Zero to Three, a US based non profit organization working to inform, train and support professionals, policy makers and parents to improve the lives of infants and toddlers, combined the evidence from research on early childhood development with feedback from focus groups held across the country with families, friends, and neighbors who act as care givers in order to develop a range of simple and practical resources to strengthen care practices with children between the ages of 0 and 3.
The current website lists nine critical tools and resources which are described briefly as follows:
- Supporting Early Brain Development: These are resources that support early brain development from birth to 36 months. In this section, tips and suggestions on supporting age appropriate development such as how to talk to an infant, how to help develop thinking skills, how to encourage social-emotional development are covered.
- Turning into Temperament: These downloadable resources on temperament are especially designed for family, friend, and neighbor childcare providers who want to learn more about a child’s temperament and how to cope with their emotional responses.
- Encouraging School Readiness Skills: This resource supports school readiness skills from birth to 36 months, emphasizing the following four key areas that help children get ready for school: 1) language and literacy skills; 2) thinking skills; 3) self-control; and 4) self-confidence.
- Thinking about Healthy Eating from Birth to 3: This resource shares knowledge on healthy eating from birth to 36 months. It includes healthy eating habits recommended and those that should be avoided.
- Nurturing Early Play Skills: This resource shares tips on nurturing early play skills in infants and toddlers.
- Making Good Decisions about Screen Time: This resource gives tips on making good decisions about exposing children to television, especially to children under the age of 3. It shares television’s limited role in learning and the relationship between television and child obesity.
- Discipline and Limit-Setting: Building Self-Control: This resource shares how to discipline and set limits for children from birth to 36 months. It covers topics from what a caregiver can do when a child is angry to everyday ways to nurture self-control.
- Caregiver-Child Activities: This resource suggests activities that promote bonding and learning between a caregiver and child from birth to 36 months.
- Building Strong Relationships with Parents: These tools help FFN caregivers build stronger relationships with children’s parents. Three key steps that improve communication with parents include tuning into one’s feelings, looking through the child’s point of view, and partnering with parents to develop a plan to handle child-rearing issues.
These resources are accessible at the following website: