Family First Winter/Spring 2020 by Burnett County Sentinel

Published by Sentinel Publications

Winter/Spring 2020 • Volume 15 • Issue 44

Photo courtesy of Metro Creative

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Published by Sentinel Publications

Guide Your Child’s Development In Our Multi-Racial, Multi-Lingual Multi-Cultural World

The Newspaper for St. Croix Valley Parents with Young Children A Publication of the St. Croix County Early Childhood Interagency Council

Family First

Winter/Spring 2020

Experience Winter in a Whole New Way... 16 inexpensive ideas get children closer to nature during the winter months •

Children need to explore nature and be outside, even during winter. Dress them in layers and get outside with them. Build a snowman complete with buttons, hat and a scarf; make snow angels and build snow castles just like you would on the beach. Playing in the snow together is a great way to create closer bonds with your child and unleash their imaginations. Enjoy Winter Together With These Inexpensive ideas:

Match colors. Take color paint samples and have them on your walks to match the colors to items you find outside. Don’t forget to bring some of the small items home for a “Wonder Jar”

•

Photo courtesy of Metro Creative

Make nature walk bracelets. Put a bracelet of masking tape around your wrist, ankle or waist, sticky side out and look for small items in nature to stick around it---twigs, grass, leaves. They end up turning out beautiful!

Playing in the snow together is a great way to create closer bonds with your child and • Be an investigator. Take pictures of unleash their imaginations... items outside and go on

• Build a fort with sticks and logs and twine. This is hours of entertainment without needing anything but some twine and maybe a sheet. Bring bird or other animal books into your fort and put a sheet down on the ground, and maybe one above for shelter from the wind

• Count what you hear. When going on a hike, count all sounds you hear (birds chirping and other animals communicating, crunching noises as you walk in the snow, people talking in the distance, etc.)

• Map your favorite place. Ask

icicle hunt and count every icicle you see, or bring a piece of paper and tally them

your children if they have a favorite place outside, then have them draw you a map of where it is. Go investigating with them and see if you can find it together. Toddlers especially love this activity!

• Look for icicles. Go on an

• Listen for birds. Many more birds are out and visible in the winter. Count nests and guess what kind of bird lives in each nest

a treasure hunt to find them. One idea is to do all items that start with one sound or letter at a time. Or hide natural items outside and put together a search party to find them--leaves, acorns, sticks, tree bark, etc.

• Take a closer look. Catch snowflakes on black paper, or look at them under magnifying glass

• Science at its best. Blow bubbles and watch them turn into ice bubbles EXPERIENCE WINTER continued on pg. 6

Winter/Spring 2020 * Volume 15 * Issue 44 Publisher, Sentinel Publications, Tom Stangl * Editor, Tami Linden, familyfirst@cltcomm.net

Family First Family First is made possible through rough a collaborative effort between the St St. Croix County Early C Childhood Interagency Council and Sentinel Publications. The council’s make-up is varied including representatives from all seven St. Croix County School Districts; United Way St. Croix Valley, St. Croix County Birth to 3, Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley, University of Wisconsin Extension, University of Wisconsin River Falls, Child Care Partnership Resource and Referral, St. Croix County Public Health, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College New Richmond, preschools, daycare and parents. The focus of Family First is early childhood development.

Early Childhood Interagency Council Members Who Played a Role in Developing this issue include: Mary Sue Ash Molly Gerrish Julie Irwin Tracy Jacobson Heather Prigge Kathryn Rogers

Family First is supported in part by: School Districts of Baldwin-Woodville, Glenwood City, Hudson, New Richmond, River Falls, Somerset and St. Croix Central; United Way St. Croix Valley, St. Croix County Birth to 3, Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley, University of Wisconsin Extension, University of Wisconsin River Falls, Child Care Partnership Resource and Referral, St. Croix County Public Health, and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College New Richmond

Important Numbers

Area School Districts Baldwin-Woodville...... 715-684-3411 Glenwood City ............715-265-4757 Hudson ........................715-377-3703 New Richmond............ 715-243-7411 River Falls ...................715-425-1800 Somerset .................... 715-247-3313 St. Croix Central .........715-796-5383

