“I had to work when I was 15 years old,” said WAGE$ participant Maria Milla. “My country, Honduras, is very difficult, very poor. I had to move to a bigger city and live with relatives to be able to study. I wanted to be a teacher, but that required day classes. I had to work during the day, so I studied something else, but my dream was always to be a teacher. When I played school as I child, I was always the teacher!” Maria’s dream came true when she moved to the United States.
Maria answered an advertisement for a child care center substitute and started learning about children, but she quickly realized how much more she needed and wanted to know. She kept working, took English (ESL) classes and then began her early childhood coursework. Maria started on the Child Care WAGE$® Program with the NC Early Childhood Credential (four semester hours) and now has her Birth-Kindergarten Bachelor’s Degree. She has moved up the WAGE$ scale many times, earning higher awards, and has remained at her current 5-star program since 2005. She is now only two classes away from earning her Birth to Kindergarten license.
Maria knows how much her education and consistency mean for the children and families she serves.
“I feel like the more education we have, the better we can do,” she said. “We learn about development and how we can help children grow and learn.”
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Program helped her pay for classes; she says she couldn’t have done it otherwise. She’s proud of earning her degree, and she says WAGE$ helped her attain that goal.
“It helped with the financial component of taking classes. WAGE$ is a good motivator. I’m very thankful for all that WAGE$ and my partnership do with this incentive. I love my job and I’m happy, but I don’t make much money and this incentive helps a lot of us stay in our jobs. WAGE$ helps everybody. It helps children have the same teachers. Children feel safe, secure and happier. It helps parents feel more trust. They can leave their child with someone who has been there a long time rather than someone who comes and goes. It helps families because we don’t have to charge them more than they can pay. It helps the teachers a lot.”
Maria joked that despite her years of education in the United States, her English continues to improve with the help of the children in her class.
“I tell them to let me know if I say something wrong. They do! They correct me!” Laughing, Maria said, “Teaching is my passion. I want to stay in the classroom.”
By
Jennifer Gioia, Communications Manager at Child Care Services Association
Every year
on November 20, since 1954, the world celebrates Universal Children’s Day to
spread awareness of improving child welfare worldwide, promoting and
celebrating children’s rights and promoting togetherness and awareness amongst
all children. [1] With Thanksgiving so close, we would like you to
join us in taking a moment and thanking those who work tirelessly every day to
improve the lives of our youngest children.
Whether that’s a parent, an early childhood
educator, a doctor, child care provider, government leader, grandparent,
volunteer, nurse, religious leader, an advocate for children, or a friend, we
at Child Care Services Association (CCSA) thank you for your dedication and
leadership to ensuring the mission that every child deserves access to
affordable, high-quality child care and education.
What is
high-quality early childhood education?
High-quality early childhood education is
critical to a child’s development by creating a stimulating, safe and loving
environment for children birth to 5. [2] “A high-quality program
uses teaching approaches that support a child’s learning and curriculum goals.
Teachers modify strategies to respond to the needs of individual children, and
provide learning opportunities through both indoor and outdoor play.” [2]
“Quality programs are comprehensive.” [3]
High-quality child birth-to-five programs have lasting boosts in cognition and
socio-emotional skills driving better education, health, social and economic
outcomes. [3] Research shows that “high-quality birth-to-five
programs for disadvantaged children can deliver a 13% return on investment,”
which means children are more likely to graduate high school, go to college,
have a family and live a happier, more successful life. [3]
On Giving Tuesday (December 3), consider
investing in our children—our future. At Child Care Services Association, we’re
all about children. From helping children build healthy behaviors in what they
eat and how they play to making sure their teachers are qualified, trained and
adequately paid, CCSA focuses on a child’s early years, aiming to make them
happy, stable and secure.
When
all children have that start—a healthy foundation—we all do better.
Children are happier and more ready to enter
school, parents are secure in knowing their child is being cared for and
educated in a stable environment, and early childhood educators have the
resources they need to continue their education and can support their families
while pursuing the career they love.
At CCSA, we’re also all about making sure all
children have that healthy foundation. To have that healthy foundation, all
children need more stable relationships with better-educated and fairly
compensated teachers that stay in their jobs.
In fact, research shows that early experiences
are particularly important for the brain development of children of color and
children from low-income families.
