Kids on Screens

by Holly Hartman

How much screen time is okay for your child? What is most important is making sure the screen content is right for your child's age and development. Here are things to consider:

Birth to Two Years:

-There's no substitute for you! Use screens together.

-Video chat with loved ones is a good use of screens for kids.

-Remember that young children need real-life experience before they can understand what they see on the screen.

-Choose apps that limit the noise and distraction while providing a slower pace that won't overly excite your child.

-Balance screen time with active play and interaction.

-Be a good role model! Put down your phone while you spend time with your child.

Three to Eight Years:

-Check the content of the sites your child asks to see or play on to make sure it is accurate and appropriate.

-Turn screens off for the hour before bedtime to help your child get good sleep.

-Make time to use screens for fun with your child, especially to read together.

-Offer tradeoffs: use screen time as an earned reward for other activities like finishing chores, going outside, or playing with siblings and friends.

-Be a good role model! Put down your phone while you spend time with your child.

Children learn best from active, hands-on experiences with trusted elders. Screen time can take away from the valuable play and social time they need. Make sure the balance of screen time and "real time" is right for your family!

Board Members Building a Better ECC

Lisa Cundiff, ECC board member, Laura Shellhammer, Executive Director, Mary Melton, ECC board member, Sherre Davidson ECC board member and Amy Hardin, ECC member (not pictured) attended a training at Pioneer Technology in Ponca City on February 9, 2024. Training was presented by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. Training included Best Practices for Board Performance and Fundraising Basics for Non-Profits.

The Early Childhood Coalition is a 501c3 non-profit organization that works to raise the quality of life for families with young children in Payne County. The Coalition is made up of board members who actively engage with other organizations through its Programming and Finance workgroups. Interested in joining? Contact us for information and plan to attend the next meeting!

It's Germ Season

by Susan Bullard, M.D.

Flu, colds, ear infections, RSV and pneumonia... it’s the season for sick days! What can you do to keep your family healthy? The simple things are usually the most effective.

Keep Your Distance

These infections spread by germs in the fluids from your nose and lungs. When someone is coughing or sneezing, they’re spreading germs, so keep your distance – at least 3 to 6 feet.

Wash Your Hands

The germs can also be spread by hand to hand contact, so wash your hands frequently – especially if you’ve shaken hands with someone – and keep your hands away from your nose, mouth and eyes.

This is obviously hard to teach small children, so make sure they wash their hands frequently, especially if they’ve been around anyone who’s sick or getting sick.

Don’t Share

Colds and flu can be spread by an infected person even a day or two before they start feeling sick themselves – and by someone who’s feeling better for up to a week or two. Don’t share utensils, cups, food or drink. Cleaning surfaces that people touch frequently can help prevent the spread of disease.

Stick with Healthy Habits

We all know that one person in a family can stay healthy when everyone else gets sick. So what is it that makes the difference? Keeping your immune system healthy depends on keeping your whole body healthy. Make sure your family members are getting enough sleep. Eat a healthy diet, especially making sure you’re getting those five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, which have lots of natural substances to boost your immune system. Drink plenty of water.

Get Vaccinated

The single most important thing you can do to stay healthy in the winter is to get flu shots for everyone in the family. Flu shots aren’t perfect, so if one person in the family brings the flu home, the others (even if they got their flu shot) are more likely to pick it up with such close contact. But if the whole family gets their flu shots, the chances go way down that anyone will catch the flu.

Make sure the rest of your kids’ immunizations are up to date also. As recently as the 1980s, we knew we would see unfortunate children with bacterial meningitis during the winter months, and some of them would die. Since then the HIB, Prevnar and meningococcal vaccines have almost wiped out these terrible illnesses, but they can still come back in unvaccinated children.

A few special rules apply to infants during the first few months of life, who are susceptible to severe effects from flu or RSV.

• Stay away from large gatherings of people – don’t let people touch your baby’s face – and completely avoid people who are sick, even if it’s a family member.

• Breast feeding as long as possible gives your baby antibodies that help prevent illness. 

• Air quality can also affect your chances of getting sick. Don’t smoke – and don’t let anyone smoke in your house or around your child.

• Use a cool mist humidifier if the air in your house is dry from heating it during the winter.

No one can escape all the illnesses that winter brings, but these tips may help cut down the number and severity of the ones your family has to endure.