Agencies & Other Resources Child Care Partnership..................800-782-1880 Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley............715-684-4440 Free Clinic of Pierce & St. Croix Counties ......715-307-3948 Grace Place .................715-246-1222 Head Start, New Richmond............715-246-3232 National Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline ...........800-422-4453 St. Croix County Birth to 3 ......................715-246-8260 St. Croix County Child Protection ..........715-246-8260 St. Croix County Health & Human Services ......715-246-6991 St. Croix County Public Health ...............715-246-8263 St. Croix Valley Red Cross....................651-439-0031 The New Richmond Area Centre .................715-246-2252 The Salvation Army ....715-246-1222 Turning Point for Victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence 24 Hour Crisis number ...............800-345-5104 United Way St. Croix Valley............715-377-0203 UW Extension .............715-531-1930 Wisconsin Statewide Parent Educator Initiative (WSPEI) ........612-810-5608 West CAP Glenwood City ............715-265-4271 YMCA, Hudson............715-386-1616

Inside Page 4 Children and Cardboard: There’s a bit of magic in every box 5 Nuts and Bolts of Parenting from Dad’s Perspective Hudson Area Families Enjoy Family Fun Event 6 Responding to your baby’s coos helps him feel valued, loved 7 Speech and Language Development Birth to Age ADVERTISEMENTS Contact: sales@baldwin-bulletin.com Office: 715-684-2484

Director of Special Education/Pupil Services Baldwin–Woodville Leah Johnson-Freer, 684-3411 ext 1109 lfreer@bwsd.k12.wi.us Glenwood City Nicole Brite, 265-4757 britenic@gcsd.k12.wi.us Hudson Erin Schiltgen, 377-3703 schiltee@hudsonraiders.org New Richmond Kathy Rogers, 243-7426 krogers@newrichmond.k12.wi.us River Falls Jackie Steinhoff, 425-1800, ext 1115 jackie.steinhoff@rfsd.k12.wi.us Somerset Abbiegail Bohatta, 247-4848, ext. 575 abohatta@somerset.k12.wi.us St. Croix Central Pat Basche, 749-3119 pbasche@scc.k12.wi.us

Family First

Winter/Spring 2020

Guide Your Child’s Development in our Multi-racial, Multi-lingual, Multi-cultural World It is often said that parents are the first teachers of their children. We need to teach our children basic skills like crawling, walking, talking, potty training, shoe tying---it’s a constant and continual process with daily rewards and challenges.

• Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees (ages 4-8) Preschools will love the illustrations of Gerald the Giraffe trying to dance. This is a great story to connect with children about empathy and perseverance • It’s Ok to Be Different by Todd Parr (ages 5-6) Simple words, bright, beautiful illustrations and a wonderful message that is it ok to be who you are make this book a powerful tool for exploring what we love most about ourselves.

There are also those hidden skills we are modeling and teaching to our children, sometimes without even knowing it. These include a positive sense Photo courtesy of Metro Creative of self and a respectful understanding of othShare family stories We live in a culturally diverse world and it’s ers. We live in a culturand traditions our responsibility to help our children navigate ally diverse world and Everyone’s family is through what they see, hear, and experience in it’s our responsibility to unique and there are a positive way. help our children navistories and traditions to gate through what they prove it. Take time to see, hear, and experience in a posiSelf-awareness begins early in share these stories with your chiltive way. development when a baby first dis- dren and take it one step further by According to the National Asso- covers his or her hands and feet, writing, blogging, scrapbooking, or ciation for the Education of Young when a toddler discovers walking photo journaling your family’s tradiChildren (NAEYC 2009) “from birth alone alongside a parent at the gro- tions. (Shauna Tominey, pbs.org) on, development and learning occur cery store, a preschooler zips his or • “I spy” myself: Young children in and are influenced by many mul- her coat for the first time. We can love to see pictures of themselves. Take it further and help your child tiple social and cultural contexts.” easily foster this very important concept in the early years of our child’s start to see what is unique about We have the opportunity to help our him or herself. Look at eye color, children develop their personal and life with a few fun and meaningful hair color, skin, and smile. Older social identities, and how they see experiences. children can draw themselves differences in the world around us. Here are a few activities to begin using a mirror to help guide their Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie building a positive sense of self, process. This activity also works Olsen Edwards, authors of Anti- family pride and social identity well with family photos and bringBias Education for Young Children within your child: ing an awareness of family pride to and Ourselves identify four goals your child Read a book for helping young children develop Books are a great way to introduce A strong sense of self guides an anti-bias mindset where all chil- new ideas such as identifying emodren’s gifts and abilities grow. The tions within ourselves and those of our success in life. Beloved chilfirst goal, discussed in this article, others. Books can open up conver- dren’s author Bill Martin says is best: goes hand in hand with what par- sations with your child about his or “As I learn to like the differences in ents as educators often teach their her understanding of the world and me, I learn to like the differences children and is a starting point for how they fit into it. Here are a few in you.” This article is a four part series on guiding your child’s develhelping children develop a positive favorites to start with: opment. Watch for more to come in sense of self. • How Kind by Mary Murphy our next issue. Goal 1: Each child will (ages 2-5) This book has simple Tracy Jacobson is an Early Childhood demonstrate self-awareness, pictures and is a great way to Education Instructor at Wisconsin Indianconfidence, family pride and teach toddlers about kindness and head Technical College – New Richmond. emotions positive social identities. tracy.jacobson@witc.edu

