Early interventions to children, young people and parents

Published on Saturday 29 October 2011 21:43

COLIN Early Intervention Community has secured nearly £2 million to deliver early interventions to children, young people and parents, with nearly half of the funding being provided by Atlantic Philanthropies.

Early Intervention includes services and programmes which would support attachment and the early years. It will also focus on baby brain development, provide Family Support and help young people make the transition to adulthood.

An example of early intervention is the Parents Support Project, which will provide information to parents on parenting, how babies’ brain develop, and how to nurture a secure attachment between mother/father and baby. This will ensure that parents receive help to give their babies the best possible start in life – early intervention.

The Colin Early Intervention Community will lead the development of early intervention to make a major and long lasting impact on the lives of children and young people in the Colin area.

The mid-term review of the Neighbourhood Renewal programme has shown that programmes such as this can make life changing differences to individuals and so are worthy of our support.”

Health Minister Edwin Poots added: “There is no doubt that positive early years’ experiences give children the best start in life.

http://www.lisburntoday.co.uk/community/colin_community_secures_2_million_to_help_local_families_1_3190565

Commitment of highly effective teachers and principals

The success of our English Language Development program is directly attributable to the efforts of the Humboldt schools' . They have an unwavering commitment to the academic achievement of all the students whom we serve.

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubsectionID=73&ArticleID=99491

New reading test for six-year-olds in UK

A Department for Education spokesman in UK said: "Academic research from all around the world - from Australia to the US - shows that systematic synthetic phonics is the best way to teach early reading.

"Pupils who need more help to master phonics need to be identified as early as possible, which is why we will introduce a phonics check for six-year-olds from next year."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15491763

[Le Beaumont has incorporated a phonics element in all its English programs. Young children are recommended to first join the English Playgroup to get used to the sounds of English before moving on to the Jolly Phonics program.]

Overcoming language barriers

Beginning with a group of 24 students in first grade, Prof. Kishon-Rabin and her team, which included Cohen, Dr Shoshie Rabinowitz, and other trained speech therapists as well as students from TAU's Department of Communications Disorders, provided weekly sessions with special emphasis on natural and social language skills to help the children develop efficient communication in and outside of the classroom.

Over the course of the year-long program, the students not only showed an improvement in their language skills, their overall academic performance improved as well. The teachers noted an increase in the students' verbal communication, self confidence, participation and progress in reading and writing when compared to a control group.

http://www.healthcanal.com/child-health/22461-South-Tel-Aviv-School-Model-for-Language-Intervention.html

Highly recommended: Three Core Concepts in Early Development

"Three Core Concepts in Early Development" is a new three-part video series from the Center on the Developing Child and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. The series depicts how advances in neuroscience, molecular biology, and genomics now give us a much better understanding of how early experiences are built into our bodies and brains, for better or for worse.

"Three Core Concepts in Early Development"

1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture
2. Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry
3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/three_core_concepts/

More then just stimulating minds

24 October 2011
Shonkoff, Director of the Centre for Child Development at Harvard University, points to research indicating that many staff who provide early years care and education have high levels of depression, limited education, and constrained work experience, along with other indications of burn out.These highly stressed staff may be passing along their stress to the children in their care.

Similar to interventions with high-risk parents, professional development should seek to improve the emotional and regulatory capacity of these service providers, improving the stability of children’s out-of-home environment, and in turn reducing the risk that toxic stress will damage young children’s developing brains.

References:
Shonkoff, J. (2011). Protecting Brains, Not Simply Stimulating Minds. Science, 333(6045), 982-3.

http://www.preventionaction.org/prevention-news/more-then-just-stimulating-minds/5710

Genes And Human Brain Evolution

By Gunnar De Winter | October 23rd 2011

The evolution of the human brain is the topic of a lot of research. The researchers, from the University of Chicago, grouped their findings into four lines of evidence:

Early brain development of human beings recruited excess new genes.

Young genes in the fetal brain play a variety of roles.

Positive selection contributed to the evolution of these young early brain development genes.

Lastly, the excess of new genes recruited into the neocortex parallels its origination.

When they compared the estimated dates of the origination of the young genes with phylogenetic trees (see figure 3), the data supports their hypothesis.

