; however, it will all be worth it. Early intervention in reading prevents future problems

Developmental Milestones: 6 month

Many parents worry about their child’s development. Parents hear what other parents are saying about their child’s development and worry that their child is behind. The truth is, although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a normally developing child reaches that milestone can very quite a bit. Every child is unique.

What are developmental milestones?

Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that are appropriate for most children at a certain age range. Today we are going to talk about developmental milestones from birth to 6 months. Please keep in mind that these are only guidelines and all children develop at their own pace so don’t get too concerned if your child lags in a certain skill.

Developmental Milestones for a One-Month Old

When you first bring you baby home it seems like all the do is eat and sleep. By the end of the first month your baby should become much more alert and responsive. Some milestones might include:

•Bringing hands within range of eyes and mouth
•Moving head from side to side during tummy time
•Flopping head backward if unsupported
•Keeping hands in a tight fist

Developmental Milestones for a Three-Month Old

Around 3 months of age your baby will become much more active and many newborn traits will begin to fade. Babies around this age often have more control over their body and can spend hour entertaining themselves discovering their hands.

Some milestones may include:

•Raising their head and chest during tummy time
•Grasping and shaking hand toys
•Beginning to babble
•Beginning to imitate some sounds
•Turning head toward direction of sound
•Beginning to develop a social smile
•Enjoying playing with other people and crying when playing stops

Developmental Milestones for a Seven-Month Old

Many important changes occur between 4 and 7 months of age. Your baby will learn to coordinate their motor skills and start to develop their senses like vision, touch and hearing.

Some milestones may include

•Rolling both ways (front to back, back to front)
•Sitting with, and then without, support of her hands
•Supporting his or her whole weight on their legs
•Reaching with one hand
•Tracking moving objects
•Responding to own name
•Beginning to respond to “no”
•Distinguishing emotions by tone of voice
•Enjoying social play

If you have any questions or concerns about you child’s development, please contact your pediatrician or for more information please visit the American Academy Pediatrics website

Source: http://www.aap.org

Learning through Play - Part II

What makes play good or good play at Goddard Schools ?

Experts agree that play creates a successful experience for children of any age, learning anything if the following four elements are in place:

1) Atmosphere,
2) Materials,
3) Adult intervention and
4) Regard for individual differences.

The Goddard School atmosphere provides these four aspects within a relaxed sense of anticipation and freedom – freedom from evaluation/correction and to perform less than perfectly. It is this freedom that generates the higher levels of sophistication that children more often produce in play than in their lessons.

We Provide an Optimal Learning Environment that is Creative and Fun

An enriched learning environment fosters well-rounded, happy and confident learners. Our extensive resources include the creation of a warm, nurturing environment where children can make many supportable choices, independently explore learning materials and develop socialization skills as they interact with others. Toys and equipment are carefully chosen, first for safety and then for how they stimulate young imaginations and help children develop. Enrichment programs augment the Goddard School’s core curriculum to expose children to the skills necessary to support their active lives, develop positive self-esteem and set the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. These programs include sign language, yoga, fitness, art history, music, sports, world cultures and foreign languages.

Goddard’s Professional, highly-Trained Faculty make the most of every teachable moment.

Our professional educators are intentional in guiding and extending children’s play to ensure key developmental milestones are achieved across the learning domains. Teachers facilitate learning through responsive interactions with children as they learn and have fun! Our teachers skillfully weave in academic and learning objectives as they build upon what the individual children can do and encourage them to try new things.

Our Flex Learning Program gives structure and purpose to play. Ask your current daycare/preschool provider for their curriculum and compare to see the Goddard difference.

Learning Through Play

Play is an important aspect of the Goddard educational experience. We realize how important play is to the development of your children. Below are some excerpts from a paper prepared for Goddard Systems, Inc. by Kyle D. Pruett, M.D, an internationally known child psychiatrist and expert on children, family relationships and fathers. The full paper details how early play-stimulation is critical to central nervous system development in infants and very young children, setting them on a better path for academic success.

Why Play Isn’t Just Play
Extensive research and recent evidence indicates that play is a critical component in the educational experience of infants and toddlers; particularly with early stimulation and its effect on central nervous system development.

Play is the theater for learning, not just entertainment as educators once thought. In fact, it is a significant contributor to intellectual, emotional, language and social development. Without adequate opportunities for play, children can burn out from academic pressure. The following attributes of play are critical to driving emotional development.

1. Play affords the child endless opportunities for R & D [research and development]; to learn from his/her mistakes without having to pay for them
2. Play also benefits children’s physical development and perceptual-motor skills
3. Play promotes autonomy

In addition, when given several opportunities for exercise during the day, kids fidget and fuss less, concentrate more, feel better about themselves and behave considerably better in groups than their passive counterparts. Generally, daily exercise is best, and is shown to help language and social development in particular.

Not Enough Structured Play in Daycare, School and Home Environment

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is sounding alarms about the dramatic reduction in play time afforded children in the daycare, school and home settings.

They note the following:
1) 30,000 schools have recently replaced recess/play/arts/music with academics
2) Over the last 2 decades, children have lost 8 hours of unstructured play time from their week
3) 34% of kindergartens have eliminated recess since 2002

The next blog will detail how play should be included in a curriculum and how Goddard balances play with academics.