Keyword: Parenting
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Supporting Children Through Challenging Family Situations
This list contains resources for educators and families to support young children experiencing changes like divorce, the death of a love one, and parental incarceration.
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Parenting in the Early Years
This list provides resources on effective parenting practices and provides information on how parents can help their child stay healthy, be safe, and be successful in many areas.
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Meetups for Preschoolers: Have a Great Playdate!
My children grew up on a block full of kids. Occasionally, they had playdates with school friends, but usually they could step outdoors and find age-mates who were ready to play. Many parents now tell me it’s gotten much harder to get their preschoolers together with friends outside of school. That’s why playdates have become…
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Refugee Families
n and their families.
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Teaching Your Child to Problem Solve
Families juggle so many tasks every day. Often one of these tasks is supervising young children as they play and solve problems that come up when they try to play alone (e.g., “she’s not sharing” or “he hit me”). In fact, doing this can often prolong or make completing other tasks, such as laundry and…
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Helping Children with Big Feelings
Big feelings such as frustration or being upset can lead to strong reactions in adults and children. For children who have little control over their environment, these feelings can occur for reasons adults see as inconsequential or silly. Regardless of what causes a meltdown, teaching, modeling, and supporting them to calm down in that big…
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Supporting Siblings of Children with Disabilities
Parents and caregivers of a child with a disability may be concerned about the well-being of their other children. Parents often struggle with having time and attention to give to all their children when one child requires a lot of time and attention.
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Positive Descriptive Feedback for the Win!
As a parent and a teacher, I frequently ask myself, “How can I get my children to repeat the good things I have taught them to do? I know they can do it!” We see this all the time. We teach them what to do and when to do it. But when it comes down…
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Parenting During a Pandemic
On this podcast, we are joined by Christy Lee, mother to four children, two with Down syndrome. Christy shares with us some tips for parenting during the pandemic on topics such as schooling, shopping, and home life.
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Challenging Behaviors in Young Children
This toolkit includes information on child development, the meaning of behavior, strategies adults can use with young children, and additional resources for families and educators.
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Getting Your Child Ready to Return to Childcare
Along with most states in the country, Illinois experienced a shelter-in-place order for several weeks and then started a phased reopening. For many families, this meant their young children did not attend childcare or preschool programs for an extended period of time. If they did keep attending childcare, practices at their childcare centers likely changed.
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COVID-19 Parenting Pep Talk: Be With Your Child’s Big Feelings
For many of us, changes in routine and lack of choices have brought on feelings of sadness, anger, and frustration. Though we may be experiencing these difficult emotions, as adults we can understand that changes to our daily routines are to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
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COVID-19 Parenting Pep Talk: Make Time for Connection
Before the COVID-19 situation, many of us, myself included, were used to taking our young children to childcare or preschool on working days. Now, we may be working from home or different hours, and we may have lost many of our predictable daily routines. In addition, many family, friends, and coworkers are no longer part…
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COVID-19 Parenting Pep Talk: (Re)focus on Positive Guidance
In spring 2020, our world was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Illinois, our stay-at-home order has caused drastic changes in daily routines for everyone. With schools, many childcare centers, and most other places closed to stop the spread of COVID-19, we have found our daily routines profoundly changed.
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Helping Young Children With Disabilities During a Trying Time: Adding Structure and Routine
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, you may be a parent or caregiver of a young child with special needs who was previously attending a child care center, preschool program, or receiving other services. You may now be caring for your child at home with few outside supports—and this can feel overwhelming. We know young children thrive…
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Learning at Home During Trying Times
Many families with young children are seeking resources about learning at home with young children as the COVID 19 situation evolves in our communities. This resource list provides information from the Illinois Early Learning Project and other reliable sources to help during this time.
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Childproofing Your Home
As you welcome a new baby, prepare for toddlerhood, or relocate to a new home, it is important to provide a safe environment for your child. The resources below can help with that process.
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Positive Guidance for Young Children: Be Thoughtful
Young children are learning to manage their behaviors and feelings. Your responses matter to children in these moments. Sometimes adults need to stop behaviors that are unsafe or extremely disruptive and help children understand how to behave appropriately.
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Rights of Families Experiencing Homelessness
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Supporting Families with Young Children Experiencing Homelessness
This tool kit is a resource to help early childhood, school, and community professionals understand how they can support families who may be experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. IEL also has a resource list, When Children Are Homeless or Housing Insecure: How Preschool Teachers and Caregivers Can Help, which includes additional resources for educators, caregivers,…
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Resource Directory for Illinois Families with Young Children Experiencing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
This resource directory provides contact information, descriptions of programs, state agencies, and non-profit organizations in Illinois that provide support for families of young children experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Families may wish to begin searching for resources in their local community using these links: Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)IDHS provides a listing of state…
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The Newborn Period
This Early Learning Moment provides an overview of the Newborn Period as explained in Illinois Early Learning Guidelines for Children Birth to Age 3.
