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Imagine a fun, entertaining book people could read to their babies that helped everyone learn more about child development and simple ways to support a baby's brain development from infancy and beyond. Now imagine that book was developed by Harvard, Northwestern University, UW-Madison, or Stanford. And it was distributed for free to parents of infants in hospitals and through midwives. What would happen if every family had access to this book as soon as their child was born

15-20 years from now, we'll live in a society heavily influenced by the infants, toddlers, and preschoolers of today. It's important to look at the care they're receiving presently to see if we're doing the best we can. Our future society depends on it. Here's why: In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections form every second. After this period of rapid proliferation, connections are reduced through a process called pruning, which allows brain c

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,

This is the start of a book that could change the world... Let me know in the comments if you think it's a good idea or not.

This is an article for parents and teachers of our youngest children. It includes fall activities that can be easily done with young children ages 2-4. These are activities that they will like and actively choose to focus on. That's because they're hands-on, multisensory experiences that promote early brain development. Young children are naturally drawn to them. All the activities and books highlight some of the positive aspects of anti-bias philosophy. If you're interes

If you're in charge of a toddler or a group of toddlers for any period of time, you may think this suggestion is too simple to work. It's not. Dr. Becky Bailey, creator of the world-renowned Conscious Discipline program, shared it at a national conference for early childhood educators. I was there, and after trying it out with dozens of toddlers, I can tell you that it works wonders. Even if you think you already do it enough, it helps to take a fresh look at the situation

Enjoy this short, ad-free article from Early Childhood Rocks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the world through early childhood care and education. Every once in a while, after 50 years of teaching infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, I discover something new. This fall, it's the toddler timeline, and I use it daily to maintain my sanity and serenity. Here is an example: I don't use this version of the timeline with the toddlers I care for, though. I start fre

I've written a lot about whining over the years because, as an early childhood educator for the past 50 years, I've heard plenty of it. I've tried many different responses, and some work better than others. Here are a few: My ears don't hear that tone of voice. Ask me again, without whining, and I'll answer you. We don't serve whine at Nanci's. What am I waiting for? I use sign language by pointing to my ear after explaining that it means you are whining, and it won't be ad

Enjoy this ad-free post from Early Childhood Rocks, a nonprofit organization Some people feel that when a young child mistreats another young child, they need to receive immediate punishment to teach them a lesson. Others think they need to be reasoned with and gently told what the right thing to do is over and over again until it sinks in. But another question remains. Could we teach young children to problem-solve instead? Is that even possible? Problem-Solving Science and

At Early Childhood Rocks, we want to bridge the gap between what we know academically about early childhood brain development and the experiences babies and toddlers have on a daily basis. And we want to support you in providing those experiences. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the world through early childhood care and education. We have compiled a toolkit highlighting four essential brain-building experiences that every baby needs, but some may not re

I don't know of many young children who have never hit or tried to hurt someone out of anger. It's all part of the learning process. That fact, however, doesn't make it any easier to deal with. And it certainly doesn't mean we should ignore it. Ignoring or making light of a child's attempts to control what's happening by using force is a mistake. Even though most children will try almost anything to get what they want in the moment, it's our job, as responsible adults, to te

With the new school year coming up, it's time to talk about the dreaded child care drop-off dilemma. Maybe your child loves to go to school, and drop-off is always easy, but for most of us, it varies depending on the day, the time, and the child. After 50 years in early care and education, I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly side of child-care drop-off scenarios. Nothing is guaranteed to work for every child, so don't worry if you have to switch strategies and try agai

Sooner or later, all children will be exposed to violence in some way. If we ignore the opportunity to intentionally teach non-violent yet assertive communication skills during the first few years of life, we miss the greatest imaginable potential for change. The opportunity to observe a problem and to work to solve it without hurting others in the process is a skill worth teaching. And problem-solving starts early on in life. Hitting is normal behavior in very young children

Enjoy this ad-free post from Early Childhood Rocks, a nonprofit organization. If you're seeing this article, please take advantage of the free program it offers. We wouldn't want you to miss out on any of the 4 critical brain-building techniques included. Here's a nice surprise. You do not have to sign up for our community to get a copy of our free problem-solving toolkit/curriculum created for ages 0-3. In fact, you can grab a copy right away by visiting our website and cli

Why do kids tattle? Do they want to be know-it-alls? Make others feel bad? Look better than others? Get someone else in trouble? Possibly, especially after tattling becomes a habit. But why do kids tattle to begin with? As an infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, Head Start, and family child care teacher for over 50 years. I've had some experience with tattling. As an adult, I have to admit that I still cringe imperceptibly when I hear a child tattle, especially in a

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