There are many products and toys available to parents and caregivers these days that are aimed to get babies and toddlers ready for school. They vary in cost, ease of use, and accessibility. Some parents and caregivers feel compelled, and are able, to buy “fancy” toys that light up and sing. Some purchase expensive learning […]
In the business world, bootstrap financing utilizes unused opportunities that can be found within a company by simply managing finances better. According to the website Entrepreneur.com, “bootstrap financing is probably one of the best and most inexpensive routes an entrepreneur can explore when raising capital.” In the not-so-far-away past, the saying “pull oneself up by […]
The longterm gains of early childhood programs for children 0-5 years of age have been proven again and again. American economists, such as James Heckman at the University of Chicago, remind us frequently that the greatest return on investment with regard to children happens in the years before a child begins school. It’s a greater […]
Sensory processing is a frequently overlooked skill in the under 36 month old set. Newborns arrive into the world with an already established preference for taking in the environment around them. They are born with a sensory processing preference either for visual (looking), auditory (listening) or kinesthetic (movement) processing, and this preference will greatly affect […]
Babies and toddlers make one million neural connections per second in the first 3 years of their lives. They are laying down the foundations of their brain circuitry for learning, thinking and taking in their world that they will have for their entire lives. Emory University and the state of Georgia’s “Talk With Me Baby” […]
We’ve all heard the advice given to parents and caregivers to “talk, read and sing” to babies and toddlers to get them ready for school and life. We hear experts remind us that it’s never too early to start talking, reading or singing to children and that the more we do these activities with children, […]
As a follow-up to my blog post on Thursday — drum roll, please! — the results of the running race between 6-year old Stella and 3-year old are in: Stella won. The video here shows three-and-a-half year old Sam’s extreme magical thinking put to the test. He wanted to win the running race against his […]
In the video, I encourage 41-month old Sam to use his words to tell his big sister, Stella, that he doesn’t like it when she pushes him. This skill for using his words, rather than his behavior (e.g., by pushing back, screaming at her, etc.), to express what he doesn’t like is a crucial school […]
In the video, 40-month old Sam is at a loss for words, which is not uncommon for any of us during times of high emotion. I can’t recall the reason for his upset prior to taking the video, but I am certain it was something “serious” in his 3-year old mind. Because he was at […]
Learning to distinguish among all the possible emotional expressions of children 0-3 years old is no small task, especially as a new or first-time parent. From the time a baby is born, we must learn to decipher his cries to know whether he is hungry, thirsty, bored, overstimulated, tired, needs cuddling, or is in pain. […]
Baby and Toddler Land 