THANK YOU, ADVERTISERS, FOR HELPING FAMILIES GAIN VALUABLE PARENTING INFORMATION:

Western Wisconsin Health * Westfields Hospital and Clinic

Family First

Winter/Spring 2020

Children and Cardboard:

There’s a bit of magic in every box! Young children love all the possibilities of a box, and from process to product, it can be an inexpensive art medium that keeps them busy for hours. Save boxes from online shopping home deliveries, and then start designing, cutting, coloring, and gluing! Find inspiration from these ideas and pair each crafty box activity with the suggested picture book to extend the play and learning even further. Tabletop Art Easel—Cut, fold, and tape a flattened cardboard box and use as an art easel. Place on a counter, table, floor, or sidewalk, and let your little one paint and create. Supplies: A large cardboard box, scissors, duct tape, velcro circles or hot glue gun and glue; and a clothes pin Directions: • Before, during, or after creating, read the book Art by Patrick McDonnell and talk about all the doodles and art your child and Art have made

• Using scissors, cut off the flaps of a large

box to create a long flattened-cardboard rectangle

Big Box Transportation—Use your largest cardboard boxes and make them into trains, cars, rockets, boats, or fire trucks. Follow the directions below to make a fire truck just like Meeow did with his big box. Supplies: Large cardboard boxes from household appliances; utility knife/box cutter; scissors; hot clue gun and glue; gray, black and yellow duct tape; red spray paint or red construction paper or cardstock; black construction paper or cardstock; tacky glue; a small garden hose (optional); and a firefighter’s helmet (optional) Directions: • Before creating the fire truck, read the book Meeow and the Big Box by Sebastien Braun and talk about the steps to creating a cardboard fire truck. Create a story to play out together. Where is the emergency? Who will drive the fire truck? What will they wear? Did everyone get out of the building or vehicle? Is anyone hurt? Will a fire hose or fire extinguisher be used to put out the fire?

• Use a utility knife to cut a windshield, win-

dows, and doors in the large box or boxes. If using more than one large box, considering hot gluing them together; use one for the truck cab and one for the rear of the truck

• Fold the cardboard rectangle into three

parts to form a right triangle. Use duct tape to secure the two ends together

• Attach the clothes pin to the cardboard

• Attach this cardboard donut (or silly shell) to your child’s back with a belt

Written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnel

• Color the fire truck red by spray painting it or by gluing sheets of red paper onto the box

Written and illustrated by Sebastien Braun

easel. If using Velcro circles, attach one piece of the Velcro near the top middle of the easel and the other part to the clothes pin. Velcro the clothes pin to the easel. If using hot glue, squeeze a dob of hot glue onto the clothes pin and attach it near the top middle of the easel

• Cut wheels from black paper and glue onto the box

• Use the clothes pin to hang a piece of paper on the easel. Use paint, mark-

ladder along the side or top of the box, or add the look of bumpers and other truck features

ers, or crayons to create a masterpiece!

