Developmental milestones are key indicators used to evaluate whether early intervention support could be beneficial for your child.

Additionally, considering factors such as your child's behaviour, physical development, and social interactions can aid in determining the necessity of Early Intervention.

Developmental Milestones
Children typically reach certain milestones in their development at specific ages. If your child is not meeting these milestones, it could be a sign they need support:

By 6 Months:
Social/Emotional: Doesn't smile or interact with people
Language/Communication: Doesn't coo or make sounds
Cognitive: Doesn't show curiosity about things or respond to sounds
Motor Skills: Has trouble holding their head up, pushing up when on tummy
By 12 Months:
Social/Emotional: Doesn't wave, point, or show interest in playing peek-a-boo
Language/Communication: Doesn't babble, use gestures, or respond to their name
Cognitive: Doesn't look at objects you point to
Motor Skills: Isn't crawling, standing with support, or using both hands equally
By 2 Years:
Social/Emotional: Doesn't imitate actions or words of others, doesn't show interest in other children
Language/Communication: Has a vocabulary of fewer than 50 words, doesn't use simple phrases
Cognitive: Doesn't follow simple instructions, doesn't pretend play
Motor Skills: Isn't walking, has difficulty with hand movements (like stacking blocks)
By 3 Years:
Social/Emotional: Doesn't play pretend or make-believe, doesn't want to play with other children
Language/Communication: Speech is unclear, doesn't use sentences
Cognitive: Doesn't understand simple instructions, doesn't engage in imaginative play
Motor Skills: Has trouble with stairs, can't work simple toys
Difficulty with Transitions: Struggles with changes in routine or new environments
Sensory Sensitivities: Overly sensitive to sounds, textures, lights, or other sensory input
Emotional Regulation: Frequent and intense tantrums, difficulty calming down
Eye Contact: Avoids eye contact or doesn't seem interested in interactions
Interaction: Doesn't show interest in interacting with peers or adults, prefers to play alone
Motor Skills: Unusual clumsiness, difficulty with fine motor skills like grasping objects
Physical Health: Frequent illnesses or infections that might impact development

How We Help

At Nurturing Little Minds, we apply early childhood best practices by harnessing strengths and employing hands on learning to reach developmental milestones. We act as a key worker and therapist and collaborate closely with families, educators, therapists, and other stakeholders to cultivate a supportive team environment.

Our approach is focused on creating an enjoyable learning environment while assisting parents in evaluating their child's progress across various domains: language, cognitive, social, physical, and emotional well-being. Each session is tailored to your Child's goals and interests.

Some of the areas we work on during 1:1 therapy include:

* Social and play skills to foster interaction with peers

* Emotional regulation skills

* Literacy and Numeracy skills

* Critical thinking

* Confidence and character building

* Perseverance

* Building independence

* Tailoring goals within routine and developing organisational skills

* Fine and gross motor skills

* Sensory engagement

* Play skills

What Is A Key Worker?

In addition to 1:1 therapy our Early Childhood Intervention Specialists are ‘key workers’.

When an ECI specialist acts as the key worker, they not only provide specialised interventions and therapies but also take on responsibilities such as coordinating services, facilitating communication between various professionals and agencies, offering guidance and support to the family, and advocating for the child's best interests.

At Nurturing Little Minds we believe that this combined role ensures that the child and their family receive consistent support and that interventions are tailored holistically to address all aspects of the child's development and well-being.