Learning to Talk

Some professionals believe that children who are spoken to a great deal in early infancy talk sooner and better than children who aren’t spoken to a lot.

While this is difficult to verify by means of tests, the idea matches findings that toddlers and preschoolers who are read to a great deal do read more easily and better than those having less experience.

A baby’s receptive language—that is, the language she hears—depends upon her good listening and looking habits with parents or other familiar people.

The very young child doesn’t understand the meaning of words, but she does understand something of what is meant because the words are delivered along with feelings, facial expression, gestures, and body movement.

For example, when Father says, “Come here”, he holds his hands out to receive the baby.
When Mother says, “Give it to me”, she reaches out for the object, and when she says, “Here, I’ll give back to you”, she hands it back.
Another example is when an adult pretends he can’t see the baby and says, “Where’s Baby, where’s Baby” as he dramatically searches for the baby,
and finally exclaims: “Here she is!”

Babies also like the game of peek-a-boo. To play, cover your face with a towel and encourage the baby to pull it off.
If she doesn’t, peek through the towel to be sure she is looking at you. Remove the cover slowly as you say, “Peek-a-boo!”

When you play games, talk to the baby: be a ham—put lots of drama into your voice. Make it rise and fall; change from soft to loud; alternate from slow to fast.
Activities like this contribute to a baby’s developing capacity to understand language.

Star-Brite Learning Program

State Standards and Guidelines

At Star-Brite Learning Program, we understand the importance of education for children. We recognize that how a child is taught will affect their ability to learn, comprehend, and apply information. For that reason, Star-Brite makes sure that our programs and curriculum adhere to the standards and guidelines provided by the National Association for the Education for Young Children (NAEYC) and HeadStart. For your convenience, these guidelines are listed below with a side-by-side comparison of how our programs measure up.

The HeadStart Framework represents the foundation of the Head Start Approach to School Readiness. It aligns with and builds from the five essential domains of school readiness identified by the National Education Goals Panel (see inner circle) and lays out essential areas of learning and development. The Framework can be used to guide curriculum, implementation, and assessment to plan teaching and learning experiences that align to school readiness goals and track children’s progress across developmental domains. The domains and domain elements apply to all 3 to 5 year olds in Head Start and other early childhood programs, including dual language learners and children with disabilities. Click here read how Star-Brite Learning Program aligns with the Head Start Framework (Learning Objectives SB Version).  Click on the image on the left to see the the Head Start’s Framework.

NAEYC GUIDELINE COMPARISON

"Which Ones Go Together?"

Here’s a language learning game that helps children understand how objects are related.

Materials: Handy household and clothing items which have something in common (such as their use) but which also have basic differences:

Some examples:
tissue - handkerchief
pen - pencil
comb - brush
fork - spoon
shoe - boot
glove - mitten
glass - cup
paper clip - rubber band

Select one item and ask a child to: “Find the one that goes with this.”
When she makes a selection, you can ask “How are the items alike?” and “How are they different?’
You can add or subtract items, or increase the difficulty by making the similarities a bit harder to understand. Thinking and reasoning is definitely required.

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VISORS!

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Type in the code "4visorsFB" in the comment section of the online order form to claim.

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Praise is Like Sunshine

Consider this insight from psychologist Jess Lair:
“Praise is like sunshine to warm the human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it.
"And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellows the warm sunshine of praise.”
Train your eye to see the good in your children, your neighbors. Identify their gifts, talents, and skills, and praise them lavishly for them.
The story is told of a ten-year-old boy who labored in a Naples, Italy factory.
His dream was to become a singer, but his first teacher discouraged him, declaring: “You can’t sing. You haven’t any voice at all. It sounds like the wind in the shutters.”
However, his mother, a poor and uneducated woman, placed her arms around the boy and praised him. She told the boy she knew he could sing and could see improvement in the quality of his voice.
That mother’s praise and encouragement changed her son’s life. His name was Enrico Caruso and he became the most famous opera singer of his generation.

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A Start on Telling Time

When your child is hungry and impatient with the speed of mealtime preparations, point to the large hand of the clock and say to her, “We will have dinner when this big hand gets to the bottom (or the top) of the clock.”
As you say this, point to where the hand will be. Then make every effort to meet this prediction accurately.
If she is not familiar with the clock, you will need to explain that the hand does move, but too slowly for her to see it.
Don’t try to teach her hours and minutes at first. This is difficult even for some first graders to understand, though by kindergarten many children will understand the concept of hours.

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Cultivate Patience

No matter how much you love your child, there will be times when her behavior will exasperate you.
Try to remember that she will never be this age again and that this, too, will pass.
Let her know how you feel when what she does upsets you. But try to keep your sense of humor and perspective.
Be patient with her attempts to do things for herself. She may not do them well at first, but she’ll learn with practice.
Like every other skill, responsibility for oneself takes practice and lots of room for mistakes before it’s mastered.

Star-Brite Learning Program
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