![\"child-smiling\"](\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/fs-cochise-2015.jpg\")
\nFirst-time mom Athena Reynolds was looking for a support system.<\/p>\n
\nFirst-time mom Athena Reynolds was looking for a support system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was clueless,\u201d Reynolds said, thinking back to when her son Alexander was born. \u201cI have this little human being that depends on me and I knew I needed help.\u201d<\/p>\n
She found Parents as Teachers, a voluntary home visitation program, funded by First Things First. Reynolds received regular in-home visit from a parent coach who provided parenting information, teaching strategies and connections to other community resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing program that teaches you how to teach your child,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure how he learned. Everything was about me asking, \u2018Is this normal?\u2019 Thankfully I wasn\u2019t looked at as this crazy neurotic parent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, she found in the parent coach what Reynolds described as an extremely knowledgeable older sister, who assured her that she was doing the right thing for her son. The coach provided her with information on how to help her son reach different levels according to his developmental stages.<\/p>\n
Reynolds was also able to allow her son to learn tasks that she wasn\u2019t expecting to teach him so young, such as, cutting soft foods with a plastic knife.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow he\u2019s 4 and can serve himself and cut most of his food himself. It\u2019s an amazing amount of independence that he has that I didn\u2019t know was possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
About three months before Alexander was to turn 2, the toddler\u2019s pediatrician told Reynolds that he should have around 50 words in his vocabulary. Alexander was speaking about 25 words.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I get him to talk more?\u201d Reynolds asked her parent coach. \u201cI was worried. He wouldn\u2019t say a lot. He was a quiet reserved little dude.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach reassured her that her constant talking to him was one of the best ways to build his vocabulary. She also encouraged the mother to ask the boy simple questions. For example, \u201cThat\u2019s the garbage truck outside. Can you hear the truck?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure enough, within those few months before two years old, Alexander\u2019s vocabulary more than doubled. \u201cAll of a sudden, he was a very talkative guy,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cNow at 4 and half, his vocabulary is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Reynolds and her husband are thinking about what kindergarten to send Alexander to in the fall.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"