Child Care Providers and Early Childhood Educators spend many hours a week with our young children and have opportunities to identify areas a child may need more support. Early identification of developmental delays is a critical step in providing children and families with the services and support they need to prevent further delay.
Help Me Grow partners with child care providers and early education programs to incorporate developmental and behavioral screenings in your setting.
What is Developmental Screening?
Screening is basically a snapshot of a child’s development at a single point in time. It is a tool ALL parents, child care providers, and health care providers can use to capture children’s strengths, as well as identify children who should receive more intensive assessment or diagnosis, for potential developmental delays. It can allow for earlier detection of delays and improve child health and well-being for identified children.
Other details about developmental screening:
• It is a tool that has been tested by researchers to ensure that its measuring developmental milestones seen in all children as they grow.
• Can be done ongoing to monitor the child as they grow.
• To give you new ideas to use in play with your children and make this time more useful in their development.
Why do Developmental Screenings?
Developmental screenings observe how a child grows and changes over time and whether the child is meeting the typical developmental milestones in playing, learning, speaking, behaving, and moving.
Doing developmental screenings for children in your care show parents that you have their child’s best interest in mind, and are committed to providing an environment that enhances their child’s development and help to prepare the child for school.
Developmental Screenings:
• Give information to share with the parent/caregiver to celebrate their child’s development.
• To track each child’s progress over time and give the parents a “journal” of their milestone achievement.
• Gives specific information for the parent/caregiver to talk over with their child’s doctors.
• Identifies children who need more help with development.
• To give you new ideas to use in play with the children in your care and make planning activities easier.
What Developmental Screening Tool does Help Me Grow use?
Help Me Grow Solano uses the Ages and Stages Questionnaire -Third Edition (ASQ-3) and Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social Emotional-Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) which are reliable and evidence-based tools used by many health care providers. ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 are available in English and Spanish.
- The ASQ-3 is a great tool for you that helps to reveal your child’s strengths, uncover any areas of concern, and determine if there are community resources or services that may be useful for your child or your family.
- Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social Emotional-Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) focuses on behavior and social-emotional development in young children and makes sure they are on schedule.
COMMUNICATION - Verbal abilities including comprehension and expression.
GROSS MOTOR - The use of arms, legs and other large muscles used to sit, crawl, walk, run, etc.
FINE MOTOR - The coordination and movements of hands and fingers.
PROBLEM SOLVING - How your child plays with toys and solves problems.
PERSONAL-SOCIAL - The ability to help self and interact with other people.
So How Does it Work?
Developmental screenings observe how a child grows and changes over time and whether the child is meeting the typical developmental milestones in playing, learning, speaking, behaving, and moving.
Doing developmental screenings for children in your care show parents that you have their child’s best interest in mind, and are committed to providing an environment that enhances their child’s development and help to prepare the child for school.
Developmental Screenings:
• Give information to share with the parent/caregiver to celebrate their child’s development.
• To track each child’s progress over time and give the parents a “journal” of their milestone achievement.
• Gives specific information for the parent/caregiver to talk over with their child’s doctors.
• Identifies children who need more help with development.
• To give you new ideas to use in play with the children in your care and make planning activities easier.
