I Mandikiki' For Guam Families With Children Birth To Eight Guam Early Learning Council Volume 6, Issue 4 December 2012 Inside this issue: DPHSS Launches New Home Visiting Program.......1-2 Home Activities for Children.........................................3 Choosing Age-Appropriate Toys ..............................4-5 Books About Christmas/Holiday Activities.................6 Early Intervention Training/Word to Praise a Child...7 Early Child Courses/Early Intervention Ad..................8 DPHSS Launches New Home Visiting Program Bisita I Familia Research in early childhood brain development has been a hot topic over the past 10 years. New technologies such as MRIs and CAT scans have provided tools to allow in depth studies that have led to a better understanding of how and when the brain grows and what parents, families, and teachers can do to help children develop to their full potential. The federal government has been a key supporter of early brain research and is taking the lead in taking this information from the laboratories out to the general public for the betterment of our children. A basic conclusion of the research is that early is best. The greatest amount of brain growth takes place before a baby is born and during the earliest months and years of a child’s life. This really means that helping brain development at the beginning of a child’s life is the best and most effective time to help the overall growth of children. Project Bisita I Familia (“to visit the family”) is a new program on Guam supported through a federal grant and began delivering its home visiting services this month. Project Bisita aims to take new information included in the latest brain research developed through research into the homes of families to help their young children grow and develop. Based at the Department of Public Health and Social Services, under the Maternal Child Health Program, Project Bisita aims “to improve the well-being of Guam’s children, birth to 8 years of age, and their families through evidence-based home visiting services.” Margarita Gay, RN, Project Bisita director, stresses the importance of maximizing learning opportunities for young children. “Project Bisita is a home visiting program that will provide supports and resource connections needed to promote family health and wellness during this important time. If the family is provided supports, young children will benefit from these supports, too.” These supports include receiving regular visits from nurses and trained home visitors to provide information and support during pregnancy and early childhood, newborn visits, child immunizations, and strategies and tips on parenting and child guidance. These visits are free of charge to the families in the program. Who qualifies for Project Bisita services? • Pregnant women under the age of 21 • Mothers with newborn babies • Families with children who have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities • Families who have low-income and no insurance • Families with members serving in the military • For the beginning stages of the project, recipients must also reside in Dededo District 2. For more information on how to receive Project Bisita services, please contact the Northern Regional Community Health Center, Dededo or call 635-7408. (see Ad on page 2). Page 2 Full page advertisement: Valuing Children, Strengthening Families, Engaging Communities Project Bisita I Familia Visiting Families What is Project Bisita? Our Mission To improve the well being of Guam’s children, birth to 8 years of age, and their families through evidence-based home visiting services. Our Goals * To cultivate positive parent-child bonding/attachment, communication, and lasting relationships. * To motivate parents to support their child’s health, growth, and development. * To enhance parental self-sufficiency and confidence. * To prevent child abuse and neglect. * To enhance the school readiness of children. * To improve coordination of services with other agencies. What we do for Guam’s families: * Match families with trained home visitors and nurses to provide information and support during pregnancy and early childhood. * Regular, scheduled home visits are voluntary and free of charge. * Promote prenatal care and well-baby visits; provide prenatal counseling and postpartum-newborn visits. * Provide child immunizations. * Provide education and materials regarding child development, health, and safety. * Provide referrals to other collaborating Guam agencies. Why is Home Visiting Important? Early is best. Brain development is at its peak prenatally and during the earliest months and years of life. Home visiting provides the support and resource connections needed to promote family health and wellness during this important time. Quality, voluntary home visiting leads to increased family financial stability, reduced isolation, reduced child maltreatment, improved schools success and graduation, and reduced crime. Who qualifies for Project Bisita? * Pregnant women under the age of 21. * Mothers with newborn babies. * Families with children who have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities. * Families who have low-income and no insurance. * Families with members serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. For More Information Department of Public Health & Social Services Northern Regional Health Clinic, 520 W. Santa Monica