“The highest rate of return in early childhood
development comes from investing as early as possible, from birth through age
five, in disadvantaged families. The best investment is in quality early
childhood development from birth to five for disadvantaged children and their
families.” [4]
At CCSA, we use research, services and
advocacy to build a healthy foundation for every child because we believe all
children deserve the best start at their best life.
How can
you invest in high-quality early childhood education?
Give to CCSA today! Your gift may help support
a parent who is starting a new job through our referral and scholarship programs
or a child care teacher who wants to finish an early childhood education degree
through our scholarship and compensation programs.
Our work results in enormous benefits for
children, families and the community. Help us make sure every child has a good
start to lifelong learning in a safe, nurturing, quality environment.
By Marsha Basloe, President, Child Care
Services Association
Working Parents Need Access to Quality Child Care – More Support Needed
for Child Care Workforce
Currently, throughout North Carolina, nearly half a million (457,706) children under age six live in a family where all parents in the household are working.[1] Many of these children are in some type of child care setting every week so that their parents can obtain and retain jobs that sustain and grow our state’s economy.
A study by the Committee for Economic Development (CED) shows that child care as an industry has an economic impact in North Carolina of $3.15 billion annually ($1.47 billion in direct revenue and $1.67 billion in spillover in other industries throughout our counties and cities).[2] Child care programs have an overall job impact throughout the state of 64,852, which includes 47,282 individuals who are employed within child care centers or who operate a home-based business plus another 17,570 in spillover jobs – created through the activity of those operating child care programs.[3] The economic impact of child care matters because it helps drive local economies. When parents can access child care, they are more likely to enter the workforce and stay employed.
The Child Care
Workforce: Early Brain Builders
Source: Committee for Economic Development, 2019
What we know is that child care is not only a work support for parents but also an early learning setting for young children. Research shows that a child’s earliest years are when the brain is developing the fastest – forming a foundation for all future social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. During this time, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second.[4] This is important to understand because both parents and child care providers play an important role in supporting healthy child development – helping to shape the brain’s foundation for all future learning (e.g., school readiness and school success).
Because both genes and experiences impact a child’s brain development,[5] the child care workforce plays a critical role in supporting early learning. In essence, they are brain builders – working with children to support a strong foundation on which later learning depends – just like the foundation for a house, all floors above the basement depend on the construction or sturdiness of the basement.
The Workforce that
Supports All Other Workforces
Despite the important role that child care educators play in supporting our next generation (as well as supporting the ability of parents to work), the current economic model for child care programs falls short of supporting child care workers in a way that recognizes their role in child development. How so? The operating budget for child care programs is based on parent fees and state subsidies paid for low-income children.
Because the current cost of child care in North Carolina is so high (e.g., $9,254 annually for center-based infant care),[6] program directors try to keep costs down because they know parents can’t pay more. However, what this translates to is low wages for the child care field. In today’s economy, where the fast-food industry and retail sales pay higher hourly wages and often offer benefits, the competition for the workforce to enter the early childhood field is steep. In fact, the early childhood field is experiencing a workforce crisis.
In North Carolina, the median wage earned for child care teachers is about $10.97 per hour ($22,818 per year if full time) and assistant teachers earn $9.97 per hour.[7] These wages represent a modest 0.7% increase in buying power despite much larger gains in education. The study also found that statewide, 39% of teachers and teacher assistants had needed at least one type of public assistance (e.g., TANF, Medicaid, SNAP/food stamps, etc.) in the past three years.
Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is conducting a county-level early childhood workforce study for the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) that will be completed in August 2020. Once completed, North Carolina will have additional information.
Source: Committee for Economic Development, 2019
For context, many child care educators are supporting their own families. With these wages, they fall well short of the level that qualifies them for public food assistance benefits (e.g., a family of three with income under $27,000 per year qualifies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP).[8] It’s not hard to understand that workers in low wage jobs face stresses in making ends meet, in supporting their own families and in parking their stress outside the classroom door when working with young children.
In North Carolina, the
state funds two programs administered by CCSA to support the early childhood
workforce:
Child Care WAGE$® Program, which provides education-based salary supplements to low paid teachers, directors and family child care educators working with children ages birth to five. The program is designed to increase retention, education and compensation. The Child Care WAGE$® Program is a funding collaboration between local Smart Start partnerships (55 partnerships) and the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE).[9] Salary supplements are earned – tied to the recipient’s level of education, with teachers and family child care providers awarded on a different scale than directors.
Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$Program, which provides education-based salary supplements to low-paid infant and toddler early educators working full-time. The program is designed to better compensate and retain well-educated teachers and family child care educators working with our youngest children. AWARD$ is funded by the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE).[10]
These strategies are invaluable to better support the child care workforce for the important work that they do. It raises salaries sometimes almost a dollar an hour. You can see the impact of these programs on our website. This is an investment in the workforce that supports all other workforces, AND also an investment that results in better outcomes for our children (e.g., brain-building that leads to school readiness). We hope these programs will grow in the years ahead to support our early childhood educators who care for our young children and families.
As we approach Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the work of our early educators. It is time for our communities to think about compensation for the early childhood workforce in a manner that reflects their contribution to our state’s prosperity.
“I don’t always look back at my own journey. Doing so lets me know I’ve been through a lot and I made it. I’m still making it. I’ll have my Bachelor’s degree soon!” Naukisha Wray-Darity is now back in school after many years without the financial means to do so. She had exhausted her pell grant and federal funding on past education and her center was not originally participating in the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarship Program because they did not fully understand how cost-effective it could be. Things are different now.
Naukisha teaches in the center her sister owns. Her sister tried to convince Naukisha to join her in the early childhood field when she first opened her program, but it wasn’t until after Naukisha had her son that she realized she had a gift. She created learning tools for him and her nephew and was helping them both learn through play. She decided she could help other children, too. She started working in the afterschool program and then became the full-time teacher for 3- and 4-year olds. “I fell in love with it,” she said.
Although Naukisha had already earned a two-year degree in another field, her success working with children made her want to share and learn more, so she completed her associate degree in Early Childhood Education and enough coursework to earn additional degrees, including an associate in Special Education. But that wasn’t enough. “I preach to my children all the time about the importance of college and degrees, and I wanted to meet the same standard I was setting for them.” The problem was finding the money to do it once her other options were exhausted. She said, “We really didn’t understand T.E.A.C.H. – what the percentages meant.” After talking with another participating center, they decided to give it a try.
Now Naukisha is on a T.E.A.C.H. scholarship and she continues to receive her Child Care WAGE$® supplements. She has been on WAGE$ since 2009, with ever-increasing supplement awards that reflected her ongoing education. “WAGE$ has helped me want to continue on with school,” Naukisha shared. “As a single mom at the time, my checks have helped me pay for child care and feed my kids. It helped me pay for books and classes. I don’t know what it hasn’t helped me do! Without WAGE$, it would be hard to stay in the business even though I love it. It has saved me from leaving the industry. I remember when my boys were starting school one year and I didn’t have the funds to buy what they needed. I had no idea how I was going to get through it. That Saturday, the WAGE$ check came. It was like Christmas because I could make sure my children had what they needed. They didn’t understand how hard things were for me.”
Naukisha uses her story to provide encouragement to other teachers in her child care program.
By Marsha Basloe, President, and Linda Chappel, Sr. Vice President, Child Care Services Association
This past week, Durham PreK’s new website launched as a place for Durham County families to find information about enrolling 4-year-old children in Durham PreK, to find other local resources related to early childhood development and to learn about Durham’s commitment to equitable, high-quality education for all young children.
What is Durham PreK?
Durham PreK classrooms are located in private child care centers, Durham Public Schools and Head Start classrooms. With funding from the Durham County Board of Commissioners, the intent is to both enhance the quality of preschool programs and expand the number of children served through state and federally funded preschool programs. The goal is universal public PreK for all Durham County 4-year-old children – with preschool services offered for free for families with income at or below 300% of the federal poverty threshold and a sliding fee scale for families with income above 300% of poverty.
Studies show that children who attend full-day high-quality pre-K programs are much more likely to start school with the skills to succeed, much more likely to perform at grade level and much more likely to graduate high school. A 2017 State of Durham County’s Young Children report found that only 38% of Durham children entering kindergarten had preliteracy skills at grade level (i.e., 62% of Durham children started kindergarten behind).
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently released third-grade end of year test scores for those children who were in kindergarten in 2014-2015. For Durham, the gaps in grade level reading are enormous – by income, by race and by ethnicity. It’s easy to connect the dots. When children don’t start kindergarten ready to succeed, despite remediation efforts, the competency gaps remain. Children don’t fall behind in third grade, they start behind in kindergarten.
We can do better to prepare our children for school (and life)
That’s the message behind Durham PreK. Child Care Services Association is the management agency for Durham PreK and works collaboratively with Durham County Government, Durham’s Partnership for Children, Durham Public Schools, Durham Head Start and numerous other community partners to expand access to high-quality pre-K classrooms for Durham’s 4-year-olds.