Teaching Toddlers to Make Choices

by Holly Hartman

As babies become toddlers they begin to notice they have choices. This can be challenging for caregivers, but we can also think of it as a chance to encourage independence and growth. Giving toddlers a chance to make a choice of their own helps foster thinking skills. It can be fun to watch as children show their personalities through their choices!

Remember to keep choices simple and limit the number of alternatives. Be sure you are going to be ok with their choice, whatever they decide. Also, try to avoid giving too many choices when you or they are tired, stressed, or in a hurry.

Since children learn best through play, we can find ways to give them fun experiences in decision making. Here are some easy examples of choices for toddlers:

• Would you like to eat pears or bananas?

• Do you want to wear the bear or the bunny pj’s?

• Which way shall we go on our walk today?

• Should we read one, two or three books before bedtime?

• Would you rather put away the blocks or the puzzles?

• Do you want to do it yourself or would you like help?

 Toddlers are new at making choices, and just like us, they won’t always make the choice that is in their best interest, or be happy with the choice they’ve made. We can help by showing patience and understanding while also allowing them to experience the consequences of their choices, as long as those consequences aren’t harmful or dangerous.

Think about all the important decisions children will be faced with throughout their lives, and it’s clear that the ability to make good choices is a crucial life skill that children need to develop. What is a fun choice you can give your child today?

Baby Brains

by Holly Hartman

When a child is born, we might notice their tiny hands and feet or cute little noses.  But the truly remarkable part of a newborn baby is inside their head, where we can’t see all the amazing development that is taking place. The Zero to Three organization provides parenting information and tips, and they recently shared a fascinating look inside a baby’s brain, here.  Some of their findings include:

• ·A baby’s brain is a quarter of the size of an adult brain, but it doubles in size in the first year of life.  With all that growth, 60% of baby’s energy goes to developing the brain.

• A two-year-old has 50% more synapses than an adult brain, even though it is much smaller.

• A three-year-old’s brain is twice as active as an adult brain. (We know this is especially true when you are trying to get them to go to sleep.)

• Brain development continues until around the age of 25.

By watching patterns in a child’s brain activity, scientists can tell if a child has been through trauma or negative experiences.  When a young chld’s brain has been traumatized or exposed to neglect, it is important to restore safe, trusted relationships with adults to help it  heal.

Zero to Three has the following advice for caregivers of babies and their amazing brains:

• ·Talking to babies frequently can result in quicker learning and speech development — babies who are frequently talked to know around 300 more words by age 2 than others. 

• Babies decipher what they should pay attention to (or not) by following their caregiver’s gaze.  

• Physical touch and affection are essential to helping a baby’s brain development, as it releases growth hormones.  

• The most important way to build brain growth is through “serve and return” interaction with babies and toddlers, which means getting to know them and interacting with them through back-and-forth conversation, expressions, and play. 

• Babies don’t just love peek-a-boo — they are mastering a new skill through brain development. 

• Toddler brains thrive on questions and problem-solving. Ask questions of 24-36-month olds such as “Why do dogs bark?” 

To learn more about how to support healthy brain development during the most important first three years of life, explore the Zero to Three website or talk to your pediatrician or Healthy Steps specialist.

9 Ways to Be a Great Parent

Babies Have Feelings Too!

by Holly Hartman

I have a pamphlet from the 1950s that was handed out at hospitals to new mothers, and it’s clear that back then it was believed that infants didn’t experience real emotions like anger, sadness, or even joy.  Today it seems unbelievable that anyone could hold a baby who is howling with rage because their pacifier has fallen from their mouth and conclude that the child doesn’t have real feelings!  Research over the last thirty years has caught up with what most of us know on an intuitive level; babies do indeed experience a wide range of emotions!

As caregivers, we often feel it’s our job to protect our children from distress and negative feelings.  Not only is this not possible, it’s not even in the child’s best interests.  Experiencing negative feelings is a part of being human, and learning how to cope with those feelings while we’re young is a key to becoming a healthy adult.  The article “First Feelings: The Foundation of Healthy Development, Starting from Birth” at zerotothree.org provided these suggestions for helping our children learn to self-regulate.

Label Feelings

Young children don’t have words yet to express how they are feeling, so when we give a name to their emotion, we let them know that feelings are normal and acceptable.

Listen

When children share difficult feelings, it is important to acknowledge the feeling as real and important.  Then you can move on to helping your child managing the feeling appropriately.