Avenue, Dededo, Guam 96929 Telephone: 635-7408 Page 3 Home Activities for Children Do your children have a difficult time at home finding activities to do and things to play with? Or do they get into trouble when they explore and get into things they shouldn’t? Your home is a treasure chest for young children. It is important to know which items are safe and beneficial for your children to use. Here are some common household items that your children can be encouraged to play with that develops their language and literacy, fine motor skills, cognitive skills, problem-solving, and creativity. If your children enjoy the packaging, wrapping paper, and ribbons as much as their birthday gifts, then these activities should appeal to your children. In the kitchen and living room, empty food containers can be used in artwork, building blocks and structures, role-playing, pretend cooking, and more. Water bottles with various amounts of liquid can be used to make musical wind instruments by blowing across the bottle top; boxes can be made into drums; and jars with rice, seeds, or other small items can be made into shakers. Playing music while children play with their instruments can help them develop their musical abilities. As another activity, empty paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls can be used to make tube structures to experiment with gravity by dropping small items like balls or toy cars with wheels down the tubes. In the bedroom, select a stuffed animal, doll, or other toy and play hide and seek with it as a bedtime or wake up ritual. Your children will have fun hunting for this item and, when given the chance, have fun hiding this item from you. If your children throw fits with dressing, have your children dress a doll or stuffed animal at the same time you dress your children. This will give them some control with the process. If clothes are needed for the doll or stuffed animal, your children can help with creating the clothes out of scraps of cloth, paper, and other recycled items throughout the home. You can even suggest that these clothes match your children’s clothing. In the bathroom, a variety of brushes can make bath time more productive when children can learn how to scrub the bathtub and their bath toys with soapy water (even easier with colored bath gels) in addition to cleaning themselves. This activity can help them understand the importance and how to brush their teeth properly too. You can introduce teeth brushing in the bathtub with a small unbreakable and fog-free mirror. But if your children cannot understand the difference between toothbrushes and other brushes and they want to keep putting all brushes in their mouths, then they may be too young for this activity. For outdoor play, water and paintbrushes are an easy way to help children draw or write to their heart’s content without all the mess. It is also a great way to help them clean or clean up afterward. Also with a small tub, basin, or bucket, children can add dirt, rocks, plants, and natural items to explore. By adding water, children can spend many hours experimenting. Have a towel on hand. For easy cleanup, spray children with a hose from head to toe before going inside. Saving some of the items used in the small container, children can make a nature collage with these items, paper, and glue. Give these activities a try with your young children. And better yet, do these activities with your children. It will give them more opportunities to learn from you. Have fun and enjoy! But make sure to tell them which items they can play with at any time, which items need adult supervision, and how to use these items safely by following the rules. These activities were geared towards young children, ages 1-5 years old. However, these activities can be carefully modified to work with younger or older children and with children with specific interests or needs. Text in colored box: Activities in the Home Kitchen & Living Room – Homemade Musical Instruments, Tube Build & Play Bedroom – Hide & Seek, Dressing Up You & Me Bathroom – Bath Time Brushing Outdoors – Water Painting, Mud & Stuff Bucket, Nature Collage` Page 4 Choosing Age-Appropriate Toys The toys and activities you choose for your baby are important because when your baby is playing, your baby is learning! Every time you and your baby play together, connections for learning are being strengthened in her brain. Each child has a different temperament, interests, and taste in toys. When you choose toys, think about your baby’s personality. Keep her age and intellectual development in mind too...that way toys won’t be too boring or too hard. Toys for Younger Babies * You! (your face, voice, and even your clothes) * Rattles and squishy toys * Mobiles * Activity mats * Cloth or board books * Teethers * Infant swings * Soft balls * Mirrors made for babies * Stuffed toys and soft dolls Toys for Older Babies * Soft blocks, nesting cups, and stacking rings * Small hand-held toys and blocks that make noises * Musical toys * Push and pull toys * Cloth dolls or play animals * Shape-sorters * Bubbles * Soft, low climbing structures * Activity books or boxes * Containers with objects to empty and fill * Large plastic pop beads * Floating toys for the bath * Large, simple cars * Safe household items like measuring cups, wooden spoons, unbreakable bowls, and so on Toys for Toddlers Your child is starting to play with toys in a different way. As a baby, he explores the world with his senses. As a toddler, he uses toys to build, create, represent the real world, and practice new skills. Matching Toys to Your Child Before adding a new toy to your home, ask yourself these five questions: 1. Is this age-appropriate? Consider your child’s development, skill level, and age, as well as the safety and size of the toy. It should be large enough to pass a choke tube test (the toy and its parts do not fit down a toilet paper roll). 