STEPS to Learning

Most toddlers are busy learning ABCs and counting, but what they really need are the invisible skills that shape their brains for life. By age 5, gaps in these foundational skills become much harder to close.

The three core skills that determine lifelong success are focus, language, and confidence.

Focus is a secret superpower. Kids who practice paying attention early struggle less in school later. Simple activities like stacking blocks or drawing without interruption train their brains to sustain attention. Observe quietly, don’t correct or praise constantly, and let their focus grow naturally.

Language builds confidence. Early communication helps children develop social skills, curiosity, and self-expression. Narrate what they do, like “Stack the red block. Look how round it is,” then pause and let them respond. Every word becomes a connection in the brain, laying the foundation for learning and relationship skills.

Confidence emerges when children feel safe to explore, make mistakes, and solve problems independently.

Focusing on these skills before age 3 gives your child a head start in school and life. Foundations matter more than facts.

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There are so many benefits to doing crafts with kids! Here are some of our favorite OT crafts: https://www.theottoolbox.com/crafts-for-kids/

Did you read December's issue of Connect?

Learn more about fun winter activities for the family during the holiday break❄, upcoming workshops✨ and more! Read it at:
https://www.ctnsy.ca/News-Stories/Newsletter-Connect.aspx

Want to sign up for our monthly newsletter? Visit bit.ly/3YZ3Yw9.

When our children have flipped their lid and they have reacted to a situation with hurtful touch or words, they need our help. 1. First they need us to calmly but clearly communicate that we are going to help and that whatever hurtful behavior is occurring is done. (Intervene) 2. They need us to look first to whoever got injured or bullied and care for them or get get them care. By doing this we are showing them the impact of the hurtful action and modeling concern for its seriousness. (Model Concern) 3. Then we turn toward the child who acted their feelings out and we help them manage their feelings. We show empathy and curiosity to help them process their frustration etc and then we offer empathy. This helps them regulate and develop more capacity for empathy for the other child. Then when they are calm we help them find their words and identify a safer way to handle the situation in the future. (Connect) 4. Then we turn their attention back to the person they hurt and help them identify what they can do to start a repair process with the other child. (Guide and teach) When children act out their feelings in hurtful ways it is our job to have compassion and direction. To calmly but confidently guide them towards a secure and effective way of relating to others in high emotion moments. Love on and come join the Attachment Need Membership for oodles of support in raising emotionally intelligent, relationally effective, confident and caring kids. 📘If you did not get this kind of secure and caring parenting growing up and want to understand how that affected you, go pre-order my book “Securely Attached”, it is a guided journal that takes you step by step through understanding and processing your attachment experiences and then learning what secure patterns look like. It will help you feel closer to the people you lean on (friends, sweethearts etc), AND it will help you heal in a way that allows you to be the secure and grounded parent that your children need you to be.📘p.s. it is marketed towards helping people in their romantic relationships but it’s for everyone Instagrammers: Preorder link in my bio Facebookians: Preorder link in my featured post

Do you know that by 36 months a child should be dressing and un******ng with minimal assistance? If you are looking for tips to help your child or the child you work with (regardless of the diagnosis), check out our "dressing" handout that was compiled by Occupational Therapists working in our Early Intervention system in Simcoe.

https://www.simcoe.ca/ChildrenandCommunityServices/Documents/Early%20Intervention/Dressing%20Skills.pdf

We're a social species by design. You don't need anybody to tell you how to do this with your children. You just need to sit within the core of who you are as a human being and let that come out of you ❤️