• Use gray, black, or yellow duct tape to outline windows and doors, create a • Put on a pretend firefighter’s helmet and grab a small garden hose to add to

Cardboard Costumes—Cut and decorate cardboard boxes into your child’s favorite role-playing characters. Follow the directions below to make a costume of Norman, the slug with the silly shell. Supplies: A large cardboard box, scissors, 12 Styrofoam blocks about four inches wide; hot glue gun and glue; brown paper bags or tissue paper; pink tissue paper; Mod Podge Waterbase Sealer; glue and finish; a paint brush; colorful pipe cleaners and a belt Directions: • Before creating this costume, read the book Norman The Slug with the Silly Shell by Sue Hendra. Your child can now be a slug with a silly shell every time he or she plays with slime!

the fun of this imaginary play

Workbench Box—Let a cardboard box become a functioning workbench as your child improves his or her fine motor skills using a screwdriver, screws and anchors, nuts and bolts, sandpaper, and a tape measure. Supplies: Strong cardboard box; screwdrivers, screws, anchors; nuts and bolts; sandpaper, finer; tape measure Directions: • Before, during, or after exploring tools with the box, read the book Tools Rule! by Aaron Meshon and talk about all the tools that helped make the yard shed

• Using scissors, cut off the flaps of a large box to create a flattened-cardboard rectangle

• Find a strudy carboard box that will hold up well with the use of hand tools

• Draw and cut out two identical large donut shapes from the cardboard

• Use a phillips-head screwdriver to poke a few holes in the box. If your child has good control, he or she could do this, too

• Using hot glue, attach the Styrofoam blocks to the inside of one of the donut shapes and then the other. The donut should now be 3D

W itt and d ill t t d by b Written illustrated Sue Hendra

• Brush brown tissue paper or brown paper bags with Mod Podge and lay them over the round outside edge of the 3D donut. This will now cover the outer gap of the donut

• Brush the pink tissue paper with Mod Podge and lay it over the donut and along the inner round edge. This is the donut’s frosting • Hot glue cut pieces of colorful pipe cleaners onto the pink tissue paper. These are sprinkles on the donut’s frosting

• Let your child explore as they put screws and anchors, and nuts and bolts, through the holes Written by Aaron Meshon Illustrated by Aaron Meshon & Ann Bobco

• Let them explore rubbing sandpaper on the box and measuring the box or tools with a small tape measure

Most kids don’t necessarily want or need all of the fancy electronic gadgets with the bells and whistles that go with it. What they really want are opportunities to be creative. When coupled with your child’s imagination, the possibilities of a box are endless! Julie Irwin is the youth services assistant at Friday Memorial Library in New Richmond, is a member of the St. Croix County Early Childhood Interagency Council. juliei@newrichmondlibrary.org

Winter/Spring 2020

Family First

Nuts and Bolts of Parenting from Dad’s Perspective Instead of working so hard to make ends meet... Try to have less ends There comes a time in every young parents’ life where it feels like everything is going at a frantic pace, there’s never enough time, and we think: “Why can’t it be like the Good Old Days?” It’s easy to feel nostalgic for a simpler time, but we easily forget that the “Good Old Days” had some drawbacks too.

the jobs our young kids will have don’t even exist yet. Their imaginations will help solve issues from the environment, all the way to employment in a post robotic world. For example: Are they more creative if you give them a bucket of Legos with no instructions, or if you also give them examples of something as a starting point that they can improve on? You get to decide.

brains. Better entertainment for the little ones is making silly faces, counting fingers and toes and talking about what your baby sees. Honest---They love it!