Overall, the conclusion is that:

These four lines of evidence suggest that positive selection for brain function may have contributed to the origination of young genes expressed in the developing brain. These data demonstrate a striking recruitment of new genes into the early development of the human brain.

http://www.science20.com/curious_cub/genes_and_human_brain_evolution-83852

Languages of the World

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011

The more frequently encountered types of word order changes correspond also to the more frequently encountered types of mixed word order languages (SOV/SVO, SVO/VSO, VSO/VOS, SVO/VOS and SOV/OVS. [s-subject, o-object, v-verb]

According to G-M&R's data, 46 languages with mixed word order patterns (37% of the total mixed word order languages) have both SOV and SVO (according to WALS figures, these numbers are 29 languages, 43% of all mixed word order languages).

The next most common combination is either the combination of SVO and VSO (according to G-M&R, 24 languages or 19%; according to WALS, 13 languages or 19%) or the combination of VSO and VOS (according to G-M&R, 17 languages or 14%; according to WALS, 14 languages or 21%).

Next comes the combination of SVO and VOS (according to G-M&R, 11 languages or 9%; according to WALS, 8 languages or 12%), followed by the combination of SOV and OVS (according to G-M&R, 9 languages or 7%; according to WALS, 3 languages or 4%).

All other mixed combinations are found much more rarely, and according to G-M&R "may be due in part to errors in analysis of these languages".

The correlation between the most common patterns of change and the most common types of mixed word order languages can be explained by the often-made assumption that languages with a mixed word order pattern are really languages in the midst of (gradual) word order change.

http://languages-of-the-world.blogspot.com/2011/10/parametric-theory-of-word-order.html

Early struggles help shape DNA

Living conditions of early childhood provoke biological changes in genes leading to DNA memory that can last a lifetime, an international study found.

But a study published online Thursday in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests that early experience is more than skin deep. Early environment influences brain and biological development and leaves a "memory" in the genetic code that affects the way genes function, say researchers from McGill University, the University of British Columbia and the UCL Institute of Child Health in London, England.

The team looked at DNA samples of men aged 45 who came from two economic extremes: children whose fathers were either unskilled workers or company CEOs and Oxford/Cambridge graduates.

After looking at control areas of 20,000 genes, researchers found twice as many genetic differences in those brought up in wealth and comfort, making a link between the economics of early life and the biochemistry of DNA.

Researchers found 1,252 differences in high income backgrounds compared to 545 changes. The differences in genetic imprinting that affected gene functioning, however, was not seen in participants who changed their social status.

"What we saw, the biggest thing, was the status you were in early childhood, age zero to 7 - and that was stronger than upward or downward social mobility," he said.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Early+struggles+help+shape/5584364/story.html#ixzz1bVmXT8BY

Let's make early learning our 'big thing'

10:05 PM, Oct. 17, 2011
By Greg Landsman

Greg Landsman is executive director of The Strive Partnership, which is focused on improving education in Cincinnati, Covington and Newport.

My wife and I had our second child this past week, and as I walked our new son through the nursery wing of Christ Hospital on Saturday night, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the dozen or so babies that were born since our Elijah arrived on Thursday.

As someone involved professionally in early childhood learning and development, I know just how critical the time from conception through the first five years of a child's life really is.

We know that children are ready for kindergarten are more likely to do well academically, graduate from high school, enroll in postsecondary education, and access a good paying job. Children who are "not ready" will likely struggle in school and many will ultimately drop out.

From conception to kindergarten ("0-5"), a child's development progresses faster than at any other stage of life. By age 3, 85 percent of the child's brain's core structure is formed.

Google "Change the First Five Years and You Change Everything," and watch the video. You'll see, like me, that expanding early childhood learning and development opportunities to every child, 0-5, is the social justice issue of our generation.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111018/EDIT02/110180322/Guest-Column-Let-s-make-early-learning-our-big-thing-

No Lasting Problems Seen for Late Talkers

Published: July 4, 2011

Parents often worry when their toddlers are slow to start talking, but a long-term study has found that these children have no more emotional or behavioral problems than others by age 5 — as long as they are otherwise developing normally.

The study, published online on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, followed children who were part of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study, including 1,245 children whose speech was not delayed — they were using at least 50 words and could string two or three words together in a phrase — and 142 who had not reached this milestone.

The children were all born to women who were pregnant between 1989 and 1991 when they joined the study. The children were tracked through age 17.

At age 2, the children identified as “late talkers” were more likely than other toddlers to have behavioral problems. But there was no difference between the groups at ages 5, 8, 10, 14 and 17.