Let Them Know All Feelings are OK

We don’t make unpleasant feelings go away by ignoring or denying them, so practice allowing the child to express their emotions while you listen or just stay present with your child.

Teach Coping Tools

We can show our children how to stomp their feet or run a lap. We can support them to take tiny steps toward the unfamiliar when they are afraid, like visiting a new school before the first day.  Think of this as helping children build an emotional tool-box that will grow with them  throughout their lives.

Manage Your Stress

A child’s meltdown frequently leads to our own negative emotional reactions. When we caregivers pay attention to our feelings and cope with them successfully, we model healthy behavior and resiliency for our children, and find ourselves better equipped to weather the storms of family life successfully.

Learn more about The Basics at https://thebasics.org/

Holly Hartman is an early childhood educator, author, and member of Stillwater’s Early Childhood Coalition, Inc.

Family Friday: Quality Time with Your Child

Week of the Young Child

Families seem to be busier than ever, and while parents would like to spend more quality time with their children, it is easier said than done! The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) provides lots of articles and information about ways to squeeze quality time into your day, found here on their website.  Here are some of their tips:

Have a daily “connect” time with your child

Create a habit of focusing your whole attention on your child a few minutes at the same time every day with no distractions. Pick a time you can stick to, like the drive to or from school, rather than more hectic times.  Reading together can be a great habit to start with!

Make and eat meals with your child

Stick with simple meals that require basic preparation or grab a healthy snack and just sit a few minutes to chat with your child.

Reinforce positive behavior

Try to shift the times when you talk to your child from directing or correcting their behavior, and instead focus on noticing and acknowledging when they show positive behaviors like initiative, perseverance, patience, and creativity.

Play with your child everyday

Play can happen in small moments any time of day, it doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming.  Toss a ball back and forth for a few minutes before you drop off at school or sit by the tub at bath time; every little bit of play makes a positive impact!

Turn off technology

Try not to text, answer calls, scroll through social media, or watch television when you spend time with your child.  Remember, you are teaching them how to give their full attention to you, by giving your full attention to them!

Meaningful connections are about quality of time, not quantity of time. Keep it simple and connect with your child in ways that make sense for your lifestyle and relationship. Each connection has a lasting impact and provides the support and reassurance that your child needs.

Learn more about Week of the Young Child and the National Association for the Education of Young Children at their website, www.NAEYC.org

Artsy Thursday: Keep It Simple

Week of the Young Child

Toddlers are natural artists, at least when they are sitting in their high chair with a bowl of pudding on their tray! When children have opportunities to express their creativity through simple art projects, they develop eye-hand coordination, sensory awareness, experience in making choices and experimenting with ideas... the list goes on and on.  But the biggest benefit may be that creating is just so much fun!

Parents may feel that art projects take too much time and effort, but NAEYC has offers some help for keeping it manageable, here on their website.

Eliminate the pressures that make art projects difficult

You don’t need a lot of special supplies or prep time.  Stock up on a few staples, like markers, tape and glue and then use what you have on hand – paper plates, cotton balls, etc.

Allow children to do the work

Let kids take the lead on choosing how they want to create, and scale the project down to the level of skill they possess.  Then step back and let them do the work! Stand by to support and cheer, but not judge or take over.

Praise their efforts, not the product itself

Lead with questions, like “how do you feel about your creation?” and then really listen to their response before responding with support.  Make observations about the time they spent, the number of tries they made, or their patience and creative solutions.

Remember – you’re creating happy memories!

Stay focused on supporting your child’s creativity and spending time together.  The picture they paint, song they make up, or tower they build will be forgotten in time, but the bonds you build will last a lifetime!

Learn more about Week of the Young Child and the National Association for the Education of Young Children at their website, www.NAEYC.org

Work Together Wednesday: Sharing Chores with Your Child

Week of the Young Child

You may have heard the saying, Play is the work of children, which is a reminder that when children are making messes, acting silly and having fun, they are also engaged in serious learning.  We can also turn the statement around and say “Work is the play of children.”  That’s a reminder that children want to be included in the daily routines that we may consider work, like washing dishes and sorting laundry.  And when we invite children to work alongside us, while keeping it playful and fun, we support them to develop in a multitude of ways. NAEYC offers some tips on cooking with toddlers here on their website.  These pointers can apply to lots of other household chores as well:

Keep it simple

Think about your child’s current abilities and give them one task at a time, that they can mostly do by themselves.  Increase the complexity and number of tasks as their skills grow.

