Growing young readers may take some time and commitment on your part but the benefits are so much greater than you can imagine. Begin sharing books with your baby as soon as you are able, and carve out time each day – before bed, in the early afternoon, or after bath time – whatever works for you.Reading aloud to your child builds many foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, promotes bonding and helps children understand that reading is for pleasure as well as learning.

When considering a child care program, whether it is a center-based provider or a family home, it is likely that your search criteria includes several factors: child safety, cost, location, hours of operation, and curriculum. All of these factors are extremely important, but what about some of the components that are not as easy to see or find out such as are the children participating in age-appropriate learning.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed, confused and even worried when you are learning about developmental milestones. Milestones were created to serve as guidelines for a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can perform during a certain age range. Parents and pediatricians use these guidelines to help evaluate how your child is developing. The most important piece of information to remember is that every child is unique and that the actual age when a developing child reaches a specific milestone can vary.

In the southeast where our winters are normally mild, we don’t often think about winter safety precautions until a winter freeze or storm warning occurs. However, you definitely should be prepared – and ensure your child care provider is too.Remember that children need outdoor play time in the winter just like other seasons. In fact, research indicates that children who play outside during winter are actually healthier. However, make sure that the play area you frequent or that is at your child care program is clean from debris, not covered in ice or frozen, and not under any frozen limbs that could snap. Pay attention to playground surfacing and equipment wear and tear: as temperatures drop, some materials expand or become brittle and surface materials tend to lose their resiliency resulting in harder falls.

According to early childhood researchers, pretend play, also called dramatic or creative play, is how children learn best. With creative play, children often imitate life such as playing “family,” “school,” or “restaurant.” By reenacting these familiar situations in their play, children get the opportunity to work on important soft skills such as conflict resolution, problem solving, how to listen to instructions and develop their self-confidence. Developing these abilities are as significant to a child being kindergarten-ready and attaining success later in life as is focusing on literacy and numeracy.

Toys are everywhere you look this month, and chances are that your child wants everything he sees! With so much to choose from, how do you choose the right one? A good rule of thumb is to select a toy that is age appropriate, safe, interactive and fun.
Do a little research on your own before you go shopping and don’t believe the hype. All children reach developmental milestones at different times and what they are interested in varies. So, what may be the “hot toy” for children your child’s age may be completely wrong for your child. Remember that buying the latest and greatest toys isn’t always necessary. Some of the best play items, such as cardboard boxes, ribbons and yarn, and plastic bowls, can often be found at home.