The paper’s lead author, Andrew J. O. Whitehouse of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia, suggested that the early behavioral problems stem from a child’s frustration at being unable to communicate. “When the late-talking children catch up to normal language milestones, which the majority of children do, the behavioral and emotional problems are no longer apparent,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/research/05patterns.html?ref=pediatrics

No TV for Children Under 2

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: October 18, 2011

Watching television or videos is discouraged for babies younger than 2 because studies suggest it could harm their development, a pediatricians group said Tuesday.

Instead of allowing infants to watch videos or screens, parents should talk to them and encourage independent play, said the first guidelines on the subject issued in more than a decade by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Unstructured playtime is more valuable for the developing brain than any electronic media exposure,” the guidelines said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/health/19babies.html?_r=1&hp

Free parenting classes in UK

Free parenting classes are to be trialled for all parents with children aged five and under in three areas of England, children's minister Sarah Teather has said.

About 50,000 parents in Middlesbrough, High Peak, and Camden will be offered vouchers for the classes from mid-2012.

Ms Teather added that there was overwhelming evidence that a child's development in the first five years' of their life is the single biggest factor influencing their future life chances, health and education attainment.

"Armed with all this evidence, it is the government's moral and social duty to make sure we support all parents at this critical time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15312216

Language development

Still, the researchers found that at six months, the monolingual infants could discriminate between phonetic sounds, whether they were uttered in the language they were used to hearing or in another language not spoken in their homes. By 10 to 12 months, however, monolingual babies were no longer detecting sounds in the second language, only in the language they usually heard.

The researchers suggested that this represents a process of "neural commitment," in which the infant brain wires itself to understand one language and its sounds.

In contrast, the bilingual infants followed a different developmental trajectory. At six to nine months, they did not detect differences in phonetic sounds in either language, but when they were older — 10 to 12 months — they were able to discriminate sounds in both.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Science/1268570.html

Building Babies Brains

Twenty years ago, Professor Heidelise Als of Harvard Medical School was breaking down walls of traditional medical models to humanize — and strengthen -— the care of premature babies in neonatal intensive care units. Nearly 15 years ago, Newsweek Magazine released its special edition, "Your Child: Birth to Three" following the 1997 White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning. In her opening conference remarks, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote, "It is astonishing what we now know about the young brain and about how children develop. Fifteen years ago, we thought that a baby's brain structure was virtually complete at birth. Now, we understand that it is a work in progress, and that everything we do with a child has some kind of potential physical influence on that rapidly-forming brain."

http://mindinthemaking.org/article/building_babies_brains_a_back_to_the_future_tale/

Early Learning on the Brain: Policymakers, Take Note

Don't miss the interesting video clips on Education Nation recently held in Omaha.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-ochshorn/early-learning-brain-deve_b_1002779.html

Bilingual children develop crucial skills

Researchers found that at six months, the monolingual infants could discriminate between phonetic sounds, whether they were uttered in the language they were used to hearing or in another language not spoken in their homes. By 10 to 12 months, however, monolingual babies were no longer detecting sounds in the second language, only in the language they usually heard.

The researchers suggested that this represents a process of ''neural commitment'', in which the infant brain wires itself to understand one language and its sounds.

In contrast, the bilingual infants followed a different developmental trajectory. At six to nine months, they did not detect differences in phonetic sounds in either language, but when they were older - 10 to 12 months - they were able to discriminate sounds in both.

''What the study demonstrates is that the variability in bilingual babies' experience keeps them open,'' says Dr Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington and one of the authors of the study. ''They do not show the perceptual narrowing as soon as monolingual babies do. It's another piece of evidence that what you experience shapes the brain.''

The learning of language - and the effects on the brain of the language we hear - may begin even earlier than six months of age.

Over the past decade, Ellen Bialystok, a research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, has shown that bilingual children develop crucial skills in addition to their double vocabularies, learning different ways to solve logic problems or to handle multitasking, skills that are often considered part of the brain's so-called executive function.

