Don Earl Parent Blog

Family Traditions: Why they are important and how to start a new one that sticks! With the winter Holidays coming up, let’s take a minute to reflect on the traditions that we celebrate as a family…. Traditions are actions that we engage in again and again, rituals that we perform at the same time or in the same way. But remember not everyone practices the same traditions. FAMILY TRADITIONS: Family traditions are important for the family to function as a cohesive unit. They provide members of families to feel a sense of inclusion and acceptance, identity, strengthen family bonds, teach values, offer comfort, connect generations, add seasonality to life, pass on cultural heritage and create memories. HOW TO CREATE A NEW FAMILY TRADITION: Find a shared activity to partake in as a family. Make sure it is personal to your family. For example; taking your family down to a local soup kitchen and caring for others or creating a Holiday wreath together to hang in the house...

Teaching Self-help Skills at Home Taking Care of Self: Use a checklist to help your children know how to get ready in the morning Checklist to include: brushing teeth, getting dressed, making bed, getting backpack ready and eating breakfast Personal Safety: Make sure children know what items are safe for them to interact with in the house- appliances/outlets/stairs Go over emergency/exit plans Have the conversation of who is okay for your children to greet/talk to- who is a stranger and who is not? Caring for others: Introduce helping around the house Cleaning up after themselves Being nice/thoughtful to neighbors Taking care of pets in the house Some extra resources to consider with the Holidays coming up! http://www.pbs.org/parents/expert-tips-advice/2015/12/7-family-time-and-learning-tips-for-the-holidays/ https://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/12/12/13-holiday-survival-tips-for-your-child-with-special-needs/

October- Power Struggles Power struggles with preschool age students can be difficult but they are a positive sign developmentally. This means that children are gaining thoughts, desires, and opinions that are different from adults.  Learning to be assertive is a great skill to have, but children need to be taught that they still have to follow the rules. Have your child or a child you work with seemed to challenge everything you present them? This is a child’s way of testing and learning from their environment. While this can be very frustrating to adults it is good for children to experience developmentally. Here are are a few strategies you can try at home. Be clear and consistent. If you ask your child to clean up their toys before you put on a movie then you need to stick with it! The follow through here is very important no matter how much crying may occur. If you hold strong here each time this happens the crying will be less and less. Do not make unreasonable t...

September Teaching Feelings and Emotions Teaching feelings and emotions in early childhood plays a crucial role in the development of young children. As children are growing they are experiencing the same emotions as adults; although they are unable to express what exactly those emotions are. Adults often prompt children to use their words when they are upset but they may not understand how to do that. They are many different ways you can teach children about feelings and emotions. For example, when you get home from work and your child comes running to give you a hug you can say, “Wow, someone is happy to see me” or “Someone is excited I am home”. Another example would be to point out the emotions of characters as you are reading books. Ask your child to look at the characters faces and explain what emotions might fit with the expressions on the characters face. A final example would be to praise your child when they are expressing their emotions and be specific. Saying things ...

May: Sensory Issues/Sensory Diet for Home What is a sensory diet? “A “sensory diet” (coined by OT Patricia Wilbarger) is a carefully designed, personalized activity plan that provides the sensory input a person needs to stay focused and organized throughout the day.”  Think about yourself for a moment, imagine sitting in a meeting at work, or waiting in the doctor's office. After a short time you may start to tap your pen, or foot, twirl your hair, crew gum, or bite your nails or pen cap. You are providing sensory stimulation to yourself to help you focus. The same is true when it comes to children. There are specific types of sensory input; proprioceptive, tactile,visual auditory,vestibular, gustatory and oral motor. It is important to know that an occupational therapist should oversee a sensory diet specific to your child. Too much or too little stimulation at the wrong time of day for your child can defeat the purpose of its calming effects. Parents often struggle with ...

April: Screen Time for Preschoolers This is a hot topic in the field of education right now. How much time is too much screen time? Does the age of the child determined the appropriate amount? Once the amount is determined,  what counts as screen time? Face time with grandma and grandpa? Homework? Television programs? Educational apps? There are so many “dos and don'ts” when it comes to determining screen time where do parents being? CNN recently posted an online article on this very topic. The article opens with referring to the American Academy of Pediatrics conference this year hosted presenters on topics of screen time, social media, and cyberbullying. “ Previously the Academy set a general screen time limit: no more than two hours in front of the TV for kids over age 2. Today, in a world surrounded by digital media 24/7, defining screen time is difficult.” (CNN 2018). The article goes on to discuss that defining how much screen time is appropriate for every child cannot b...

March Learning Through Play Play, according to Webster’s dictionary, is  recreational activity; especially : the spontaneous activity of children. This means, it is unstructured and derived from the interest of the child. A mis-conception to a lot of people is that play is just children having fun. While this is very true they are learning a tremendous amount that will help to develop skills that will assist in their future approaches to learning. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has created a list of five essentials to make play meaningful. Children make their own decisions. Children are intrinsically motivated Children become immersed in the moment Play is spontaneous Play is enjoyable Allowing children to to play allows them to use skills in all developmental areas. Parents can engage children by asking questions, which is an important part of language development in young children. Describing what they are doing...

February: Teaching Empathy Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. The ability to understand and relate to someone’s emotions allows people to make a deeper connection. But how do you teach young egocentric children empathy? You can start by talking about emotions. Making sense of your own emotions help build an understanding of where feelings come from. There are many children’s books available on the topic of emotions. Dr. Michele Borba, author of “Unselfie: Why empathetic kids succeed in our All-About-Me World,” discusses four steps to discussing feelings with your child: Stop and tune in. -We are often so distracted by the busy world around us, but we need to stop and put our phones away and talk to our children. Look face-to-face. Good eye contact shows someone you are actually listening. Even small children. Get down on their level, sit on the floor with them while you are talking to them. Focus on feelings. Give your child a chance to ta...

January- Transitions Transitions in preschool can be very challenging and stressful for both the child and adult. It is important to remember to keep transitions to a minimum and also to provide children with clear expectations. One of the best ways to help make transitions smooth is by providing children with a warning. They are often times engaged in an activity and stopping to move on to a new activity can be disruptive. So providing a warning that this is going to happen will hopefully help minimize behaviors. For example, “In five minutes we are going to stop and clean up for circle time.” This allows children time to finish what they are working on and prepare for what is coming next. It is important to make sure you stick to the time frame and directions given. Another way to help young children transition is to make it fun. One way to do this might be to play a clean up song or sing a song. Other ways to make transitions fun might include using different movements. For ...

The Child Mind Institute breaks down the many causes of aggression in children. Some of the causes include mood disorders, psychosis, frustration, impulsivity, conduct disorder, injury, and trauma. It is important to understand where a child’s aggression is coming from before you can treat it. The most common type of aggression found in children ages 4 and 7 is hostile aggression. Hostile aggression can be shown as overt aggression, which entails physical harm or as relational aggression, which entails damaging peer relationships or spreading rumors. Some children will move beyond aggressive behavior and learn how to handle conflict. For those children that continue to use physical aggression there are some steps that caregivers can take to teach young children that violence and aggression are unacceptable. Caregivers should not model violent or aggressive behavior in front of young children. This includes responding to a child engaging in aggressive behavior. It is important to st...