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Now that you're noticing how bright and downright intelligent your baby or toddler is, what can you do to nurture their budding capabilities without turning them off to learning? For one thing, you can continue to notice what they're interested in and supply them with the knowledge they. need. Just don't hand it to them on a silver platter when they might learn from doing some of the research themselves. Educators call this scaffolding. For a young child, doing the research

If you've noticed how smart your little one is and want to know the best ways to nurture their intelligence, you may also feel confused about how to proceed. There's a lot of conflicting parenting information online and elsewhere. Here's some advice from a child development specialist with 5 decades of hands-on experience and a couple of degrees. Read the experts, but trust your instincts. When in doubt, talk to friends and family. Weigh what they say carefully, but still,

Enjoy this professional post, with no annoying outside ads, from early childhood rocks a non-profit organization. Nobody likes whining! Not even kids. And the adults who are the biggest whiners hate it the most when their own kids or other adults do it. But if whining is so poorly tolerated in our society, why is it present at such epidemic proportions? It could be that whining feeds on guilt. But that's a topic is for another day. Today, I'm going to share with you some

step one Connections Your interactions with your infant are the first neural pathways to learning that they will form outside of the womb. Every time you gaze into their eyes or speak to them lovingly, millions of brain connections are formed. That's why parents and all early childhood educators need to be respected and honored for their importance to society. By spending time communicating and playing with infants, we are teaching them about language, expression, feelings,

I'm sorry that the path to high-quality early care and education has to be so difficult. As an advocate for systematic change for over 5 decades, I hoped to see more progress. Some of us still have several positive child care options, while too many do not. Or if high-quality care and education is available, most can't access it due to affordability issues. I want to be clear that my intention is to help and uplift parents and providers, not to make them feel less capable

Enjoy this post, free of outside ads and pop-ups, from Early Childhood Rocks, a nonprofit organization At your wits' end with a child or two in your care? Please don't feel alone; that's why we're here. We hope to give you ideas that help you right away, whether you're at home or in a classroom. These particular ideas work best with children aged 12 months.-8 years, but can easily be adapted to any age, including adults. These techniques are backed by science, research, and

As a new parent or provider, you probably aren't thinking about teaching your infant problem-solving skills, but you are. You're helping them shape their approach to everything as they watch you go about your day, dealing with life. Your interactions with them during this crucial period of development mean so much. Most people want their children to grow up solving their own problems non-violently. The alternative is frightening. Yet infants and toddlers seem so vulnerable t

Enjoy this ad-free article from Early Childhood Rocks, a nonprofit organization. Any references to outside products are unpaid recommendations. What if you could use fun and excitement to supercharge your child's learning and help them reach their full potential? Fun and excitement are feelings that spark learning. Sometimes it's hard to see, but learning isn't boring. It's fun! But here's something serious. During the first few years of life, we learn self-regulation. If

Once upon a time, preschool and nursery school teachers used songs to teach the children. We sometimes played old vinyl records, but mostly we sang. In the classrooms, we had a few puzzles, art supplies, books, and toys. We sang ABC's, nursery rhymes, and a few pop songs like "Monster Mash". We made our own fun with what we had. Children do the same today. Whether they have fancy wooden toys galore or just a stick and a ball, they play. Young children are wired to play b

What science has learned about the infant brain in the last 30 years is amazing! Magnetic Resonance Imaging can now be done noninvasively. This means babies' brains can be tested while sitting on their parents' laps or comfortably looking at images moving across a screen. These breakthroughs allow scientists to measure many things they previously could not. One example that comes to light is from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Here's a quote from

Gentle parenting is a means of parenting without shame, blame, or punishment— Kimberly Zapata This is a wonderful philosophy until, as parents, we have to decide what to do when a child misbehaves and then doesn't listen to our gentle, reasonable explanation when we ask them to stop. Or what to do when they seem to listen but then repeat the behavior, or hold off on it until they're sure we're not looking, and do it anyway. Gentle parenting prescribes an ideal first response

If you're a working parent, stay-at-home parent, or a child care provider, you may have more in common with the others than you think. During the first few years of a child's life, we are all teachers, and we hold tremendous power to influence the young children we care for. In a world that tends to dole out too much judgment, pressure, tension, and blame, we want to help you relieve some of that stress and have more fun with your kids. We believe this is the key to helping y

How would you like a simple and fun Mother's Day gift that your kids will enjoy making and Mom will cherish forever? Here's your free template! Make as many copies as you like. I removed the date so you can add the correct year. I've been using this activity as a preschool teacher for 20+ years, and parents tell me they still have them years later! INSTRUCTIONS This works best with kids from 3-8. To do the activity, print the pages here and then ask the kids the questions

Start early! Parents and caregivers start teaching children to solve their own problems as soon as they're born. They do that by reacting to them and communicating with them. People who have had many such positive interactions in their own early childhood tend to do this without thinking. Others can learn. Every time you react to an infant by lifting them up and smiling at them fondly, or let them swipe at a toy while talking them through it instead of grabbing it for them,

Enjoy this professionally written article from our nonprofit organization with no outside ads or distractions. Empathy has declined significantly in recent years. Why? There's so much conflicting information out there. No wonder parents and providers feel confused or maybe even inadequate. We want to offer you support and clear, evidence-based options. Our ideas have the advantage of being tested with real children—hundreds of them. You can read my bio at the bottom of thi

Do you want your infant to grow up to be smart and to be able to respond to adversity should it arise? Including violence? If so, you'll want to teach them about problem-solving and positive communication from the beginning of life. These are skills that can begin in infancy and develop throughout one's lifespan. The same problem-solving skills used in social situations can be applied to other life problems, such as learning to read or passing a course one doesn't really enj

Enjoy this ad-free article from Early Childhood Rocks, a non-profit organization. If you spend time with toddlers, you know how it feels when they just won't listen to you. Perhaps you've tried being nice, giving them something fun to do, raising your voice, giving a time-out, and/or threatening some pretty dire consequences, but nothing is working, and you can't move forward because of all the fighting, whining, and general chaos. Welcome to your place of support. We want

I don't let anyone hit me! Period. There's only one little snafu. If we teach our children not to let anyone hit them, we probably shouldn't hit them ourselves. Children learn by example. My first job was as a teacher's aide in a 4K summer program for at-risk children. On my first day, as I bent down to tie a child's shoe, another ran up quickly behind me and grabbed my ponytail, trying to see if he could swing on it. I don't remember how I reacted over 40 years ago, but t

Welcome! All the experiences and activities I share are backed by evidence-based research and 50 years of real-world experience in early childhood learning. Citations are included. Songs Sing short rhyming songs often at predictable times during the day. Use singing as part of your routines. Make a list of the cute little songs you sing and share them with others who care for your child. If you can't imagine singing, you can always use chanting rhymes and finger plays. ideas

Early Childhood Rocks is a non-profit with a vision and a heart. You won't find any outside ads in our articles. Just solid information you can use. We have many articles about behavior, including tried-and-true activities that work with real children. We also include articles about self-care because sometimes even the best caregivers forget how important it is to take care of themselves. We also include many articles about fun and learning during the first few years of