Food in the Good Old Days was not complicated, but it was slow! We would likely not want to trade the convenience that Kids become responsible by our food system has developed being given responsiin the last several “Will our kids be more creative if we give years; however, we bility. In the Good Old Days, we could instill a them a bucket of Legos with no instructions, don’t want to trade good work ethic in our or if we give them something as a starting all the nutrition and children by having them expense that can point to improve upon?” bale hay or split wood come with it. When when they’re older. we get busy, we Editorial by Todd Edelma Maybe now it looks more like makEntertainment these days offers a tend to “buy time” by pickn ing a bed, unloading a dishwasher or whole list of decisions on what, when, ing up “meals on the go” that times. doing simple yard work like raking the and how much our kids will con- often have less nutrition, or stopping Focus seems to be the leaves can even be too “tough” for our sume. In the Good Old Days, a TV for fast food, which can add up in a best weapon here. Doing our best to kids to do. The truth is kids become had three channels, and there was hurry. This can be combatted mostly not spend more than we can afford responsible by being given responsi- no such thing as consuming video with forethought. Thawing some type can really pay off and give us peace bility, and that can begin when they’re of any kind at your convenience. (If of main entrée (often meat) during the of mind in the long run. Instead of very young. Small children can help the President was on TV, the whole day can set the agenda for the eve- working so hard to make ends meet, fold clothes (although it might not be night was ruined!) Computers, TV’s ning meal. Cooking multiple meals we can try to have less ends. as good as mom does); put plates on and phones offer a dizzying array of on weekends can offer things to heat Let’s raise our kids on purpose. the table when it’s dinner time, pick knowledge that can help us learn, but up during the week. Building a list of Having a family today offers many up their toys, or arrange their favorite we are beginning to see that too much meals that your family eats can help problems that we’ve never dealt with stuffed animals on their toddler bed. time with these things can be a real when your brain feels fried and you’re before, but at least some forms of problem with the development of our out of ideas. Helping our kids be creative in the organization and forethought can at kids’ personalities as they grow older. Focus is the best weapon. Final- least ensure that we are raising our Good Old Days might have involved It’s our job to be sure that our kids’ ly, the Good Old Days didn’t seem to kids on purpose. I understand the taking things apart and making a fort electronic interactions do not come at have the financial pressures that we irony that I, of all people, would write out of blankets and rugs. Learning to the expense of their human interacfeel today. Housing costs, child care, about being organized, but we can do things by trying and failing can still tions. I’ve heard that kids under age car payments, and food costs feel all aspire to something. be applicable, it just looks different. two shouldn’t use electronics at all like a weight around our necks someIt’s just as likely as not that some of because it’s bad for their developing

Hudson Area Families Enjoy Family Fun Event Many volunteers M l t helped h l d make k the th Family Fun Event held at River Crest Elementary School a success. Families throughout Hudson and surrounding communities enjoyed hands-on, creative and educational activities; community resources, free food, a musical singalong with Melanie Neumann and many community resources. Activity and sensory stations focused on several ages and stages of development including fine and gross motor, social emotional skills, thinking development and language development. The free event was hosted by St. Croix County Early Childhood Interagency Council and the Hudson School District,

and made d was also l d possible ibl with ith the th help of individuals, organizations, business leaders and many others. The purpose of the free Family Fun Night is for families to get information on different resources in the area, have a free family night together, to get out and meet other families, and socialize in a safe and fun environment. Families enjoyed the opportunity to connect with each other, have fun together and learn about educational resources throughout the area. One of the goals of the Early Childhood Interagency Council is to bring families together through unique events such as the Family Fun Event. Other goals

awareness about iinclude l d increasing i i b early childhood development, offering parenting classes to the public and helping provide better services for young children and families. The Council’s make-up is varied, including representatives from all seven St. Croix County School Districts; United Way St. Croix Valley, St. Croix County Birth to 3, Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley, University of Wisconsin Extension, University of Wisconsin River Falls, Child Care Partnership Resource and Referral, St. Croix County Public Health, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College New Richmond, preschools, daycare and parents.

Family First

Winter/Spring 2020

Responding to your baby’s coos helps him feel valued, loved

“My heart just melts when Bradley coos back to me me,”” said a Christy to aid t B her friend Lauren about her five-month-old son. “I think Bradley is going to be a real talker just like his daddy. Is there anything g I can do to encourage his communication skills even though he’ss so young?” Effective communication is one of the most valuable skillss parents can instill in their children. Responding to an infant’s coos can help her feel valued, loved and an important member of the family. Benefits of talking to your child early in their life There are many benefits to talking with your children very early in life. Research shows that parents who are deliberate about talking to their newborn infants help their children talk much earlier than infants who do not have the same close language bond with their parents. Brain wavess and connectors are also being developed at this time, and d can be enhanced through “conversation” between a parent e ent and child. One of the easiest things parents can do to encourc courage language is to read…read…read…to their children, no matter what the age.