Let your toddler lead

Notice what really interests them and choose a task accordingly. Maybe they love socks, so you ask them to sort all the socks into piles for each family member.

Prep and plan when possible

Set your child up for success by making chores easy to accomplish.  That might mean storing things on a child’s level or putting trash in smaller containers.

Invite your child to help clean up.

Approach clean up at the end of play as a fun game that everyone shares in, and gradually they will develop the habit of picking up after themselves in other situations.

Inviting and encouraging your child to share in the everyday work of living in a household together teaches them patience, perseverance and organizational skills. But even more, it teaches them that they are a valued, contributing member of the family and gives them to confidence to tackle the larger life tasks ahead.

Learn more about Week of the Young Child and the National Association for the Education of Young Children at their website, www.NAEYC.org

Tasty Tuesday: Cooking with Children

Week of the Young Child

by Peggy Emde

For many of us, cooking with young children sounds like a challenging experience. What comes to mind when you think of kids in the kitchen? A big mess? An accident waiting to happen? More trouble than it’s worth?

On the other hand, cooking with children offers many natural learning opportunities in math, science, language/literacy, and health. It is also a great time to build relationships.

These days, there may be less time for children to experience cooking in the home.  Many meals are rushed, maybe with drive-thru food.  With that in mind, making time for simple cooking experiences is even more important. Ready to give it a try?

Start small!

Toddlers need lots of opportunities to pour, stir, and mix in the sandbox or bathtub, and then they can graduate to pouring their own milk at meal time.

Stay simple!

Choose a simple recipe with just a few ingredients that matches your child’s skill level. Also, look for one that doesn’t involve a long wait time!

Stock up! Be sure that you have all the ingredients and utensils ready before hand.

Safety First!

Cooking often involves heat and sharp objects, so close supervision is a must. (Leave your phone in the other room!) Use plastic rather than glass containers, and child sized utensils (plastic serrated knives for instance.) Avoid recipes that involve frying or very high heat.

A Recipe for Success:

1. Explain in very clear terms the process/steps of the recipe. Remember, cooking experiences don’t always mean heating something or even eating something. Making no-cook playdough is an easy first recipe to try.

2. Always wash and dry hands before and after cooking. Have children help with washing all fresh food items.

3. Show how to hold foods when grating or peeling, and how to hold food down on a cutting board when cutting by making a claw with the hand.

4. Gently remind about safety rules as you cook: “Only adults may handle the heated appliance.”

5. Let children do as much for themselves as possible. If you are doing most of the work, the children aren’t getting the most from the experience!

Let’s look at the learning possibilities for you and your children:

Science: Observing; Classifying; Changes in matter; Cause and effect; Sensory experiences. Ask:

·      What happened when we stirred it?

·      Which ingredients are the same?  Different?

·      What do you think will happen when water is added?

·      What happened when we baked it, how is it different?

Math: The concept of numbers……recipes are all about numbers! Measuring; Estimating; Fractions; Comparing; One to one correspondence. Ask:

• Which container has the most?

• Can you count 3 teaspoons?

• Do you think that is enough flour?

• If you slice it once how many pieces does that make? How many will you have if you slice it two times?

• How can we get all of the cookies on the cookie sheet?

Language and Literacy: New vocabulary words - knead, pour, stir, grate; Descriptive words like sweet, salty, tart; Reading recipes and looking at the pictures together; Writing a grocery list; Setting the timer. Ask:

• Do our carrots look like the ones in the book?

• What does this taste like?

• What did the caterpillar in the story eat that you like?

• Can you choose a recipe to use from the book?

• What do you think this utensil is called?

Health and Personal Care Skills: Good hygiene; Healthy eating habits; Food groups; Portion control. Talk about:

• Why we wash our hands before preparing and eating, and why foods must be washed before preparing.

• How everyone has different tastes, and how we can learn to like new tastes.

• How foods affect our bodies, both good and bad.

• How foods are alike and different, and which food group they belong to.

When we think about all of this learning potential, it becomes very clear how important cooking with children can be.  If we are prepared and willing to offer these experiences to the children in our care, the rewards can be enormous!

