A father is reading to a 6 month old baby. The book consists of repetitve words and animal sounds, and the father adds sound effects and interacts with the baby, while reading. The baby shows interest and engagement by looking at the father and the book and smiling in response to animal sounds.Read More →
This video illustrates the next stage of parent-child conversations, when a child follows the “conversation rules” but uses “pretend” language. In this video a mother and a toddler are having a dialogue: the mother is using real words and the baby is responding in her “real-like” language.Read More →
In this video a 2-month-old profoundly deaf Charly Keane hears her mother’s voice for the first time with the help of a hearing aid. Notice how Charly watches her mother’s face closely and listens attentively to her wordsRead More →
In this video a father is having a “conversation” with his young son about a game they are both watching on TV. Even though the child cannot yet talk, he demonstrates excellent conversational skills (e.g., turn-taking, intonation, gestures). Read More →
El “experimento de la cara inexpresiva», desarrollado por el Dr. Ed Tronick en los años setenta, pide a los cuidadores que mantengan interacciones receptivas normales, luego dejen de responder (pongan «cara inexpresiva») durante unos minutos y luego vuelvan a sus interacciones receptivas normales con el niño. Durante el periodo en que el cuidador no responde, el niño intenta llamar la atención del cuidador y, al no conseguirlo, empieza a mostrar signos de malestar físico y emocional. Cuando el cuidador vuelve a responder, se restablece la conexión entre él y el niño. El experimento demuestra hasta qué punto los bebés dependen de las respuestas de sus cuidadores para sentirse seguros, confiar en las personas de su vida y explorar el mundo.Read More →
“The still face experiment” developed by Dr. Ed Tronick in the 1970s asks caregivers to engage in normal responsive interactions, then become unresponsive (put on a “still face”) for a few minutes, and then return to their normal repsonsive interactions with the child. During the period when the caregiver is unresponsive, the child tries to get the caregiver’s attention and then failing to do so begins to show signs of physical and emotional distress. When the caregiver becomes responsive again we see the connection between the caregiver and child restored. The experiment shows how much babies depend on their caregivers’ responses to help them feel safe, trust the people in their life, and explore the world.Read More →
This video, modelled on the Reach Up programme, illustrates a typical home visit in Jamaica focused on the promotion of responsive play and communication.Read More →
A childcare provider is interacting with a child under age 1. Watch how she pays attention to what the child is interested in and talks to the child. Read More →
A visit to the doctor doesn’t have to be unpleasant. Watch how this provider from the United States engages with the child during a health check up. Read More →
In this humorous video the father is becoming desperate at not being able to afford nice toys for his son, until he realizes that he can use things around them to play with his child. Read More →
This video describes the skills children acquire between birth and 2 years across a range of developmental domains. The skills are presented for four age groups and the video concludes with a list of “red flags” which could help a caregiver know when to be concerned. Read More →
This video describes the idea of assembling treasure boxes – collections of different objects from home or nature that may be interesting for children to explore. They can be themed (e.g., beach, insects, animals, colours, shapes, different textures) or just a collection of different items. Caregivers can ask their children open-ended questions to encourage exploration of the materials in the treasure box in an imaginative and playful way. For example, I wonder what this can be? Read More →
This video explains the concept of normal (temporary) vs. toxic stress and describes how toxic stress affects child development. It posits the role of responsive and warm adults as that of a buffer protecting the child from the effects of prolonged or toxic stress.Read More →
This video describes different types of stress – positive, tolerable, toxic. With the right kind of support from caregivers, children can cope with positive or tolerable stress without any adverse effect on their health and development. But if children lack caregivers to assist them in times of stress or if children are exposed to toxic stress (the stressors are severe, recurring, and chronic), hormone levels will stay high, brain development will be disrupted and children’s health and development will be negatively impacted. Read More →
This video uses a pyramid to explain how children acquire communication skills. The video explains not only the skills that children acquire at each level but also what they need to acquire these skills. Read More →
This video uses a pyramid to explain how children acquire communication skills. The video explains not only the skills that children acquire at each level but also what they need to acquire these skills. Read More →
The premise of the video is that the sooner we begin talking to the child the better. The more language the child hears the more language the child will be able to understand and use as she gets older, preparing her to do well in school.Read More →
The video shows a caregiver playing and talking with her daughter using local foods. She encourages the father to join in the play. He readily accepts, stating that the more he plays with his child, the more she will succeed. Read More →
This video describes the importance of play for child’s development and future. Different types of play are described including active play, exploratory play and representational (imaginative and pretend) play. Read More →
This video clip from The Beginning of Life documentary highlights the incredible amount and speed of connections made in the brain in the first years of life. It cites that 700 to 1000 neuronal connections are made every second. However, more recent estimates indicate the number is much higher: “more than 1 million new neural connections per second.”Read More →
