1. “Learn the Signs. Act Early.”
Follow each child’s developmental journey, and show parents the path, too!

2. You’ll learn
Why tracking each child’s developmental milestones is important
About free resources to help
How you can help parents along the way
You’ll learn about:
The importance of tracking developmental milestones;
That there are free resources to help you spot milestones in children; and
That there are easy things you can do to help parents learn more about their child’s development.

3. Developmental Milestones
Milestones are things most children can do by a certain age
How a child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves
You see these every day
They offer important clues about each child’s developmental health
Parents may need guidance in recognizing
Developmental milestones are things that most children can do by a certain age in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move. Things like… a 6-month-old responding to his name, a 12-month-old waving “bye-bye”, or an 18-month-old pointing out a plane in the sky. These are just a few examples of the many developmental milestones that give us important clues about how a child is developing for her age.
You see children display their milestones everyday. You see them learn, interact with their peers, and play with toys. You have unique insights into a child’s development that you can share with parents. Unlike you, parents may see only one or two children at a time, most often at home, so they might not know if their child is on par with other children their age. You can help parents recognize milestones their child shows them at home and help them learn about the milestones you see in their child at school.
All children develop at their own pace.
Some will reach milestones slightly late or early.

4. Tracking Milestones Helps You…
Understand each child’s developmental progress
Determine if a child needs extra help or additional challenges in a particular area
Gather objective information for talking with supervisors and/or parents
Tracking and sharing milestones with parents routinely will make conversations easier if there is ever a concern
Tracking milestones can help you better understand the children in your care. It can also make you a better teacher by helping you see if a child needs some extra help or if he needs more advanced work in a particular area. For example, if a 2 ½ year old already does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces, a 3-year milestone, you could give him puzzles with 6-8 pieces.
Regular tracking gives you objective information about a child’s progress that you can talk about with your supervisor and the child’s parents. With tracking, conversations are based on a thoughtful, documented process, rather than on anecdotes or one-time experiences.
If you talk regularly with parents about their child’s developmental milestones, it will be much easier to bring up a concern if that’s ever necessary.

5. Tracking Milestones Helps Parents…
Understand that watching for milestones is important
Better understand child development
Pinpoint any potential developmental concerns
When you track children’s milestones and discuss them with parents, you show parents the importance of watching for milestones and it helps teach them how to do it themselves.
Sharing milestone checklists with parents helps them develop realistic expectations about their child’s development. When parents don’t know when a milestone should occur, they worry that their child hasn’t met a particular milestone, even though the child is too young to meet it.
Tracking milestones also helps parents identify missing milestones that may be cause for concern. This gives them an objective basis for a conversation with their child’s doctor and sets them on a path toward getting help for their child. Providing them with milestone checklists can keep them from worrying and help them identify concerns.

6. Tracking Milestones Is Important
Tracking a child’s milestones gives you the chance to catch early signs of possible developmental delays so the child has the best chance to get the help he or she might need.
Most importantly, tracking milestones gives YOU the chance to catch early signs of a possible developmental problem. That way, you can partner with parents so that every child in your care has the BEST chance to get the help he might need.

7. Free Milestone Tracking Tools
Developed by CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program
Free, easy to use
Available in English and Spanish
A variety of options
To help you track milestones, CDC, through its “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program, offers free, easy-to-use milestone checklists and other information and materials about early development. You can choose the format that best suits your needs. Materials are available in both English and Spanish.
These checklists can be used to talk about development with parents on an ongoing basis. If you talk about development frequently and show parents their children’s milestone checklists, parents will learn how important milestones are and will have a good base of understanding if you ever need to talk about a potential problem.

8. Milestone Moments Booklet
CDC also offers the Milestone Moments booklet that includes all 10 milestone checklists, plus additional helpful information. Here’s what it looks like.

9. Milestone Moments Booklet…
Everyday use:
Give each family a copy of the booklet
Review milestones and development tips with each family regularly
Discuss red flags if necessary
Use the booklet as a reference
Use to inform parent-teacher conferences
This resource includes all the milestones checklists from 2 months to 5 years and activities to help a child learn and grow. There’s also space in the back to write notes. You can use it to review milestones and development tips with parents on a regular basis. Free Milestone Booklets are available from Help Me Grow and you can request these and other resources at
Keep the booklet handy so you can use it as a reference.