Learn more about Week of the Young Child and the National Association for the Education of Young Children at their website, www.NAEYC.org

Week of the Young Child: Music Monday

Playing with Music at Home

Many parents first begin sharing music with their children soon after birth, when they coo, hum, or sing soothing lullabies to calm their crying baby. Teachers know that music can be a great help when children are making transitions of all kinds, and that songs and rhymes help them remember simple facts and routines.  Who remembers the “pick-up” song from their pre-school years?

Children love to sing, dance, and make their own music.  The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) provides lots of articles and information about playing with music at home, found here on their website.  Here are some of their tips:

Play music made for children

You can find great music created for a young audience all over the Internet, or more locally you can check out children’s music CDs at the Public Library.  The site www.zooglobble.com is a great resource for finding the very best in kids’ music today.

Develop reading readiness through rhymes

Listening to and repeating rhymes helps children learn to match the sounds of language in a playful way.

Sample music from around the world

It’s never been easier to introduce your child to all kinds of music – try playing some classical, jazz, salsa, celtic, and hip hop beats to find what your child likes best!

 Learn more about Week of the Young Child and the National Association for the Education of Young Children at their website, www.NAEYC.org

What's Your Story?

by Holly Hartman

When days grow shorter and nights get frosty, storytelling season has arrived.  Autumn is the perfect time of year to spend an evening with family or friends, telling tales that scare us silly, tickle us to tears, or leave us speechless with wonder. Gathered at the dinner table or snuggled in front of a fire, someone begins, “Did I ever tell you about that time...?” 

Storytelling is as old as human history, and we all can do it. Stories can be passed down through generations or made up on the spot.  They can be real accounts of history or tall tales that defy belief.  Some stories inspire good behavior, while others try to scare us away from behaving badly.  Almost all stories have the unique power to connect us with each other.

For young children, stories hold a particular kind of magic.  Preschoolers are just beginning to learn language and build knowledge, and they use all their senses to take in a story. They absorb feelings from the storyteller’s face, voice and hands.  They make their own meaning when names, places or actions are unfamiliar, and they watch other listeners to know how to respond. Listening to familiar stories over and over, they develop many of the skills they will use to master reading, writing and math. Research has shown that homes where family members talk with each other frequently, beginning at birth, produce children who thrive in school.

Like people of any age, children are most attentive and engaged when the storytelling is personal. Family stories help them build their identity, for better or worse.  That’s why it’s so important for us to choose carefully the words we use to describe our children when we tell stories that involve them, especially at times when we think they are not listening!

With all the modern devices available for sharing stories, it might be tempting to think that books or screens are a substitute that will be more appealing and valuable to our children than the act of simply listening to us telling tales.  But once children have heard live storytelling, I have never known them to choose otherwise, for storytelling builds a deeper, long-lasting relationship between teller and listener.

By bending and stretching a story to meet the child’s needs, we empower them to try on new roles and feelings. When the story to engages their imaginations and appeals to their empathy, it becomes real to them and they are active participants in its outcome.  Soon they will want to tell stories of their own, and we will be the delighted listeners. As we pass the roles of teller and listener back and forth, we stitch together the bonds that strengthen family and community.

My grandmother used to open her stories by saying, “I’ll give you a story.” I have come to realize how truly she spoke, for stories passed from one generation to another can be the most lasting and cherished of gifts. This autumn, try not to miss the opportunity to gather your loved ones close and begin; “Once upon a time...”

Learn more about The Basics at https://thebasics.org/

Holly Hartman is an early childhood educator, author, and member of Stillwater’s Early Childhood Coalition, Inc.

In and Out of Sync

by Holly Hartman

Eating, napping, or twiddling their toes; no matter what they’re doing, children are learning. They don’t just soak up knowledge, they actually build it from their daily experiences. But being so new to the game of life, young children make lots of miscalculations and mistakes in their efforts to learn.  That’s where their trusted adults come in.  They need us to provide balance, by supporting their independence and risk-taking but also creating a safe harbor of trust and security for them to return to.

In the words of The Basics, we need to MAXIMIZE LOVE and MANAGE STRESS.

Babies rely on us to meet their needs and respond to their cues.  Back and forth, we “serve” them invitations to learn, using our words and body language. They “return” our invitations with words and gestures of their own, using each experience to build new understandings.  When adults and children are serving and returning in sync with each other, maximum love is achieved and life is a joy.

