Nurturing Independence: Surviving the “Three-nager” Period
Each stage of child development has specific characteristics, both positive and negative. Raising infants is a struggle in exhaustion but makes up for it through experiencing the awe that is new life. Teenagers are developing their own identities and opinions…
Developmental Screening – Early Identification Makes a Difference
Reaching developmental milestones is an essential part of early childhood. Healthy development is important for all children, including those with special health care needs. We know that most children follow particular patterns of development, be it for motor skills, language…
Fostering Social Development
Humans are social creatures. We are born with the need to interact with others. Studies looking at infants raised in orphanages showed distinct improvements in social/emotional development when efforts were made to increase positive one-on-one caregiver interactions – meaning, the…
Reading With Your Child
If I really concentrate, I can still recite most of “But Not the Hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton. That fun, brightly colored board book was a favorite of both of my children when they were tiny, and was read over and…
Developmental Milestones – Social & Emotional
Infants quickly begin to interact with the world around them and become more social as they grow older. For parents and family members, it is one of the most rewarding parts of growth, as their children start to smile, and…
Developmental Milestones – Fine Motor
Like a fine-point pen, fine motor skills are small, precise movements made by the body. These are movements that involve coordination between muscles, like those of the hands and the eyes. These movements enable functions such as writing, fastening, and…
Developmental Milestones – Speech/Language
Language is how we communicate as humans. As newborns, language means crying, and new parents quickly learn the crying cues and how to respond to them. As children grow, so does their vocabulary, or expressive speech. Learning new words is…
Developmental Milestones – Gross Motor
In medicine, “gross” means “large.” Therefore, when we discuss “gross motor” skills, we are talking about large movements of the body. These are movements that require core (central) body stabilizing muscles, and include sitting, standing, walking, and running. They are…
