Supporting your child’s early learning development at home (2 to 4 years)

At this age your child’s understanding and independence are growing at a rapid rate. We’ve made this useful guide, covering everything from strengthening language skills and establishing good daily routines, through to practical advice around continence management to help you and your child make the most of these vital early years.  

Talking and singing

At this age, the number of words your child understands and can say will be increasing quickly. By talking to your child when out and about, in the park, on a journey or shoppingyour child will learn so much more. 

Try to include speech and songs into your child’s daily routine to encourage their communication development. 

The National Literacy Trust has ideas for parents and carers to fit speech development into your everyday routine. 

  • Age related resources and themed activities 
  • Words for life handy resources
  • Advice on talking with babies born prematurely 

     

I CAN, the children’s communication charity, also has helpful resources to help you understand and support your child’s speech, language and communication. 

Daily routine

Now you know your child well, their personality, their likes, their dislikes and their preferred routine, you can plan their learning opportunities at home. 

Sometimes, due to health difficulties or time spent in hospital, your child’s daily routine does not always match yours or the rest of your family’s. It is a good idea to continue to create a structure to the day and to the week, in which your child can feel safe and knows what is going to happen next in each day. 

Talking with your child about plans for the day or the week will help them to understand and be aware of what’s going to happen and be more accepting of change. 

Visual timetables and support structures

Visual timetables are a good way of helping your child to understand the passage of time, which can be a difficult conceptfor some children with hydrocephalus. 

A visual timetable that your child can interact with and talk about with you is a good way to build a safe and positive routine into a small child’s life.  

Examples of visual timetables can be found at The National Autistic Society.

Visual supports containing pictures can help your small child to understand that symbols have meanings and provide a good opportunity to practise early reading of signs.  

Provide opportunities for child with spina bifida and hydrocephalus to learn to make choices, initiate and structure their lives in ways that follow a meaningful sequence. 

Sparklebox have a range of printable resources. 

Learning independence or self-help skills

There are four main types of self-help skills:

  • Self-feeding 
  • Independent dressing and grooming 
  • Hygiene and toileting 
  • Helping with daily chores like setting the table and picking up toys. 

Help your child to join in:

  • Get down to your child’s level 
  • Be a good role model for the activity 
  • Provide easy-to-follow steps 
  • Offer simple choices between no more than two items 
  • Give first/then statements such as “first we roll up our sock, then we put it over our foot, like this.”  to reinforce the sequence of events. 
  • Celebrate your child’s success with a smile and praise.
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The Children’s Workshophas tips on how to encourage self-help  skills in children. 

Some children with spina bifida, will struggle with dressing and undressing at first. Children can practise by playing games with plastic hoopla rings where they put their arm or their leg through the hoop. This models the movement of putting their arm through a sleeve or their foot into a sock. Slowly a child will learn the skills of dressing and undressing even when they have limited movement. 

Rewards

By knowing what your child loves to play with and to do, you can reward them with the play activities they love.  

Reward their effort rather than their achievement. 

Praise all the small successes your child makes every day. 

Some families use a reward system for their children to improve  behaviour both in and outside the home. There are many examples of rewards systems available such as stickers or putting building blocks or dried pasta into a jar and counting them up at the end of the day or week, leading to a chosen reward. 

Remember that the greatest reward you can give a small child is your time so find a small reward that you both enjoy, like reading a favourite story together, to have positive moments with each other throughout the week. 

Bedtime routine

If bedtime routines are a struggle, advice from a Shine support worker or a sleep practitioner may help.  

The Sleep Charity has training for families and for professionals.  

Cerebra has a Sleep Advice Service.

Continence management

It can take a while to teach a child with a neurological condition to manage their continence independently.  

Shine  has a continence nurse specialist to help and advise parents as they learn complex skills and develop a routine together. Shine also has information for parents about how the bladder works and continence care in children, and the charity ERIC are a good source of information.  

On your Team

Professionals who can help

All babies and children are unique and develop at different rates. If you have any concerns about your child’s development then please talk to your health visitor, who can offer you advice and if needed, ensure you are referred to a number of specialists which might include: 

  • Paediatric consultant 
  • Educational psychologist 
  • Physiotherapist 
  • Occupational therapist 
  • Speech and language therapist 
  • Dietician 
  • Urologist 
  • Disability social worker 

Click here, from more information on professionals who may support your child. 

You’re not alone

Shine run a number of support groups across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and there is also the Shine’s Little Stars Facebook Group, an area for parents and carers to receive support from each other. Shine have also set up Whatsapp groups for parents and carers (England only). If you would like further information or to join a group, please contact us.

Support can also be found on Netmums and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF

The Local Offer provides clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available support in your area for children with disabilities and those with special educational needs.  

Portageare a home visiting service with child development specialists who can create a play plan for your baby’s needs, and teach your baby how to reach new milestones, from sitting to communicating.  

Other support: 

Find a Sure Start childrens’ centre here - they provide invaluable support to parents/ carers and their little ones, including support groups and parenting programmes

Sure Start also have information about supporting your child’s learning at home.    

Pathways.org provide free online tools and resources to maximise your child’s development 

Brainwave is a charity which helps children with disabilities and additional needs to achieve greater independence by aiming to improve mobility, communication skills and learning through a range of educational and physical therapies.

Conductive Education  (CE) is a comprehensive method of learning which enables children and adults with damage to the central nervous system to learn to overcome the challenges they face. CE is primarily suitable for people with neurological conditions such as brain injury, stroke and cerebral palsy and helps to move people towards increased independence, and can work in different settings: 

CEPEG has a list of CE centres around the UK

Footprints Conductive Education Centre teaches parents/carers how to support their child at home.

The Pace Centre in Aylesbury offers CE run by a team of early years specialists, such as physiotherapists, educators and speech and language therapists

Paces Sheffield support families, children and adults living with neurological conditions and they have a specialist school that uses CE.

The Movement Centre for Targeted Training is a specialist physiotherapy service, which makes use of bioengineering to develop movement control. 

Montessori Nursery Schools - The Montessori Method is an approach to learning which focuses on self-directed, hands-on play which helps to develop a child’s independence, skills and confidence. 

 

Need more help?

If you need to speak with one of Shine’s specialist advisers about spina bifida or hydrocephalus, call us on 01733 555988 or click here to email us.

Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We aim to respond to all enquiries as quickly as possible!

 
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