Of course, things get out of sync and stress happens. Actually, a lot of stress happens in the lives of young children, for both them and their caregivers. The baby’s natural rhythms of sleep, feeding, and play often collide with our adult schedules.  They become overstimulated but unable to calm themselves down. They get distressed by new situations, but can’t remove themselves and regroup without our help.  Managing stress requires caregivers to respond to both our own feelings and frustrations and theirs with firm kindness and acceptance, so together we are able to get back in sync.  Child and caregiver figure out together how that balance works for them, and in doing so they create the bonds of their relationship. It’s a messy and imperfect process, but building trust is the best way we help our children grow.

The bonds we build with children when they’re young encourage them to persist in gaining knowledge and achieving independence as they grow, while also protecting them from the harmful effects of the stresses they’ll encounter along the way. Those bonds can provide the same benefits, maximum love and manageable stress, to us as their trusted adults.  And then everyone wins at the game of life!

Learn more about The Basics at www.thebasics.org

Holly Hartman is an early childhood educator, author, and member of Stillwater’s Early Childhood Coalition

Raising Good Citizens

Raising Good Citizens

By Holly Hartman

Raising Good Citizens

The sights and sounds of the Boomer Blast make July seem like the most patriotic time of year. With flags flying and bands playing Yankee Doodle Dandy, it is easy to feel that we live in a great country and a great state. When my kids were young, our neighbor Mignon Hamilton hosted an annual parade and cookout that brought us all together to march, sing, play, hear some history and compete for silver-dollar prizes in the t-shirt contest.  It was a memorable summer highlight that provided the chance to meet our neighbors, share common ground, and celebrate democracy.  While every day can’t be the 4th of July, children need to experience some sort of civic participation early and often in their lives if we are to maintain the quality of life and community we love to celebrate on Independence Day.  Otherwise, what if we held an election and nobody voted?

Civic engagement with a young child might mean greeting a police officer, garbage collector or other public servant with a wave, a handshake or a bottle of cold water on a hot day, and thanking them for the work they do.  It might be pointing out a water main being repaired or a cable installed, explaining that our utility bills pay for such things. It could be bringing a child along to a public event to meet city officials and ask questions about our city.  Or maybe it’s simply pausing to pick up trash at the park, while talking about how parks belong to everyone.

For young children, “show” is always more powerful than “tell”, so the key to teaching good citizenship is mostly about being a good citizen on a daily basis, in concrete and positive ways.  And that’s not just caregivers; all of us set an example with our behavior that children are watching and learning from, all the time!

One of the youngest people ever to serve in the U.S. Congress once said that her father took her to Washington when she was young and told her that all the buildings and activities inside them belonged to the people and therefore to her.  She clearly grew up feeling ownership and responsibility for the systems that help us coexist as citizens and thrive as a nation. I was lucky to have parents who voted in every election and volunteered in the community, instilling civic participation as an important and lasting value. I don't remember any lessons or lectures, it’s just what they did, and they expected my brothers and I would do the same.

A mountain of research has concluded that children as young as 12 months of age have an understanding and desire for fairness and equity, so it is never too early to begin teaching citizenship.  Maybe a good place to start is with a chorus of Yankee Doodle... Keep it up!

Holly Hartman is an early childhood author, educator and member of Stillwater’s Early Childhood Coalition.

Formula One Babies

By Holly Hartman

Our community welcomed 753 new citizens in 2020; that is the number of babies born in Payne County that year, and a similar number no doubt arrived in 2021.  We see them around town in strollers, car seats, shopping carts and caregivers’ arms.  Unless they are exercising their considerable lung power in the middle of a meltdown, most of us give toddlers little attention other than to offer a goofy grin if they happen to look our way.  But there is a lot going on inside these small people!

Our youngest children are in their most formative time of life. These future rock stars, astronomers, doctors, car mechanics, artists, and teachers have brains and bodies that will never again grow at such a rapid pace, nor develop with such complexity. The acceleration of growth and learning in the first three years, compared to the rest of our years, is like a Formula One racecar compared to a Toyota Corolla.

While we humans are clearly growing in size during the first thirty-six months of life, we are also constructing the foundational emotions, attitudes, knowledge and skills that will carry us through the rest of our lives. From birth to age three, typical children rack up some impressive gains:

Physical: At birth, babies have zero muscle control; by age three, they run, jump, focus attention, feed themselves and might even be potty-trained!

