Assessing Your Developing Child: Do you wonder if your preschooler is developing properly? Not sure? Ask for help!
Since the day you discovered you were pregnant, you have been monitoring the healthy development of your child. Now that he/she is a student at Kiddie Academy, it’s even easier to track their speech and language development—as well as their social emotional, fine motor, and self-help skills.
“Healthy development means that children of all abilities, including those with special health care needs, are able to grow up where their social, emotional and educational needs are met,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Having a safe and loving home and spending time with family―playing, singing, reading, and talking―are very important. Proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep also can make a big difference.”
Helping parents and children reach early childhood development milestones is a goal for Kiddie Academy’s owners Jen and Matt Moore.
“Having raised four children of our own before opening our three Kiddie Academy locations, we know that skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving ‘bye-bye’ are essential for growing children,” says Jen. “They show us that they’ve reached each milestone in how they play, learn, speak, behave, crawl, then walk.”
Jen and Matt also know that children develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when a child will learn a given skill. However, the developmental milestones give a general idea of the changes to expect as a child gets older—which is why they have partnered with Ina Necesito, an occupational therapist who with her husband founded Whole Child Therapy in Claremont, CA.
“As a parent, you know your child best,” Ina insists. “If there is a developmental delay, the parent knows instinctively—but sometimes doesn’t want to admit it. That’s where we come in because early detection—and proper intervention—is the key to getting a child on the path to developing properly.”
Ina shares that too often parents are told not to worry, “they’ll catch up,” by physicians and well-meaning, trusted professionals. “But that’s not always the case. Parents need to trust their intuition if they believe their child might not be on track.”
Meet Nick Acosta
That’s true for Monique Acosta, director of Kiddie Academy Fontana, who realized her son wasn’t quite on track with his verbal skills.
“When my son Nick was a little guy, he had what we considered a unique accent—as if he was from Brooklyn, NY. We didn’t realize that what was actually happening was the he had a problem with the development of his speech until he was in 1st grade,” Monique shares. “We also didn’t realize that other kids were teasing him, causing him to want to read alone and not raise his hand to answer questions in class.”
Fortunately, Nick’s teacher was on top of the situation. She saw that Nick could easily do his work; in fact, he routinely finished earlier than the other kids. And she knew that his tendency to retreat into a corner to read alone was a signal that Nick was upset about something.
“She pulled him aside to see what he was feeling, and Nick told her that the other kids were laughing at him because of the way he pronounced his words,” Monique explains. “She asked if he’d like to see the speech therapist to get some help, and Nick said yes. Please. She then called me, and I of course agreed. I wanted my son to get the help he needed. Within the school year, he’d made incredible advances and hasn’t had an issue since.”
At 19 today, Nick is a junior playing college football at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA and in his spare time serves as a tutor and basketball coach at Ruth Musser Middle School in Rancho Cucamonga. “I know what it feels like to struggle a bit as a kid,” he says. “I’m just glad I can help others.”
Asking for help is the first step
So that parents can address any developmental issue they are observing in their children, Ina will be visiting Kiddie Academy Fontana, as well as the Rancho Cucamonga and Pasadena locations, to meet with parents who might have a concern about their child’s healthy development.
Ina says: “If your child is not meeting the milestones for his or her age, or if you think there could be a problem with your child’s development, talk with your child’s doctor and share your concerns with the teaching and administrative teams at Kiddie Academy. Don’t wait.”
For Your Frig
Whole Child Therapy’s DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES FOR PRESCHOOL
Social Emotional Skills
2 years old: Shows a variety of emotions, dramatizes using a doll, looks at people when speaking to them, can be shy with strangers and in outside situations, engages in parallel play next to peers, shows independence
3 years old: Demonstrates awareness of class routines, plays with another child, responds to and makes greetings, is beginning to take turns, interacts appropriately with others during group activities, plays interactive games like Ring Around the Rosie and Hide-and-Seek.
4 years old: Talks about own feelings, participates in cooperative play, plays simple games according to the rules, comforts playmates in distress, quiets down after active periods and waits for instructions, is learning to verbalize feelings before physical expression, offers items or activities to another in exchange for an item or activity
5 years old: Offers assistance to others, remains in designated play areas, accepts an altered routine when requested, tried out new activities, plays group games following the rules, remains calm when small requests are denied
Tips to promote your child’s healthy development at home:
- Talk about feelings: Strong emotional development is an important foundation for success later in life. You can support your child by labeling emotions, both yours and theirs, by saying, “You look sad that there are no more cookies. That would make me feel sad, too.” This approach helps your child learn about their feelings and it begins to teach them that other people have similar feelings, too.
- Set Boundaries: Children benefit from strong boundaries, such as when a parent or teacher says, “It’s ok to be angry, but not to hit someone when you are angry.” When things are calmer, help your child problem solve what they should do the next time they are angry.
- Practice Self-Control Games: Did you ever play Red Light, Green Light or Freeze Dance when you were a child? It turns out that games like these can help teach a child about self-control. To make it more challenging, switch up the rules every so often.