''Overwhelmingly, children who are bilingual from early on have precocious development of executive function,'' Bialystok said.
The New York Times

http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/wired-for-sound-bilingual-parents-can-shape-babys-brain-20111012-1lkvp.html

Learning English

BBC’s Learning English website offers language learners the chance to explore grammar rules, build vocabulary, and acquire idiom proficiency. Likewise, the British Council’s Learn English site caters to kids and adults alike through a variety of games, interactive videos, and even a special section for those learners who are enthusiastic about football (or soccer, as it’s known in the States). Another resource, the English Listening Lesson Library Online helps students to acquire English language skills through videos, songs, games, and other resources designed to mimic natural language acquisition

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2011/10/11/multilingual-internet-for-language-learning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=multilingual-internet-for-language-learning

Preterm infants

New research shows that exposure to stressors in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is associated with alterations in the brain structure and function of very preterm infants. According to the study now available in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, infants who experienced early exposure to stress displayed decreased brain size, functional connectivity, and abnormal motor behavior.

Infants born prior to the 37th week of pregnancy are considered preterm, which occurs in 9.6% of all births worldwide, according to the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO). A report by The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development confirms that preterm birth occurs in 12% of all pregnancies in the U.S. In addition to increased mortality risk, prior studies have shown that up to 10% of very preterm infants (22-32 weeks gestation) have cerebral palsy, nearly 40% display mild motor deficiency, and up to 60% experience cognitive impairments, social difficulties and emotional issues.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/w-pie092911.php

Early learning: Valuable investment for employers

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one in a series of weekly articles focused on action steps that groups within the community can take to support early learning. It is part of the Great Start Collaborative of Calhoun County's effort to ensure that every child in Calhoun County will be safe, healthy, prepared and eager to succeed in school and life.

Business leadership is a crucial component for a community's future success. The support of that leadership in early learning will help ensure that the young children of today will become our community's future leaders. Action steps that business leaders and employers can take to support early learning follow several separate but equally important paths.

To assist employees, employers can:

• Inform employees about the importance of the first years of life by providing parenting information using communication vehicles such as break room and restroom bulletin boards, lobby and elevator posters, internal newsletters, web-based articles, employee e-mails and paycheck inserts.

• Set up break rooms as family education centers with posters, educational information, as well as closed-circuit monitors running public service announcements that provide tips for parents and phone numbers and a guide for local parent resources.

• Sponsor parenting workshops or parent education seminars with local speakers and parent educators at your workplace during lunch or before and after work hours

• Honor and reward employees who volunteer to provide or improve early childhood programs and services

• Offer employees access to online parenting information and resources through your internal website.

•Model and publicize best practices in workplace flexibility and supports for working parents and caregivers.

Within the larger community, employers can:

• Work with media to publicize local programs that offer parent education, family support, early care and education and health services.

• Provide in-kind support, such as copying, faxing, language translation services, printing and mailing to early childhood health, education and care and family support programs within your community.

• Inform the community about the importance of the early years in company ads, promotions and products.

• Communicate concern about the importance of the early years to policy makers and the media.

• Encourage colleagues and leaders at all levels to serve on community early childhood planning and public policy committees.

• Share expertise (such as accounting skills, management training, public relations) with early care and education programs and health and family support programs. Volunteer to serve on boards of early childhood groups.

• Honor state and local leaders and organizations that are making a difference for young children and their families.

• Host or sponsor community and legislative forums on early childhood topics, such as early childhood brain development, the relationship between economics and early childhood development, effective parenting programs, improving the quality of child care and expanding access to health care.

• Work with community partners to expand and improve health services, early care and education, and family support and parent education programs for families with young children.

In their relationship with customers, employers can:

• Inform customers about the importance of the first years of life and provide parenting information using existing communication vehicles, including receipts and bill stuffers.

• Sponsor community parenting seminars.

• Provide a welcoming environment for parents with young children and be supportive of their unique needs as customers

The influence employers have within their community concerning the importance of early learning can go a long way in ensuring that future businesses will continue to employ workers who are well-educated, responsible, contributing members of their community.

Effective early learning provides current and future benefits for us all.

Born Learning is a public engagement campaign helping parents, caregivers and communities create early learning opportunities for young children. Born Learning educational materials are made possible through the efforts of United Way, United Way Success by 6 and Civitas.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20111002/OPINION02/110020306

Conference changed mindset on brain development

Nearly 15 years ago, Newsweek Magazine released its special edition,"Your Child: Birth to Three" following the 1997 White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning. In her opening conference remarks, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote, "It is astonishing what we now know about the young brain and about how children develop.

Fifteen years ago, we thought that a baby's brain structure was virtually complete at birth. Now, we understand that it is a work in progress, and that everything we do with a child has some kind of potential physical influence on that rapidly-forming brain."

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20111002/COLUMNISTS04/110020318/Conference-changed-mindset-brain-development?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Life|s