10. Milestone Tracker App 10 CDC’s new Milestone Tracker app offers:
Interactive milestone checklists for children ages 2 months through 5 years
Tips and activities to help children learn and grow
Information on when to act early and talk with a doctor about developmental delays
A personalized milestone summary that can be easily shared with the doctor and other care providers
Reminders for appointments and developmental screening
 Although it is packed with parent-friendly features, this app isn’t just for parents!
Students can use it to better understand the skills and abilities of the infants and toddlers in their classroom and to engage families in monitoring developmental progress
Learn more and get information on downloading the app at CDC’s Milestone Tracker website. The app is available in the  App Store and on Google Play.
Activities for students: 1) Download the Milestone Tracker App and enter information for one of the children you are working with or a young child you know. Try some of the developmental promotion tips and activities suggested to support the child you are working with and/or share them with the family. Write a paragraph reflection of how the Milestone Tracker App will be helpful to you in your work and/or how you plan to use it. 10

11. Milestones in Action Videos
HelpMeGrowVT.org
Facebook.com/helpmegrowvt
HMG website has CDC’s Milestones in Action videos to help students (and parents) learn about child development:
watch videos of development by age
get parenting tips from birth to age 8
Nurture social and emotional growth
Learn effective ways to manage behavior
Student activities:
1. Use Milestones in Action to support observations and conversations with parents on age-appropriate milestones and to teach parents about social and emotional skill development. Write up a paragraph reflection about the experience and/or how you plan to use these photos and videos in your work.

12. Watch Me! Online Training
“Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns” is a free, 1-hour online CEU course (approved for credit by Vermont Northern Lights) that helps early care and education providers better identify and monitor developmental milestones; recognize signs of potential delays; and share observations with parents. This training offers tools and best practices to support professionals and help children reach their full potential.
Student activity:
Have students take the 1 hour online training to observe how to use CDC’s Milestones materials to support observations and conversations with parents on age-appropriate milestones, to teach parents about social and emotional skill development, and to share concerns Write up a paragraph reflection about the experience and/or how you plan to use these photos and videos in your work.
Available for CEU course credit (approved by VT Northern Lights at CCV)

13. Reaching Vulnerable Populations
Translated Act Early materials
Find more translations at: services/early- childhood/developmental-milestones/
Interpretation services offered by HMG contact center
With Burlington being refugee resettlement city, dozens of languages are spoken in our local school district. We have translated CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. Program materials into the 9 languages spoken in VT – you can download them at this VT Family Network link.
Interpretation services offered through the Help Me Grow contact center: Dial ext. 6, text HMGVT to , or at 13 13

14. Helping Your Students Learn And Grow
Tracking milestones is a great first step in developmental monitoring
Share your milestone tracking with parents, including celebrating when a child meets milestones
Talk with parents about the milestones they see
Act early and share concerns
Refer to a Help Me Grow child development specialist (Dial ext. 6, text HMGVT to , or at
Tracking milestones is a great first step in developmental monitoring, but there’s more you can do!
Be sure to share updates about milestone tracking with parents. Engage them in tracking and celebrate milestones with them!
Talk with them regularly and ask about the milestones they’re seeing at home or if they have questions about their child’s milestones at school.
Above all, if you have concerns about a child’s development - how she plays, learns, speaks, acts or moves - share those concerns with her parents and encourage them to do the same with you. Because you’ve been having ongoing conversations about milestones, parents will be better prepared to discuss concerns and to share them with their child’s doctor and others who can assist the family in getting help.
Don’t wait! Remember, acting early can make a big difference in a child’s life!

15. Key Lessons
Understanding and tracking milestones are important parts of your job
CDC has free resources to help
Involve parents in tracking development
Acting early can make a real difference
Today we’ve covered:
what developmental milestones are and why looking for them is so important,
where you can find free Milestone checklists and other resources to help,
how to make milestones part of an ongoing discussion with parents,
and the importance of sharing concerns with parents. 15

16. Visit www.cdc.gov/ActEarly today. “Learn the Signs. Act Early.”
Follow each child’s developmental journey, and show parents the path, too!
Visit today.
“Learn the Signs. Act Early.”
Follow each child’s developmental journey, and show parents the path, too!
Learn the signs and act early.
To order free materials 16