County funding is used to not only serve more children but also to broaden eligibility for children to participate and to work with teachers and private centers to strengthen their quality through teacher and director support, mentoring and coaching. Going beyond licensing standards and NC Pre-K standards, Durham PreK provides instruction and coaching to strengthen the interactions between teachers and children.
Research shows that gains made across child development domains are higher when teacher interactions are more effective, intentional and geared toward the development of critical thinking skills and social-emotional development in children.[1]
Using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®)
The professional development tool used in Durham PreK is called the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) developed by the University of Virginia and used in 23 state quality rating and improvement systems, many state and local public pre-K programs, and by every Head Start program across the country.[2]
CLASS is both an assessment system and a professional development coaching system. Studies have consistently demonstrated greater gains by children (including dual language learning children) in key areas of school readiness – including literacy, math, social-emotional development and self-regulation when children are in classrooms with more effective teacher-child interactions. International research demonstrates the validity of CLASS across a broad set of cultural contexts.[3]
Offering braided funding options
What makes Durham PreK unique is the community has all leaned in to make a difference for children. Where possible, funding is braided so a mix of funding supports classrooms, which promotes greater diversity among participating children. Every child receives a developmental screening, and screening results, general program eligibility, parent preference and distance from home are all taken into consideration during the child placement process.
For programs to be eligible to participate in Durham PreK, they must be a 5-star rated child care center, lead pre-K teachers must have a bachelor’s degree and either have or be working toward a Birth to Kindergarten license. Onsite curriculum implementation support, professional development and education planning, teacher improvement strategies tied to CLASS®, leadership development for program directors and other supports for continuous quality improvement are provided.
Durham PreK’s plan to expand
Estimates are that there are about 4,450 4-year-old children in Durham.[4] In the 2019-2020 school year, the intent is for 1,200 children to participate in public pre-K, an increase of about 245 children from last year. The overall goal over the next few years is to expand each year so that Durham PreK will be available to all families with 4-year-old children who choose to participate.
There are still some open spots for children. If you have a child who turned 4-years-old by August 31 or if you know a family with a 4-year-old, let them know – Durham PreK is open for business. To complete an application, call 919-403-6960 to speak to a coordinator (bilingual support is available), or you can download the Universal Preschool Application here.
If we all lean in, all our children can enter kindergarten ready to succeed!
The children of Estes Children’s Cottage serve themselves sliced cucumbers family-style.
Written by guest bloggers Michelle and Cathy Tuttle, owners of Estes Children’s Cottage in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Our mealtimes are a part of our curriculum at Estes Children’s Cottage, and we enjoy sharing food experiences together. Our program philosophy is inspired by the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and we draw inspiration from their view on food and eating together.
According to the Reggio Children book, The Languages of Food:
Recipes, Experiences, Thoughts, “special care in offering tastes, in the
food and attractive composition of the dish, in the aesthetics of table
setting, the pleasure of sharing lunch with friends, and the opportunity to
encounter the kitchen as a multisensory laboratory are important strategies for
creating a welcoming atmosphere for all and highlighting the individual in the
group.”
One of the centerpieces created by the children of Estes Children’s Cottage.
They view the kitchen in each school as “a place of life and of
possible relationships, a vital space inhabited on a daily basis by adults and
children, a space for thinking and research and learning.”
During the past year, we have explored expanding the children’s involvement with our mealtimes by adding a new ritual of allowing the daily table-setter to design a unique centerpiece for lunchtime. The children now gather items and request that they are used as a centerpiece.
Based on the children’s interest, we’ve created
opportunities for helping that include bringing breakfast from the kitchen,
putting away clean dishes in the morning and removing dishes from the table
after lunch. The older children developed a growing interest in talking about
our menu, the food offered and the kitchen where our food is prepared.
The parents and children of Estes Children’s Cottage watch Robert show how to cut butternut squash.
Since we often reference Robert when talking about how some of the dishes we have are prepared, the children wanted to know more about Robert, the manager and chef at the Chapel Hill kitchen for Child Care Services Association’s Meal Services Program. They had many questions for him, including what he looked like and his favorite foods to prepare and eat. We gathered the children’s questions and mailed a letter to Robert. He sent back his responses, complete with a picture attached.