Emotional: At birth, emotions are undifferentiated primal sensations; by age three, they not only express their feelings, they can turn them on and off in response to a situation.

Vocabulary: from 0 to 1,000 words – whew!

Social: At birth, babies literally don’t know they are a separate being from their mother; by age three, they can read other people’s intentions and show empathy.

You may ask what have I learned in the last three years?  Comparatively little!

What I do know is that there are only a few basic things we need to do to help our little ones grow to the best of their potential.  The Basics are five parenting and caregiving strategies that support young children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. They were developed from research by the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University in collaboration with a national expert advisory committee. The Basics don’t require fancy toys or extra hours in the day – they can be a part of everyday routines at home and school. They include:

In coming months, the Early Childhood Coalition will be sharing The Basics with organizations and individuals across our community who believe that supporting families with young children is a key to building a strong and vibrant community. Get in touch with us through our website or Facebook page if you’d like to join our efforts!

Holly Hartman is an early childhood educator, author, and member of the Early Childhood Coalition.

Math for Beginners

by Peggy Emde

Math is a subject that may strike fear with many of us, even though it is such a vital part of our everyday lives!  Children begin using math very early on, which helps us understand, math is more than addition, subtraction, and counting. The Basics focus on Count, Group, and Compare is great, but let’s start at the beginning of math learning. 

During their first-year children begin to build the foundation of math. They become aware of sequence by predicting events, such as seeing a bottle and having an awareness of what comes next.  Infants begin to learn basic cause and effect when they throw their food from the high chair and see what happens (No, they are not just trying to drive you nuts!).  They begin to understand basic concepts about sizes, big, little, etc.  Another basic math skill learned during this time is beginning to understand quantities; a little, more, and enough! 

Talk with your baby about what is happening, what is about to happen, and what just happened.  In other words, share a running narrative of your actions, as well as theirs.  Use math language with children during interactions and conversation, with terms that help them learn about quantities; “that’s a lot of toys, that was too much,” etc.

During the toddler years (1 year up to 3 years), children begin grasping the concept of alike and different. This happens as they begin to recognize different shapes, colors, etc.  This shows the ability to sort by a simple characteristic, such as color.  They begin to grasp that numbers mean how many, for example using fingers to show how many years old they are.

Toddlers also begin exploring quantities by filling and emptying containers, asking for items by using math terms, such as “I want two cookies”.  They begin the foundation of learning about geometry, by becoming aware of how they move in spaces, how to fit items in spaces, what will fit and won’t fit.

Think about your day with a toddler. How many opportunities do you have to help them count, group, and compare?  Count while serving food, setting the table, or even pumps of soap.  Help them sort colors, and ask which are red, green, and blue. Compare sizes and shapes of items. 

Just like when they were younger, use math language.  Build on the vocabulary they already understand with new words, such as equal, math, the same, or narrow.

All of these skills are vital for children if they are to develop not only the foundation for learning math concepts, but an eagerness and excitement for all learning.  How we provide these opportunities is just as important.  Know your child’s developmental level and provide appropriate opportunities for learning not only new skills, but to continue practicing those that they have accomplished. 

 Peggy Emde is an Instructor at Northern Oklahoma College and a member of the Early Childhood Coalition.

Cooking with Children

by Peggy Emde

For many of us, cooking with young children sounds like a challenging experience. What comes to mind when you think of kids in the kitchen? A big mess? An accident waiting to happen? More trouble than it’s worth?

On the other hand, cooking with children offers many natural learning opportunities in math, science, language/literacy, and health. It is also a great time to build relationships.

These days, there may be less time for children to experience cooking in the home.  Many meals are rushed, maybe with drive-thru food.  With that in mind, making time for simple cooking experiences is even more important. Ready to give it a try?

Start small! Toddlers need lots of opportunities to pour, stir, and mix in the sandbox or bathtub, and then they can graduate to pouring their own milk at meal time.

Stay simple! Choose a simple recipe with just a few ingredients that matches your child’s skill level. Also, look for one that doesn’t involve a long wait time!

Stock up! Be sure that you have all the ingredients and utensils ready before hand.

Safety First! Cooking often involves heat and sharp objects, so close supervision is a must. (Leave your phone in the other room!) Use plastic rather than glass containers, and child sized utensils (plastic serrated knives for instance.) Avoid recipes that involve frying or very high heat.

