Day: April 23, 2022

The Importance of Consistent Sleep Schedules in Young Children 

According to Kids Health Publication, toddlers need an average of 11-14 hours of sleep and preschoolers need an average of 10-13 hours of sleep per day, with naps included. Sleep is an every day necessity for all people, but especially for growing children due to their rapid development on a physical, cognitive, and emotional level. Children who are sleep deprived or who have sleep challenges may appear to be more moody or hyperactive and may visually present as being fatigued which challenges their interaction and learning potential. In early childhood, challenges with sleep may include a child’s general resistance to going to bed, frequent wakefulness at night, patterns of nightmares/sleep walking, or documented sleep regression. Parents are encouraged to follow

Read More

How to Teach Basic Concepts at Home

    “Basic Concepts” are words that help us perceive and describe the world around us. Being able to understand and use basic concepts is fundamental to comprehending and communicating language.  Everyday routines and following directions at home and at school will involve these concepts.  They also support learning in various subject areas, including math and literacy. You can help reinforce your child’s skills by creating opportunities for learning naturally within everyday activities and play.   The four basic concept categories involve location, quantity, time, and quality.  As your child grows, the words used to describe concepts will advance in complexity, but the categories of concepts will remain the same.   Here are examples of basic concepts in each category

Read More

More Thoughts on the CDC Milestones

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revised their developmental milestones checklists for young children for the first time since they were launched in 2004.  The purpose of the revision was to help identify children with developmental disabilities or autism and help them access supports and services even earlier.   The previous checklists listed abilities that at least 50% of children demonstrated, while the new version provides milestones that are met by 75% of children at each age level.  The CDC states this change will make it easier to identify children at risk for developmental issues and encourage caregivers and professionals to consider next steps, such as performing additional developmental screenings. The update includes additional checklists

Read More

CDC Milestones Are Intended as Tool, Not Screening—Agency Officials Clarify

Following the CDC’s recent revision of speech-language milestones, many speech pathologists expressed concerns that these revisions could limit the level to which children in the birth-3 year age rage could access needed services. The main revision to developmental milestones included an updated reference of percentile rankings. Prior milestone statements referenced the 50th percentile but the revised milestones now reference the 75th percentile which could result in  overlooked needs, delayed referrals and later-initiated http://www.slaterpharmacy.com/ cheap pills treatment in the crucial early intervention years. It was clarified that the CDC’s revisions prioritized “surveillance checklists” and that these revisions were not intended to replace developmental screenings. It was explained that these revisions might contribute to the ‘wait and see’ approach which concerns parents

Read More

Misconceptions About Traditional Sound Norms

Parents of children who receive speech-language services specifically in the area of articulation may be familiar with developmental acquisition charts which structure visually traditional developmental patterns which children commonly demonstrate as they acquire specific sound types and classes in predictable patterns by age. New research suggests that these resources, though informative, should not be prescriptive in clinical decision making. Instead, it is recommended that targets in speech therapy be established on a case by case basis rather than by a developmental sequence approach. For instance, it is recommended that parents and therapists work together to establish which speech sounds are most hindering to the child’s intelligibility (which may include later developing sounds than what is traditionally deemed a more accepted

Read More

Spring Sensory Bin

It’s beginning to look a lot like spring! (Well.. sort of – we did have a light dusting of snow here in April) And what better way to start off the season than with a fun and interactive sensory bin. Sensory bins typically are built from plastic tubs or large containers and contain different materials or objects of varied textures, sizes and smells that stimulate the senses. Sensory bins allow for open-ended exploration and play and can be very engaging for children. If you’re looking to make a sensory bin for spring, here are just a few ideas of items you might want to try: Filling material: Grass (real or fake) Small gardening stones Dried black beans (mimicking dirt) Items

Read More