We wanted to nurture the children’s interest in the kitchen and grow the relationship. Our oldest group of children was then able to travel by town bus on a field trip to see the kitchen in action. We were accompanied by a couple of the children’s parents as well.
Robert showing the children of Estes Children’s Cottage the equipment in CCSA’s Meal Services’ Chapel Hill kitchen.
They observed the food preparation process, saw
some of the tools used in the kitchen and even taste-tested a new recipe the
kitchen staff had prepared for the occasion. They now have a visual of the
kitchen, the staff and a lot of what goes into making our meals, as well as
meeting and forming relationships with the kitchen and staff.
After the bus ride back to the Cottage they were able to share “insider information” with the other children about what they had observed and seen.
By
Tomonica Rice-Yarborough and Kathy Thornton from
CCSA’s Professional Development Initiatives Team
World Teacher’s Day was established
in 1994 to recognize and celebrate teachers all over the world for their
hard work and dedication. It also brings to light the issues affecting the
profession to work toward a resolution for retaining and attracting teachers to
the field. This day was founded to celebrate public school teachers, but early care educators also should be recognized on this
day because they’re instrumental to the growth and development of our children.
Their contributions to society’s economic stability should be valued,
recognized and celebrated.
One of the main issues facing early care educators is the little
recognition or validation they receive for the pivotal roles they play in the
lives and development of young children. As a field, early educators in North
Carolina often hold degrees, but they earn significantly less than public school
teachers. According to CCSA’s 2015 North Carolina Child Care Workforce Study, the median wage of center directors in North Carolina was
$16.00 per hour, while teachers earned $10.97 per hour and assistant teachers
earned $9.97 per hour.
Although degree attainment has drastically increased in North Carolina, the field as a whole still suffers from being perceived as a high priced “babysitting service.” For 30 years, the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarship Program has provided the workforce with access to a debt-free college education while they work as low wage earners teaching future doctors, lawyers, teachers, administrative assistants, scientists…
Our brains grow
faster between the ages of birth and 3 than any other time in our life.
Children who are formally cared for in early education settings outside of
their homes depend on the early educator to support their developmental growth.
Those years are particularly formative, making the role of the early educator
even more critical. According to philosopher John Locke, “a child’s mind is a
blank slate waiting to be filled with knowledge.” Early educators play a big
part in setting the foundation for our children’s future.
On Sept. 4, 2019, Australia celebrated Early Childhood Educators’ Day to honor and appreciate early childhood educators. The world, like Australia, should have a day set aside to recognize early childhood educators. Sadly, early childhood educators are seldom during the World Teacher’s Day observance. This lends credence to the perception that early childhood education isn’t seen as a worthy profession. Why can’t we dedicate a day of observance to them?
By Cassia Simms-Smith, Anchor Infant-Toddler Specialist at the NC Infant-Toddler Quality Enhancement Project
Did you know that
brain science can be crazy fun?
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University uses terms like “serve and return interactions,” “high quality experiences” and “brain architecture” when they talk about interacting with infants and toddlers. But what do they mean with all those fancy terms?
Talking with babies can
be fun and it builds their brains!
Watch the videos below to see great everyday examples of
people just having fun interacting with our littlest kiddos:
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, we have another one for you – just look at that happy little face! 🥰Happy #ServeAndReturn week!#Development #Connection🎥 via ITV West Country (@itvwestcountry – Twitter
Yes! These silly, funny and crazy fun moments build babies’ brains! It is really that simple, and these moments bring laughter and fun into your world. Studies also show that laughter is good for stress management in adults!
What the experts have
to say about talking to our littles
“Serve and return interactions shape brain architecture. When an infant or young child babbles, gestures, or cries, and an adult responds appropriately with eye contact, words, or a hug, neural connections are built and strengthened in the child’s brain that support the development of communication and social skills.” –The Center for the Developing Child, Harvard University.
That’s what you just saw!
Now it’s your turn
Do you want to make a difference in the life of a child? You
can! No matter who you are or what your role is with children, simply having
some crazy fun interactions with a child will help to shape their future and
bring joy (and less stress) into yours.