Speech & Language Skills
2 years old: Knows and is able to say 50 words or more, they say their full name on request, they can name 5 or more pictures and 6 or more body parts, they obey 2-part commands, and can use 3-word sentences
3 years old: Is able to say 300 words or more, can articulately use a variety of sounds in words (m, n, h, w, p, b), can sequence a 3-picture story, understands some words that represent colors, shapes and family members, they ask “when” and “how” questions and talk about what happened during their day, they use 4-6 words in a sentence, and they can say about 4 sentences at a time
4 years old: Can carry out 4-part related commands, can articulately use a variety of sounds in words (t, d, k, g, y) and use multi-word sentences, can repeat what happened in a story, understand some prepositions (above, below, in front of) and some words for order (first, next, last) and time (today, tomorrow, yesterday), and most people can understand their speech
5 years old: Identifies initial sounds of words, uses irregular plurals, says sounds in words (f, ch, sh) and identifies words that rhyme, names the parts of different objects (a car, their body) and gives the function of the parts, is able to retell a story and describe something that happened to them, keeps the conversation going
Tips to promote your child’s healthy development at home:
- Talk to your child: Studies have shown that the number of words a child hears during their early years has a significant impact on their development of language. That’s why it’s important to talk with your children as much as possible and narrate what you see while on a car ride, a walk, during family dinner conversations, and especially when reading to your child. These are all fun ways to expose them to more language, and also bond with them as they learn and grow.
- Expand their sentences: When your child says a word or short phrase help them take their ability further by using that word or phrase in a sentence. For example, if your child points and says, “dog,” respond with “yes, that pretty dog is sleeping.” If your child is already using sentences, respond by adding even more details.
- Play language games: While in the car, on a walk, or waiting for food to be served at a restaurant, play games with your child like I Spy when you are describing something you see then have your child guess what it is. Then list several words—such as bus, train, apple and car—then have your child tell you which one doesn’t belong. Practice naming objects that start with a certain letter.
- Improve their sound production: If your child has difficulty saying particular sounds, make a game of emphasizing the correct sound with your own speech. If they continue to say the sound incorrectly, don’t ask them to repeat it, but go ahead and repeat the troublesome word correctly yourself louder and longer.
Self-Help Skills
2 years old: Removes shoes independently, pulls pants down with assistance, undresses with assistance, is beginning to use spoon and fork
3 years old: Unbuttons large buttons, puts on a t-shirt themselves, washes and dries hands, eats holding a fork (with a little spilling), helps with simple household tasks
4 years old: Puts on clothing with correct front and back position, zips up jacket, uses towel to dry after washing, is able to brush teeth with horizontal/vertical motion
5 years old: Opens all fasteners, spreads with a knife, washes face, is beginning to tie shoes with demonstration, blows nose independently
Tips to promote your child’s healthy development at home:
- Allot time to practice: When it comes all of the things you are helping your child learn, it may not be the best time to practice when you are rushing to get to school in the morning. Allot time during more unhurried hours such as when you are putting on PJs before bed. The same goes for practicing to use a spoon and fork during mealtime.
- I do, then you do: Sometimes we forget that we can show our children what we mean rather than just explaining tasks with words. For example, you can demonstrate grooming and hygiene skills (brushing teeth, combing hair) by doing it on yourself. This also helps avoid the inevitable “I do it by myself” tantrum as you are providing opportunities for your child to practice their independence.
- Backward chaining: This technique—starting from the last step and working backward—is particularly useful for dressing skills. For example, when helping your child dress, start by having your child complete the final step of pulling their shirt down. The next day, include the second to last step—skipping their arm in before pulling the shirt down. And so on. This builds a sense of accomplishment without overwhelming your child at once with a sequence of tasks.
- Practice in fun ways: If there is a specific task that your child is struggling to master, incorporate practice in fun, game-like ways. For example, practice using buttons when dressing a favorite doll, or putting on clothes by dressing up in a costume. You can also practice cutting by using a plastic fork and knife to slice playdough, then picking up small pieces with the fork. The possibilities are endless!
Fine Motor Skills
2 years old: Holds crayons with thumb and fingers pointed toward the paper, imitates vertical lines, can place pieces on a puzzle board (circle, square, triangle) and build a tower with 4-6 blocks, snips with scissors
3 years old: Imitates shapes (horizontal lines, crosses and circles), puts together simple puzzles, strings small beads, cuts on a wide line with scissors, unbuttons large buttons, builds a tower of 9 or more blocks
4 years old: Can copy a square and diagonal lines, cuts a circle and square with scissors, spreads glue on paper and sticks it to another piece of paper, can draw a stick person, has a clear hand preference (right, left)
5 years old: Correctly grasps a pencil, draws a picture of at least 3 objects, cuts more complex shapes, brings to print their name
Tips to promote your child’s healthy development at home:
- Arts & Crafts: There’s a good reason that preschool is filled with arts and crafts materials—drawing, cutting and coloring—is great for a child’s fine motor development. All that tearing of paper, gluing things together, stringing beads and lacing is critical to helping them develop hand and arm strength and dexterity. At home, you can turn almost any supplies and ideas you have into an arts and craft games.
- Tactile Play: It is incredibly beneficial for kids to participate in playtime where they get their hands messy. Digging in sand, finding toys in shaving cream, and finger painting helps children develop their tactile system, which in turn helps them better develop fine motor skills.
- Proximal Strengthening: Strengthening shoulder and arm muscles helps provide stability for your child to develop fine motor skills. Games like wheelbarrow walking, crawling through tunnels, climbing, and playing tug-of-war are terrific.
- Hand Strengthening: Activities that involve squeezing and pulling can also help strengthen hand muscles. Playing with spray water bottles, sculpting with play dough, and building with Legos and blocks are fun activities that build important skills and strength.
Sources: Information courtesy of www.wholechildtherapy.net, HELP Strands Birth to Three; Help for Preschoolers Checklist, American Speech & Hearing Association, Peabody Development Motor Scales-2, DAYC Early Childhood Development Chart
For more information contact: Corina “Ina” Necesito, MS, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist and owner of Whole Child Therapy, ina@wholechildtherapy.net • 909-451-8521 • 630 S. Indian Hill Blvd., suite 5, Claremont CA 91711