Developmental Milestones for Children Ages Birth to Three Years Old

Posted on April 20, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Written by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA Early Childhood Special Education, SDA, CAS

Every child grows differently and there are variations of what is considered developmentally “within normal limits”. However, there are specific milestones that all children should reach by certain ages. It is important to note that this outline is based on chronological ages. If a child is premature, the information can be applied to their adjusted age. This article will briefly outline a typical child’s development from birth to three years old, across all developmental domains: cognitive, social-emotional, self help (adaptive skills), and motor development (both gross motor and fine motor). Read more

Early Intervention Process: What should I Expect?

Posted on April 19, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Written by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA Special Education, CAS, SDA

The process of receiving an Early Intervention (EI) Evaluation for children birth to three years old consists of four steps. They are as follows:

1. Refer your child.

2. Meet with your initial service coordinator (ISC).

3. Initial evaluation is conducted.

4. Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) meeting, if your child is found to be eligible for services. The entire evaluation process takes 30 days from receipt of the initial referral until the evaluation must be completed. The IFSP meeting, when applicable, must occur within 15 days after the evaluation. Therefore, the entire evaluation process takes a total of 45 days.
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Post Adoption Evaluations for Children from Birth – Three Years Old

Posted on April 18, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Written by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA Early Childhood Special Education, SDA, CAS

A Multilingual Development Agency is a New York State approved Early Intervention (EI) agency which provides Nassau County families developmental evaluations for children from birth to three years old in the child’s home environment. A Multilingual Development Agency specializes in working with families who have adopted a child, internationally and/or domestically. In accordance with NYS law, we conduct developmental evaluations in the child’s dominant language. Some of the languages offered to families include, but are not limited to: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Armenian, Cantonese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. All evaluations are sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of the children and take into consideration their histories. That knowledge, in conjunction with standardized assessment tools, provides the means with which to give your child the most accurate testing results possible.

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What Developmental Information do Early Intervention Evaluations Provide?

Posted on April 17, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Written by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA Early Childhood Special Education, SDA, CAS

Early Intervention for children ages birth to three years old offers families developmental evaluations, and therapeutic services to children who are found to be eligible. Developmental evaluations assess all areas of development: cognitive, social-emotional, physical development, and self-help/adaptive skills. Each area of development is unique and plays a major role in the child’s functional abilities. All Early Intervention evaluations employ age appropriate standardized testing, materials/toys, and clinical opinion to determine a child’s age equivalent.

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Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development: Birth to Two Years Old

Posted on April 15, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Compiled by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA SpEd, CAS, SDA

• Encourage your baby to make vowel-like and consonant-vowel sounds such as “ma,” “da,” and “ba.”
• Reinforce attempts by maintaining eye contact, responding with speech, and imitating vocalizations using different patterns and emphasis.
• Imitate your baby’s laughter and facial expressions.
• Teach your baby to imitate your actions, including clapping you hands, throwing kisses, and playing finger games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and the itsy-bitsy-spider.
• Talk as you bathe, feed, and dress your baby. Talk about what you are doing, where you are going, what you will do when you arrive, and who and what you will see.
• Identify colors.
• Count items.
• Use gestures such as waving goodbye to help convey meaning.
• Introduce animal sounds to associate a sound with meaning: “The doggie says woof-woof.”
• Acknowledge the attempt to communicate.
• Expand on single words your baby uses: “Here is Mama. Mama loves you. Where is baby? Here is baby.”
• Read to you child. Sometimes “reading” is simply describing the pictures in a book without following the written words. Choose books that are sturdy and have large colorful pictures Ask your child, “What’s this?” and encourage naming and pointing to familiar objects.

Lilya Popovetsky, MA SpEd, CAS, SDA is the founder of A Multilingual Development Agency, an Early Intervention agency for children from birth to three years old in Nassau County, NY. She obtained a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College in Early Childhood Special Education, with a dual certification in General Education. Lilya went on to complete two educational administration degrees from Hofstra University.

Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development: Two to Four Year Olds

Posted on April 14, 2007 | Posted by lilya in Articles

Compiled by: Lilya Popovetsky, MA SpEd, CAS, SDA

• Use good speech that is clear and simple for your child to model.
• Repeat what your child says indicating that you understand. Build and expand on what was said. “Want juice? I have juice. I have apple juice. Do you want apple juice?”
• Use baby talk only if needed to convey the message and when accompanied by the adult word. “It is time for din-din. We will have dinner now.”
• Make a scrapbook of favorite or familiar things by cutting out pictures. Group them into categories, such as things to ride on, things to eat, things for dessert, fruits, things to play.
• Help your child understand and ask questions. Play the yes-no game. Ask questions such as “Are you a boy?” “Are you Marty?” “Can a pig fly?” Encourage your child to make up questions and try to fool you.
• Ask questions that require a choice. “Do you want an apple or an orange?” “Do you want to wear your red or blue shirt?”
• Expand vocabulary. Name body parts, and identify what you do with them. “This is my nose. I can smell flowers, brownies, popcorn, and soap.”
• Sing simple songs and recite nursery rhymes to show the rhythm and pattern of speech.
• Place familiar objects in a container. Have your child remove the object and tell you what it is called and how to use it. “This is my ball. I bounce it. I play with it.”
• Use photographs of familiar people and places, and retell what happened or make up a new story.

Lilya Popovetsky, MA SpEd, CAS, SDA is the founder of A Multilingual Development Agency, an Early Intervention agency for children from birth to three years old in Nassau County, NY. She obtained a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College in Early Childhood Special Education, with a dual certification in General Education. Lilya went on to complete two educational administration degrees from Hofstra University.