Halloween is confusing for little kids. Just when they were beginning to make sense of their world, everyone looks and acts different. Words change along with costumes. Is that a real pumpkin? If I am dressed up like a pumpkin, am I a pumpkin? Some toddlers don’t want to wear a costume. It it’s as they are afraid they will really become the strange thing that is the costume (a pumpkin or witch? Batman or Princess Elsa?). It helps to talk a lot about the words: real and unreal

One mom at Educare was concerned that when she let her two-year-old daughter read the pictures of the book because her daughter didn’t use proper language. Another said, “Let her tell her story and then you can expand on that and give her new ideas in correct language. Go back and forth. Let her say her own stuff.” Good advice!

The moms at Educare thought a lot about how to read a book to a toddler. Babies like board books, because at first all they see are the changing colors and textures when they flip the pages (some even give the book a good chew). Later, toddlers want to talk about the pictures on some of the pages (not necessarily in storybook order). Some children don’t want to listen to the book, they want to talk about it or tell their own story. A few moms admitted that it bothered them wh

Last week at Educare, a child care center in Chicago, a Focus Group of 17 moms and dads met to critique a book we’re writing. Their ideas helped improve the book. They all agreed that talking a lot to our babies is important. One mom discovered her son had hearing issues during these very early conversations with him. She found help early because she wanted to talk to her baby. Babies love to hear us sing and make other sweet noises. Several moms said they talked to their bab