2. What skills will my child learn from this? For pretend play, for example, the best toys are open-ended and allow your child to use them as he chooses. Make-believe toys are also good for helping your child imagine real life experiences, like going to the doctor or cooking at a restaurant. 3. Will my child like this? Think about his interests and his temperament. Also give him toys that can be used in different ways (for example, during pretend play, stacking bowls could become cooking pots or mountains for toy cars). 4. Does this fit in at our home? If it is a large item (like a playhouse), do you have room to leave it up all the time? Is the toy for cooperative play (with siblings or friends), or for one child at a time? If the toy is noisy, will it become annoying? If it has many pieces, will they get lost? 5. Will this toy last? The toy should be good quality, sturdy, and able to stand up to frequent use. This article is adapted from the Parents as Teachers Foundational Curriculum. Page 5 2-Column, 5 row TABLE entitled: Choosing Age-Appropriate Toys First column: TODDLERS First row: LANGUAGE * Board books, pop-up books, picture books Second row: INTELLECTUAL * Blocks and other construction toys • Large-piece puzzles • Games for matching or sorting shapes, colors, letters, and numbers • Alphabet blocks and magnetic letters • Nesting or stacking toys, and shape sorters • Musical instruments • CDs or digital music players Third row: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL * Trains, cars, and trucks * Dolls or stuffed animals that can be bathed, fed and diapered * Hand and finger puppets * Kitchen sets, workshops, grocery stores, baby-care stations, doctor sets or pop-up tents * Dress-up clothes and accessories * Push toys * Play versions of real home objects (phones, vacuum, and so on) * Play scenes like a farm, zoo, or airport Fourth row: FINE MOTOR * Peg boards with large pegs and magnetic boards * Large beads and strings with stiffened tips * Play dough * Paints, fingerpaints, paint brushes, crayons, and markers * Different types and sizes of paper * Chalk and sidewalk chalk * Toys for water play or sand play Fifth row: GROSS MOTOR * Push and pull toys * Foot-powered riding toys * Doll strollers, wagons, and rocking horses * Climbing structures, slides, foam mats, and tunnels Large balls, all sizes and textures, made of foam or other soft materials Second column: PRESCHOOLERS First row: LANGUAGE * Read-along books, hardback or paperback • Books on CD or online Second row: INTELLECTUAL * Blocks or Lego-type interlocking building toys • Framed puzzles and large, simple jigsaw puzzles • Musical instruments • CDs or digital music players • Math and science toys • Simple board games, card games, dominoes, and bingo • Beginner computer programs or Internet games • Toys for matching, sorting, shapes, colors, letters, and numbers Third row: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL • Dolls with accessories • Sock, mitten, or finger puppets • Role-play materials like dress-up costumes, telephone, camera, doctor kit, cash register, large mirror • Play scenes with realistic and working parts (doll house, garage, farm, airport, outer space, zoo, playground, school, and so on) • Toy cars with roads and signs, trucks with cargo, trains with tracks Fourth row: FINE MOTOR • Matching, sorting, and counting toys • Art supplies, stamps and ink, and stickers • Sand and water toys and tools, swimming toys with wind-up motors, and bath activity centers • Preschool scissors Fifth row: GROSS MOTOR • Push and pull toys adults might use, like a shopping cart, lawnmower, and stroller • Pedal-powered riding toys and tricycles • Outdoor climbers and slides This article is adapted from the Parents as Teachers Foundational Curriculum. Page 6 Books About Christmas Recommended Books for Young Children • Dream Snow by Eric Carle • Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor • How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss • Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold & Vivian Walsh • Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer • Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rick Bunsen • The 12 Days of Christmas by XIMAD • The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan Berenstain & Michael Berenstain • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson • The Elf on the Shelf by Carol V. Aebersold & Chanda Bell • The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg • Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Chris Plehal Child’s Art Corner Activity Instructions: Draw yourself on Christmas Day wearing the Santa hat below. What will you be doing? Page 7 Advertisements: • Guam Early Intervention System Training Series: Understanding the Early Intervention Process • When: What is an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and its Benefits for Families | January 19, 2013, 8:00am - 11:30am • Your Rights Under Part C | February 16, 2013, 8:00am - 11:30am • Measuring Outcomes in Early Intervention Services: Understanding How Children and Families Benefit from Early Intervention | March 16, 2013, 8:00am - 11:30am • What Happens After Early Intervention - Be Ready for the Transition April 20, 2013, 8:00am - 11:30am Breakfast will be served from 8:00am - 9:00am. Session starts at 9:00am. (Child care provided upon request.) Where: TBA (Call Guam CEDDERS or SpEd Parent Services for more information.) Who: Parents who have a child or children receiving services with Guam Early Intervention System (GEIS). For registration and more information please call Guam CEDDERS at 735-2466 or SPED Parent Services at 300-1322. For special accommodations, please contact SPED Parent Services at 300-1322 at least five (5) working days prior to the training date. Gas coupons and free giveaways will be provided to participants. This activity is 100% funded by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) Part C Grant for Infants and Toddlers, Grant No. H181A090008 and facilitated by the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (Guam CEDDERS). Text in box: Words to Praise a Child GREAT • AWESOME • GOOD FOR YOU • IMPRESSIVE JOB • I’M PROUD OF YOU • FANTASTIC • IT’S GREAT TO KNOW YOU • NOW YOU’VE GOT IT • WONDERFUL • YOU’RE SPECIAL • YOU DID IT • HOW SMART OF YOU • WHAT A BIG HELP YOU ARE • THAT’S INCREDIBLE • GREAT WORK • I LIKE YOU • YOU’RE UNIQUE • GOOD LISTENER • NOTHING CAN STOP YOU NOW • GOOD DISCOVERY • YOU FIGURED IT OUT • YOU BRIGHTEN MY DAY • GOOD THINKING • COOL • YOU’RE A JOY • WHAT AN IMAGINATION • CREATIVE JOB • YOU’RE FUN TO BE WITH • YOU TRIED YOUR BEST • YOU’RE IMPORTANT • I LOVE YOU • YOU MAKE ME SMILE • YOU BELONG • YOU’RE SO ENTHUSIASTIC • THERE’S NOBODY LIKE YOU • I RESPECT YOU • SPECTACULAR • YOU’RE WONDERFUL • YOU MAKE ME LAUGH • KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK • YOU SHINE • YOU’RE GROWING UP • I ADMIRE YOU • BRILLIANT IDEA • THAT’S THE WAY • YOU’RE AMAZING • IT WOULDN’T BE FUN WITHOUT YOU • YOU’RE SO RESPONSIBLE • YOU’RE SO FUNNY • THANKS FOR YOUR HELP Acknowledgements: I Mandikiki’ is a publication supported with 100% federal funding through the Guam State Advisory Council Grant, and Project Tinituhon and is facilitated by the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (Guam CEDDERS). Heidi San Nicolas, Ph.D., Guam CEDDERS Director Elaine Eclavea, Health, Wellness, & Prevention Initiative Area Coordinator Editor-in-Chief: Terrie Fejarang Managing Editor: Vera Blaz & Felicity Grandjean, Ph.D. Layout: Sean Lizama This issue of I Mandikiki’ was made possible through contributions from the following individuals: Vera Blaz, Felicity Grandjean, Ph.D. Alternative formats (e.g., Braille, large print, or audio tapes) of I Mandikiki’ may be made available by sending a request to newsletters@guamcedders.org or 735-2477. Page 8 Advertisements: First ad: FREE COURSES For Foster Parents, Child Caregivers, and Interested Individuals January 2013, TBA , Working With Young Children – Part B , F2F January 2013, TBA , Children With Special Needs – Part C , F2F January 2013, TBA , Child Development – Toddler , OL February 2013, TBA , Working With Young Children – Part C , F2F February 2013, TBA , Children With Special Needs – Part A , F2F February 2013, TBA , Child Development – Preschool , OL March 2013, TBA , Children With Special Needs – Part B , F2F February – April 2013, TBA , Mentoring New Childcare Providers , F2F & OL Key: F2F = Face-to-Face class at University of Guam. OL = Online class. All classes run for a 3-week period. NOTE: All of the listed courses are for 1.5 CEUs each. Completion of “Working With Young Children” Parts A, B, and C, for a total of 4.5 CEUs, will meet the in-service requirements for Early Childhood Assistant Provider, Level 1 as stated in Guam’s Plan for Professional Development. For “Working with Young Children” and “Child Guidance & Discipline” Part A must be taken first, then Part B, and then Part C must be taken last. For more information on these courses, please contact Terry Naputi at 735-2363 or email at terry.naputi@guamcedders.org. *Dates and times are subject to change based on enrollment. This ad is supported 100% by the Guam State Advisory Council Grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration on Children and Families and facilitated by the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Education, and Research (Guam CEDDERS). Second ad: FAMILIES play an important role in their CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT. Developmental Screenings can help determine whether your child is developing the way most children usually do. The Guam Early Intervention System (GEIS) provides FREE Developmental Screenings for children birth to 36 months of age. To schedule a FREE Developmental Screening or for more information on early childhood development, call 300-5776/5816. For FREE downloads and resources on early intervention services and early childhood development, visit online at www.gdoe.net/geis. 100% federally funded by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C Grant for Infants and Toddlers, Department of Education, Division of Special Education, Guam Early Intervention System (GEIS) and facilitated by the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, & Service (Guam CEDDERS).