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Look What This Can Do!
In this video, we see Mario and his mother, Norma, as they play in a playroom at a local community center. Norma shows Mario different ways to use the toys. When Mario bangs the toys together, Norma encourages his inventiveness by commenting on the creative ways Mario uses the toys to make noise.
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Drumming in the Kitchen
Infants depend on caregivers’ responses that encourage them to explore the world. In this video, we see 9-month-old Amy explore the sounds that she can make when she is banging pots with a large spoon.
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Let’s Write a Grocery List
Caregivers can engage children in early writing experiences such as list making to support their early literacy skill development.
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Toot, Honk, Splish
Reading books is an important way a caregiver can support the development of a young child’s language and literacy during the infant-toddler years. As children grow, they become more attentive and able to participate in book sharing.
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Advocacy, Communication Important at Each Step of the Journey
Everyone tries to prepare soon-to-be parents for the day they bring life into the world, but no one can truly explain the array of emotions felt when it actually happens.
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Diverse Families and the Transition to Kindergarten
This podcast is an interview Dr. Sarai Coba-Rodriguez, an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her research, she uses a family resilience perspective to learn about school readiness and family involvement among low-income Latino and African American families, including their beliefs and practices that promote young children’s successful…
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Get Them to School Every Day
Preschool is the ideal time to stress the importance of consistent on-time attendance and encourage strong attendance habits.
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Going to Kindergarten?
Getting required health checks, practicing key skills, and visiting your new school can help your child make a smooth transition.
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Try and Try Again (audio)
This podcast, based on a blog written by Dr. Rebecca Swartz, provides information about how adults can help young children develop persistence to try and try again when they encounter everyday challenges. To see the main text of the podcast, you can read the original blog post. Related IEL Resources Blog: Try and Try Again
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Try and Try Again
Families, teachers, and caregivers want young children to be successful. It can be hard to watch a child struggle or become frustrated.
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Sibling Relationships
This list contains a variety of resources associated with sibling relationships for young children.
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Family Mealtimes: Benefits for Child Well-Being
This list contains a variety of resources associated with how family mealtimes enhance a child’s well-being.
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Supporting Resilience in Children Exposed to Domestic Violence
This list contains a variety of resources associated with supporting resilience in children exposed to domestic violence.
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Helping Children Develop “Impulse Control”
Excitement, joy, anger, frustration, and disappointment are all part of growing up.
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Making Pizza Together
Preparing meals is part of the “real work” of family life. Preschoolers can help their parents fix simple foods. The whole family can benefit when parents involve preschoolers in cooking activities. Doing this kind of “real work” together gives family members something meaningful to talk about. It also gives children a chance to learn life…
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Let Baby Play
Babies can learn a lot from interacting with their parents and other family members, but they also need time to explore freely with an adult supervising.
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Going Camping
Three-year-old Ellie and her mother are playing with familiar toy family figures, a dollhouse, furniture, and a camper. By listening carefully to what Ellie says as they play, her mother discovers things that she can help Ellie understand in areas such as counting, good manners, and nutrition.
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Dads Read
In this clip, the two dads model several ways to encourage very young children to begin to engage with the process of reading books.
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Connecting with Concepts and Skills
In this video Lisa models several ways you can help children connect with new vocabulary and concepts through reading their favorite books with them.
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Birthdays, Holidays, and Family Gatherings
How can you make these holidays and birthday celebrations meaningful and stress-free for your child, especially when he becomes the center of attention at gatherings?
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Helping Siblings Get Along
Brotherhood and sisterhood can begin at home!
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Encouraging Words
Encouragement can help children feel good about themselves and develop self-confidence.
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Using Words to Discipline Children
Here are some words to use when you want to change your child’s behavior without yelling, spanking, or being angry.
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Things to Do While You’re Waiting: Learning Activity Kits
Homemade learning activity kits can engage a child who hates to wait.
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Say What You Mean! Talking Straight to Children
Sometimes we want to make things go smoothly with our preschoolers—so smoothly that we shy away from telling them clearly what we really mean.
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Developmental Milestones, Infant Toddler Guidelines, and Early Learning Standards: Metrics for Young Children
Teachers and parents of young children are likely to encounter different checklists or guidelines to assess the development, knowledge, or skills of the young children in their care.
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Answering Questions About Your Child’s Special Needs
During the summer, families tend to spend more time out in their communities and traveling to interesting places with their children.
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Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards: A Guide for Parents
The (IELDS are designed to help teachers and caregivers plan educational experiences for young children that will help them be ready for kindergarten.