Written by Kay Ducharme, Regional
CCR&R Senior Manager at CCSA
Becoming a Gigi
Guess what? I finally became a grandmother! Over the past three years, I have had the honor of becoming a grandmother (or Gigi, as my oldest granddaughter Mila calls me) to three little girls. I used to wonder why my friends never seemed to have time for me anymore after they had grandchildren. I actually found myself feeling sorry for some of them because they were always consumed with babysitting when I wanted to go do fun things on weekends. Now, I understand. “Mila adventures” occur on my weekends now, and I love every minute of them. I find myself doing things such as going to the kiddie splash pad, brushing billy goats, riding carousels, planting flowers, visiting playgrounds, shopping for shoes and other weekend girly things. We have gone through so many things, such as potty training, sleep issues, screen time limits, visits to petting farms and zoos, being gentle with animals, learning to walk dogs, etc.
Not Now, Gigi, I’m Busy Writing My Dissertation!
As a former preschool teacher many years ago, I was fascinated with language development. As I worked with young children, I tended to focus on language skills, and obviously do the same with my grandchildren. My oldest daughter is trying to finish her Ph.D. and is on the last leg of completing her dissertation. She called me the other day and told me Mila’s teacher had just called saying that Mila had been standing over a whiteboard. The teacher asked Mila why she was standing up to write. Mila’s reply was, “I am working on my dissertation.” I have heard Mila say that she was working on her dissertation many times and didn’t even think about it being different because this dissertation is something we talk about frequently in our family.
As a result of being a Gigi, I have a renewed appreciation
of what we do at Child Care Services Association (CCSA) for parents, young
children and early care and education professionals. I am keenly aware of child
care deserts for infants and toddlers, the cost of child care and the
navigation systems that parents use to unravel the mystery of child care for
their young children. I have visited and observed child care programs as a Gigi
and talked with teachers about their days and how things work in their
programs. I am amazed at how much they are accomplishing. I see new things that
Mila learns at her preschool every week and am in total awe of her development,
but most of all those language skills.
Talking Power
Mila really doesn’t know what a dissertation is, but she does
know that it involves writing. No one actually prompted Mila to say the word
but obviously has heard it numerous times at home, and it just comes naturally.
As I watch my younger grandchildren learning language
skills, I am reminded of what we need to do even with young infants. We respond
to their crying at first because we want to understand what they are trying to
tell us. This takes practice, but if you really pay attention, you will
understand. When they begin babbling, we imitate their sounds and help them
learn new ones.
Recently, I listened to my younger granddaughters as they
were learning to make sounds and navigate through the house by crawling or
walking around wobbling from side to side. One of them kept repeating the “B”
and “M” sounds that she had just learned, and her mother would imitate her
attempts. They had great games going back and forth, and truly there was a lot
of glee and bonding! Finally, she started saying “momma” by the end of the week,
and this week she has learned to follow directions and kiss her momma when
prompted.
Young children, as we all know, do repeat what they hear and imitate what they see. Conversations with parents aid in language development and nurtures learning. Talk at home is a powerful tool in the development of language and communication skills. Talking with babies and young children in natural tones and modeling the words that we want them to adopt is extremely important. Instead of teaching Mila the word “dissertation,” we used the word many times while we were around her. It is meaningful to her. Hopefully one day, she will write a real “dissertation” as she explores her own world!
When around young children, it is important to relax and
talk to them. Children are listening and understand much more than we sometimes
give them credit for. Making them perform their new language skills can
sometimes make them clam up, so be careful that you are not asking for
performances.
Remember that play and language development go hand-in-hand. A great deal of language is developed through pretend play. Give them lots of opportunities to talk, sing and read books. Reading books with rhyming words and sounds, or singing songs are great ways to develop language skills.
Sometimes language skills emerge over a long period of time
and sometimes they emerge overnight. All children are different and develop at
their own pace. The conversations we have with children nurture their
development and learning. Our talk at home and in preschool settings is a
powerful tool in the development of young children.
5 Power Tools to Help Develop Your Skills in Expanding Language
Here are a few ideas for helping young children develop
language skills:
Talk naturally in your authentic voice;
Tell stories, sing, read books, ask questions;
Sometimes just be silly with songs, books, and
words;
When they point at a ball, expand on it and make
a sentence out of the word they used or object they pointed out; and
Add colors, prepositions or numbers of objects
in everyday language (i.e. “We are going to climb up 7 brown steps now”).
Numbers, prepositions, colors and words used will all become a natural part of
their vocabulary.
They are soaking it all in and learn so much from you. Your words are truly powerful! Model the language that you want them to use and you can create learning opportunities wherever you go or whatever you are doing with children. Enjoy them. They grow up too fast!
Thank you to Kristen Siarzynski and Kathryn DeLorenzo for the photographs of Kay’s grandchildren.