A Recipe for Success:

1. Explain in very clear terms the process/steps of the recipe. Remember, cooking experiences don’t always mean heating something or even eating something. Making no-cook playdough is an easy first recipe to try.

2. Always wash and dry hands before and after cooking. Have children help with washing all fresh food items.

3. Show how to hold foods when grating or peeling, and how to hold food down on a cutting board when cutting by making a claw with the hand.

4. Gently remind about safety rules as you cook: “Only adults may handle the heated appliance.”

5. Let children do as much for themselves as possible. If you are doing most of the work, the children aren’t getting the most from the experience!

Let’s look at the learning possibilities for you and your children:

Science: Observing; Classifying; Changes in matter; Cause and effect; Sensory experiences. Ask:

·      What happened when we stirred it?

·      Which ingredients are the same?  Different?

·      What do you think will happen when water is added?

·      What happened when we baked it, how is it different?

Math: The concept of numbers……recipes are all about numbers! Measuring; Estimating; Fractions; Comparing; One to one correspondence. Ask:

• Which container has the most?

• Can you count 3 teaspoons?

• Do you think that is enough flour?

• If you slice it once how many pieces does that make? How many will you have if you slice it two times?

• How can we get all of the cookies on the cookie sheet?

Language and Literacy: New vocabulary words - knead, pour, stir, grate; Descriptive words like sweet, salty, tart; Reading recipes and looking at the pictures together; Writing a grocery list; Setting the timer. Ask:

• Do our carrots look like the ones in the book?

• What does this taste like?

• What did the caterpillar in the story eat that you like?

• Can you choose a recipe to use from the book?

• What do you think this utensil is called?

Health and Personal Care Skills: Good hygiene; Healthy eating habits; Food groups; Portion control. Talk about:

• Why we wash our hands before preparing and eating, and why foods must be washed before preparing.

• How everyone has different tastes, and how we can learn to like new tastes.

• How foods affect our bodies, both good and bad.

• How foods are alike and different, and which food group they belong to.

When we think about all of this learning potential, it becomes very clear how important cooking with children can be.  If we are prepared and willing to offer these experiences to the children in our care, the rewards can be enormous!

Peggy Emde is an in instructor at Northern Oklahoma College, and a member of the Early Childhood Coalition.

Begin with Wonder

I like watching little kids light up with delight during the holiday season.  My adult brain sees the Christmas parade pass by and registers all the work involved in creating floats, blocking streets, and keeping everything moving, all for a brief hour or two of community celebration.  Then I notice the little one standing nearby, jumping up and down, waving, howling, every inch of her just vibrating with joy, and her excitement revives my childhood memories and gives me a jolt of wonder at the magic of the whole experience. I visit a preschool where the children are reciting a poem as they count the candles on a menorah and pretend to blow them out.  One child turns to me, gently blows in my face, and says, “You have a light inside of you, too.” And just like that, a glimpse of wonder turns my day brighter.

These gifts of wonder that young children share so spontaneously can be easy to miss and easier to dismiss, arriving as they do in the midst of our busy lives and so important to-do lists.  If we allow it, wonder can disrupt lesson plans, sabotage schedules, and detour deadlines.  Wonder sees a problem and rejects the “right” answer.  Wonder reads a book and ignores the phonics, the page order, even the beginning and ending. Wonder asks over and over; how, and why, and where? Children seem to have a natural radar for finding wonder, if adults are willing to make space for it in our homes and classrooms.

During this season of giving, it is worthwhile to consider that gifts of wonder often don’t cost a cent, and can last a lifetime.  Where in the world would you find gifts of this sort?  The natural world is an excellent place to shop. Viewing a winter sunset or the super moon, feeding birds, cracking the ice at the edge of a pond; nature offers gifts of all shapes and sizes, delivered to us free of charge from right out our windows, and from more distant mountains and seashores, if we’re willing to travel. The public library is another surefire place where wonder is never out of stock.  Books are passports to other places and times, treasure chests for the curious mind, and gifts you can open again and again.  Actually, wonder can be found in plain sight all around us, but often it’s only the children who are watching for it.

As I go about making lists and checking them twice this year, I’m rethinking the gifts I want to give. If, like me, you’re hoping to make this a holiday to remember, remember to begin with wonder!

Holly Hartman is an early childhood educator, author, and member of Stillwater’s Early Childhood Coalition.