Join the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) this winter to discuss hot topics around early language and literacy development. From January through March 2020, 3o-minute chat sessions will be hosted on the second and fourth Friday at 8:30 a.m and repeated at 1:30 p.m. Participants will gain access to resources to share with families and use in their classrooms and centers. PQAS credit hours and infant/toddler hours available.
Available Dates
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- January 10, 2020: Those First Words
- January 24, 2020: Conversations with Kids
- February 7, 2020: Books, Books, Books!
- February 21, 2020: Print is Everywhere
- March 6, 2020: Sounds All Around!
- March 20, 2020: Celebrating Dual Language Learners
More Information
For more information, visit the event Padlet page.
Join the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) from January through March 2021 for their 30-minute “Let’s Chat About Early Language and Literacy” webinars.
About
These 30-minute webinars will be offered at no cost to participants. Each session will be offered at 8:30 a.m. and repeated at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. This series runs from January through March 2021. Chat topics will include the following:
Registration
To register, visit the event webpage. Registration closes the Wednesday prior to each session at 4:30 p.m.
More Information
PQAS, Infant/Toddler, and Act 48 hours are available. Participants must attend two sessions in order to get one credit hour. For questions, contact Jodie Holmberg at jholmberg@pattan.net.
Various organizations, states, and nations recognize several observances each month. Resources help parents, caregivers, and childcare professionals acknowledge and navigate them.
Here is a list of resources for February observances:
Month-Long Observances:
Black History Month
- Let’s Celebrate Black History Song!, Sesame Street
- I am the Dream, Mr. Pete’s Playhouse
- Books on Race and Racism, by Age, Recommended by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Kidsburgh
- Anti-Racism Tools, Trying Together
- February is Black History Month, Black History.gov
- Black History Month: 2024 Facts, Themes & Origins, History Channel
- 2024 Theme: African Americans and The Arts, Association for the Study of African American Life and History
- 13 Meaningful Black History Month Activities for Kids to Add to Your Lesson Plans, TeachStarter
Library Lovers Month
National Children’s Dental Health Month
Week-Long Observances:
February 14-20 is Random Acts of Kindness Week
Day Observances:
February 2: Groundhog Day
February 7: National Girls and Women in Sports Day
February 8: Take Your Child to the Library Day
February 10 Lunar New Year
February 11: National Make-a-Friend Day
February 20: World Day of Social Justice
February 21: Language Day
February 29: Leap Day
A national poll of audiologists and speech-language pathologists recently revealed an increase in child medical referrals for parental concerns about hearing, speech, and language delays or disorders.
Conducted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the survey investigated early detection, early warning signs, and caregiver knowledge and awareness of communication disorders, and demonstrated a need for early intervention education and services.
About the Survey
ASHA conducted this survey in February and March of 2023, sending an email invitation to 5,460 ASHA-certified audiologists and 5,534 ASHA-certified speech-language pathologists in the U.S. who are employed as clinical service providers and regularly serve at least one of the following age groups:
- six months or younger,
- seven months to two years of age, and
- three to five years of age
The invitation included a link to the survey, which 858 recipients completed. Demographically:
- 43% of respondents work in schools.
- 29% work in nonresidential health care facilities.
- 21% work in hospitals.
- 79% regularly serve age groups three to five years.
- 54% regularly serve age groups seven months to two years.
- 32% regularly serve age groups six months or less.
Key Findings
Pandemic-Related Trends
- Backlogs of children who weren’t referred to audiologists and speech-language pathologists during stay-at-home periods, or whose families waited to seek help due to concerns about coronavirus exposure, were a major factor in the increase of referrals. Three-quarters (75%) of audiologists and 62% of speech-language pathologists reported such backlogs.
- Post-pandemic:
- 34% of audiologists reported seeing more children with a delayed diagnosis of hearing loss;
- 36% of audiologists reported seeing more children with untreated ear infections that could interfere with communication development;
- 84% of speech-language pathologists reported seeing more children with emotional or behavioral difficulties;
- 79% of speech-language pathologists reported seeing more children with delayed language or diagnosed language disorders, and
- 78% reported seeing more children with social communication difficulties than before the pandemic.
- When it comes to factors contributing to increases in referrals beyond backlogs, audiologists and speech-language pathologists point to:
- limited opportunities for social interaction and play with peers (59%);
- limited formal pre-K and daycare or interaction with outside adults (57%) such as child care providers, preschool teachers, and extended family; and
- young children (51%) spending more time using screens and technology such as tablets and smartphones compared with pre-pandemic years.
Caregiver Awareness and Need for Early Intervention Services
Positive Trends
- 67% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists said parental awareness of the early warning signs of communication disorders has improved during the past decade.
- A majority (71%) said that most families with young children are at least “somewhat” aware of the importance of early detection of speech, language, and hearing difficulties when families first see them.
Negative Trends
- Lack of awareness of the early signs of disorders remains the leading factor hindering parents and caregivers from taking action on communication disorders in young children.
- Less than one quarter (21%) of audiologists said that most parents know the early warning signs of hearing disorders.
- Only 28% of speech-language pathologists said that most parents know the early warning signs of speech-language disorders.
- About 40% of audiologists indicated that, on average, symptoms of hearing loss in young children go unrecognized by parents/caregivers for 6 months to 1 year.
- Similarly, about 41% of speech-language pathologists indicated that, on average, symptoms of a speech-language delay or disorder in young children go unrecognized by parents/caregivers for 1–2 years.
- Nearly half (48%) of audiologists indicated that, on average, parents/caregivers wait 6 months to 1 year after observing symptoms of hearing loss in their children before acting.
