Michelle VanderHeide, BSW
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Michelle's latest writings
Raising Responsible and Respectable Children
If anybody says that parenting is easy, they must not have kids! As a parent of three wonderful children, I have found that each one needs to be parented differently. One child needs to be held often, one needs opportunities to talk, and the other thrives on quality time. One is strong willed, another is a people pleaser, and the other is just busy! I've read many books, listened to several books on tape... (posted by Michelle 2 years 174 days ago.)
If anybody says that parenting is easy, they must not have kids! As a parent of three wonderful children, I have found that each one needs to be parented differently. One child needs to be held often, one needs opportunities to talk, and the other thrives on quality time. One is strong willed, another is a people pleaser, and the other is just busy! I've read many books, listened to several books on tape... (posted by Michelle 2 years 174 days ago.)
A Journey Through Infant Development: One Year!
It seems like only yesterday that I started this series on infant development, and now my baby boy has turned a year old. It's fun to look back and reflect on how much has changed from one year ago. No year is like the first in the amount of growth and development a child makes, although the next several years are still critical and substantial in human development. Instead of writing about what I saw in... (posted by Michelle 2 years 335 days ago.)
It seems like only yesterday that I started this series on infant development, and now my baby boy has turned a year old. It's fun to look back and reflect on how much has changed from one year ago. No year is like the first in the amount of growth and development a child makes, although the next several years are still critical and substantial in human development. Instead of writing about what I saw in... (posted by Michelle 2 years 335 days ago.)
A Journey Through Infant Development: The Tenth Month
Curiosity is something that is developed very early in life and becomes very evident once a child starts to move. Although it can be very annoying to pull babies out of cupboards, dishwashers, refrigerators and toilets, curiosity is an extremely important foundation to a child's neurotypical development. Curiosity allows discoveries it offers children those "ah ha" moments in life. If a child doesn't... (posted by Michelle 3 years 34 days ago.)
Curiosity is something that is developed very early in life and becomes very evident once a child starts to move. Although it can be very annoying to pull babies out of cupboards, dishwashers, refrigerators and toilets, curiosity is an extremely important foundation to a child's neurotypical development. Curiosity allows discoveries it offers children those "ah ha" moments in life. If a child doesn't... (posted by Michelle 3 years 34 days ago.)
A Journey Through Infant Development: The Ninth Month
It is the dance of life, the basis of human interaction. It's about moving fluidly through our interactions. It's not about an outcome, but the process in which we get there. It's about doing it together. It's the give and take. It's the responses given to our actions and/or words. It's co-regulation. By 9 months of age, a child spends a majority of the day engaged in co-regulation. My son is now 9... (posted by Michelle 3 years 65 days ago.)
It is the dance of life, the basis of human interaction. It's about moving fluidly through our interactions. It's not about an outcome, but the process in which we get there. It's about doing it together. It's the give and take. It's the responses given to our actions and/or words. It's co-regulation. By 9 months of age, a child spends a majority of the day engaged in co-regulation. My son is now 9... (posted by Michelle 3 years 65 days ago.)
A Journey Through Infant Development: The Eighth Month
Guided Participation is a concept that is not new, it's the way we have always learned: parents supporting an infant as she learns to walk, a chemistry teacher demonstrating how to carefully mix chemicals, a college student observing through an internship, and a teenager in driver's education learning the rules and steps to driving. Without guided participation, we'd have to learn everything on our... (posted by Michelle 3 years 98 days ago.)
Guided Participation is a concept that is not new, it's the way we have always learned: parents supporting an infant as she learns to walk, a chemistry teacher demonstrating how to carefully mix chemicals, a college student observing through an internship, and a teenager in driver's education learning the rules and steps to driving. Without guided participation, we'd have to learn everything on our... (posted by Michelle 3 years 98 days ago.)
A Journey Through Infant Development: The Sixth Month
Development is a complex process, and truly amazing when you break it down. Each little gain that a child makes is a miracle, especially when you begin to look at the complexity of the brain. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is the part of the brain used to read and understand emotions. This is one small part of the brain; but what if this part of the brain isn't firing at the same time as... (posted by Michelle 3 years 190 days ago.)
Development is a complex process, and truly amazing when you break it down. Each little gain that a child makes is a miracle, especially when you begin to look at the complexity of the brain. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is the part of the brain used to read and understand emotions. This is one small part of the brain; but what if this part of the brain isn't firing at the same time as... (posted by Michelle 3 years 190 days ago.)
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