a child may have ha greater verbal skills and fewe h fewer motor skills. Another s child may show just the opposite. One two-year-old may be putting a string g of words together; another child may be putting two words togetth together. One two-year-old may be able to catch a large ball; ano ot another child may throw a ball without falling. Both children are grro growing normally, but at different rates and in different areas o development. of Parents who think their child is growing much below the expectations of his or her age group are encouraged to e contact the St. Croix County Birth to 3 program or their c local school district for a developmental screening. Both listings are located on page 2 of this publication. General areas of child development include: cognitive, ccommunication/language, motor (gross and fine), socialemotional, and self-help skills. This issue focuses on the em e ages ag g and stages milestones of a child’s speech and language development from birth to age eight. Future issues will focus dev v developmental areas. on other ot o

Look at a the chart on the next page to see the typical activities and achievements for your child’s age. Remember that time frames achiev v Some children may achieve various developmental averag Photo courtesy of Metro Creative are averages. This article addresses the ages and stages of speech and lanmilestones earlier or later than the average, but guage development in children birth to age eight. still be within the normal range. Parents who are deliberate about talking What do we really know about how a young child Adapted from: Working with Young Children, Judy develops? What can parents do to best support to their newborn infants Herr, 1998; Learn the Signs, Act Early. Important their child’s healthy development and growing help their children talk much earlier. Milestones, National Center on Birth Defects and brain? Why ages and stages are important Some of the answers come from research on child and brain development about the early years. Research shows that children go through predictable, sequenced stages of development as they grow. If parents know the ages and stages of development, they can watch their child at a particular age, understand what to expect, and nurture their child’s healthy development. Children grow at different rates. They may differ widely in their cognitive, communication, social-emotional and motor skill development. At a certain age,

EXPERIENCE WINTER

• More box fun. Give children boxes to decorate a life size gingerbread house! Put a string of lights in the box and have a glowing house! • Paint the outdoors. Bring food coloring outside and paint snow

• Now you see it, now you don’t. Bring a glass jar outside to collect snow then bring the jar inside.

Developmental Disabilities, www.cdc.gov/ncbdd/ autism/actearly/milestones; How Does Your Child Hear and Talk? www.asha.org/ public/speech/development/child_hear_talk; Developmental Benchmarks, Parents as Teachers, National Center, Inc.; General Developmental Sequence Toddler through Preschool, Child Development Institute; www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/ language_development

Mary Sue Ash is Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley Board President; a retired United Way Success By 6 Coordinator; past Chair of the St. Croix County Early Childhood Interagency Council and Retired Director of Pupil Services, BaldwinWoodville School District. marysueash@comcast.net

continued from page 2 your snack and hot chocolate in the Write on a piece of North Pole. We also discussed what brisk winter air. Listen to the wind paper what time you way we would travel to go to the destiand have your child tell you what gathered the snow and nations we decided upon. Finally, we they hear, see, feel … watch how long it takes went home and looked up the places to melt. Try on the globe. By the end another room Healing the broken bond between of our adventure, we all felt in the house like we had made a journey our young and nature is in and chart the to places far, far away. everyone’s self-interest... times and “Healing the broken compare them. bond between our young and nature • Look what I see. Always save Ask your kids why the your paper rolls because they make is in everyone’s self-interest, not times were different or the best binoculars any time of year only because aesthetics or justice if they were the same demands it, but also because our and see what kind of Walking my preschoolers out to the mental, physical, and spiritual health answers they come up with woods behind our home is an entire depend upon it” – Richard Louv, Last new classroom. Several children Child in the Woods. • Recycled fun. Save recycled climbed on a log and I asked what it materials and build an indoor igloo: Resources: childrenandnature.org was….“A bus” one child replied. The Milk containers, cereal boxes and rest of the children agreed, and conmasking tape Angela Norvold has been in the early tinued riding the “bus.” Then I asked childhood field since 1999 and is passion• Have a winter picnic. Bring hot where they were going. I received ate about connecting children with nature chocolate and a blanket on your numerous answers for example: Can- through play. simplygigglechildcare@gmail. picnic. Find a sunny spot and enjoy ada, Japan, Wisconsin Dells, and the com

Winter/Spring 2020

Family First

Speech and Language Development Birth to age 8

0-3 months

Smiles at the sound of your voice Turns head in direction of sound Begins cooing, using vowel sounds like “aah,” “eee,” “ooo” Takes turns making sounds with parent Looks at parents when they talk

4-7 months

Responds to sound by making sound Vocalizes more speech-like sounds with many different sounds, p, b and m Makes squeals, shrieks, raspberries, or similar sounds Responds to own name Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones Begins to respond to “no”

8-12 months

Pays increasing attention to speech Uses one or more words with meaning (may be a fragment of a word) Responds to simple verbal directions, especially with physical and verbal cue Babbles with inflection (changes in tone) Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”

13-18 months

Points to object or picture when it’s named for him Is able to follow simple commands Shows knowledge of absence of familiar person (points to door, says “gone”) Has vocabulary of 5-20 words, mostly nouns Repeats a word or phrase over and over (echolalia)

19-23 months

24-36 months

3-4 years

Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and body parts Points to and names objects in a book Follows simple directions Has expressive vocabulary of 20 to 150 words Is intelligible about 2/3 of time Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under Develops three word relations such as “I kick ball,” “You go home” Answers routine questions (What is that? What is your name? What is he doing?) Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason Is using some plurals and past tenses Follows a two-or three-part command Uses 3- to 5-word sentences Has approximately 900-1000 words Knows one or more colors Often plays make believe

4-5 years

Uses fairly long sentences with lots of details Speaks in sentences of five to six words Is completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems Knows common opposites: big/little, hard/soft/heavy/light, etc. Can count to ten

5-6 years

Recalls part of a story Uses many descriptive words—both adjectives and adverbs Defines common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair) Can tell longer, connected stories seeing relationships between objects and happenings

6-7 years

Handles opposite analogies easily: girl/boy, man/woman, flies/swims, blunt/sharp, short/long, sweet/sour, etc. Asks more complex questions than just “Why?” and wants detailed answers

7-8 years

Uses complex and compound sentences easily Uses all speech sounds, including consonant blends, correctly Reads with considerable ease and writes simple compositions

Resources listed on page 6 under the article: Responding to Your Baby’s Cues Helps Him Feel Valued, Loved

National Recognition as a Blue Ribbon Affiliate Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley Demonstrates High-Quality Implementation of Evidence-Based Home Visiting F Family il Resource R Center St. Croix Valley has earned a prestigious endorsement from the Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc., (PATNC) as a Blue Ribbon Affiliate, making it one of the top- performing home visiting affiliates within the PATNC’s The Home Visiting program equips parents international network. with knowledge and resources to prepare The official designation their children for a stronger start in life was made on October and greater success in school. 1, 2019. High quality member of the home visiting field. Being named a Blue Ribbon Affiliate affirms that Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley is a high-quality member of the home visiting field, implementing the evidence-based Parents as Teachers model with fidelity. Families in Family Resource Center’s service area of Pierce, Polk and St. Croix Counties are positively impacted by the services delivered by this program. The program includes home visits, group connections, child screening, and connections to community resources. It equips parents with knowledge and resources to prepare their children for a stronger start in life and greater success in school. “To earn the Blue-Ribbon Affiliate status, we underwent a rigorous self-study of our policies and procedures, and an extensive review of our practices by the National Center,” said Agnes Ring, executive director of Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley. “The Parents as Teachers endorsement is a testament to the families we serve, and our community partners and donors that we are committed to delivering parent education services with a high level of quality and fidelity to evidence-based standards. I am proud of our staff for the commitment, professionalism, and compassion they demonstrate daily in their work. And I appreciate the founders and board members who set a high standard 21 years ago when they saw a need to serve families with young children and determined the best way to do that was through an evidence-based program called Parents as Teachers,” said Ring. About Parents as Teachers Parents as Teachers (PAT) builds strong communities, thriving families and children that are healthy, safe and ready to learn. The internationally-recognized evidence-based home visiting model is backed by 35 years of research-proven outcomes for children and families. PAT currently serves nearly 200,000 families in all 50 U.S. states, 115 Tribal organizations, six other countries, and one U.S. territory. For information about Home Visitng and other Family Resource Center programs, visit www.frcscv.org or call 715-684-4440. Hailey Nelson is Development and Communications Coordinator at Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley. Development@frcscv.org

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Kids’ care From tots to teens We care for a lot of kids. And we care a lot about yours. That’s why we help make it simpler for parents to fit in last minute appointments with convenient online scheduling and same-day care.

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Winter/Spring 2020