- Accordingly, 48% of speech-language pathologists indicated that, on average, parents/caregivers wait 6 months to 1 year after observing symptoms of a speech-language delay or disorder to get help.
ASHA Recommendations for Families
- Learn the signs of communication disorders.
- Connect with early intervention or a private clinician if you have concerns.
- Additionally, focus on daily interactions with your child.
Learn More
Visit www.IdentifytheSigns.org to learn more about communication disorders. To find additional information, visit the ASHA website.
Source
Information for this post was taken directly from the ASHA “Identify the Signs Campaign Survey Results” and ASHA Press Release. Some text may have been added, paraphrased, or adapted for readability and comprehension.
Related Content & Resources
WIDA and the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) will sunset the WIDA Early Years Membership Program for Pennsylvania on June 30.
Consequently, the four current, free, one-hour, self-paced, WIDA Early Years trainings in the PD Registry will no longer be available beginning July 1, and anyone completing WIDA Early Years training coursework must do so by July 1 to receive credit for the training.
Still, trainers who completed the WIDA cohort may still offer in-person WIDA courses in the PD Registry for a fee.
About the WIDA Early Years Membership Program
WIDA Early Years Membership Program promotes equitable early care and education (ECE) opportunities for young, multilingual children through partnerships with state agencies.
Though the program will end on June 30, WIDA will continue to make PreK–3 resources available on the WIDA website under “Early Language Development” or “Teaching in PreK–3.” Additionally, OCDEL will make dual language resources available on the Pennsylvania Key website.
Future WIDA Offerings
Beginning September 1, WIDA will offer two new PreK-3 resources:
- A new self-paced workshop, “Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions,” will introduce educators to the new WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions. Educators will have an opportunity to build their knowledge and understanding of the Essential Actions and to reflect on their own ideologies, practices, and settings.
- Access to the course will require a WIDA Secure Portal account. Search the training calendar in the PD Registry for “Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions” or contact Barry Wiestling at bwiestling@pa.gov for information about how to set up a WIDA Secure Portal account and access this and other WIDA self-paced offerings.
- A new, “Are We Ready?” resource will support PreK–3 educators to promote and provide equitable transitions for multilingual children and their families. This resource will be available on the WIDA website.
Learn More
Please contact Barry Wiestling at bwiestling@pa.gov with questions.
To learn more, visit the WIDA website.
Do you ever wonder how young children can learn, not only one, but two or more languages? Join the Office of Head Start and its National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning for this webinar, and learn about the human capacity to learn multiple languages in early childhood.
Attendees will discover the cultural and cognitive benefits of bilingualism and explore strategies and resources that can help support children who are dual language learners during the preschool years.
This webinar will have English and Spanish captioning.
Session Details
Thursday, March 16 | 3 – 4 p.m.
Virtual
Register
Learn More
This webinar will feature Marley Jarvis, Ph.D. from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning, who will explore research findings on early language learning.
To learn more about this webinar, visit the Office of Head Start website.
Join the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) from January through March 2021 for their 30-minute “Let’s Chat About Early Language and Literacy” webinars.
About
These 30-minute webinars will be offered at no cost to participants. Each session will be offered at 8:30 a.m. and repeated at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. This series runs from January through March 2021. Chat topics will include the following:
Registration
To register, visit the event webpage. Registration closes the Wednesday prior to each session at 4:30 p.m.
More Information
PQAS, Infant/Toddler, and Act 48 hours are available. Participants must attend two sessions in order to get one credit hour. For questions, contact Jodie Holmberg at jholmberg@pattan.net.
Are you interested in learning strategies to support dual language learners (DLLs) and their families? Join presenters Lea Ann Christenson, Ph.D., and Nadia J. Jones, Ed.D., on November 10 for “Strength in Diversity: Practical Theory and Strategies to Support DLLs and Their Families.”
About
This webinar will cover practical theory, easy-to-use advice, and strategies to support dual language learners and their families. In addition, participants will learn how to cultivate empathy, perspective, and high expectations for all children. The content of this webinar can also benefit English-only (EO) young children and their families. Time for questions will be provided.
Featured Topics
Participants will walk away with the conceptual understanding of the content which they can put to use in their classrooms, schools, and centers immediately. Educators will learn:
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- demographics of young DLLs in classrooms today,
- the basics of second-language acquisition theory,
- effective teaching strategies and principles of instruction,
- how and why honoring the home language supports English acquisition, and
- tips for engaging the families of DLLs.
Registration
This webinar is best suited for anyone in the early childhood field, including teachers, instructional aides, administrators, and district office personnel. To register, visit the EdWeb website.
Are you interested in learning digital learning strategies to support English Learners in your online classroom? Join Digital Promise on September 30 for their webinar, “English Learners: Strategies for Digital Learning and the Language of Academic Content.”
About
During this webinar, speakers will share research-based learning strategies and supports that address learner variability, the shift to digital, and the specific challenges and opportunities for English Learners. Additionally, speakers will:
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- provide a framework for teaching the language of content, with a focus on math and science examples;
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- examine how to translate word walls, manipulatives, sentence frames, and many other research-based strategies to a digital-learning environment;
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- highlight the importance of family-teacher-student partnerships that help learning happen; and
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- explore research-based factors of learning that have an impact on all English learners.
This webinar is best suited for K-12 teachers and administrators, especially those who teach English Learners; instructional coaches; ELS coordinators; EdTech coordinators; and other school and district leaders. Time for questions will be provided.
Registration
To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
