SLC Research Assistant Jessica Holmes found the link to this site from the American Association of Home-Based Interventionists. We had never heard of them or their site, but now, after reviewing it, we encourage everyone we know in the disability field to check it out. We recommend you go to their information page and just browsing around - this is a field trip, after all, and we don't even have a chaperone.

LINKS ON EARLY INTERVENTION

My child has autism - discusses a mother's experiences, good and not so good, with early intervention.

ACT EARLY! Click on this site to get descriptions of normal child development at early ages - This site from the Center for Disease Control gives milestones for infants and toddlers. Do you wonder if your three-month-old is developing normally? Is the two-year-old in your day care showing typical behavior for his age when he cries and won't look at anyone but his mother all day?

BEST SITE THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU WON'T LIKE IT BUT YOU WILL

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities gives information on birth defects you have heard of, such as mental retardation, autism, hearing loss, and birth defects that you may not have heard of but should, such as kernicterus. The main lesson I learned from the page on kernicterus is that I was very luck the hospital took it seriously when my baby had jaundice. Don't be misled because the name sounds like a site directed at physicians that wouldn't be helpful to the average preschool teacher or parent.

BEST SITE YOU MIGHT NOT AGREE WITH

The Michael Olaf Montessori Company definitely has a point of view. We found it very interesting and thought it fit quite well with the ideas many Native Americans have about raising children. Click here for the page that contains links to E-Book Chapters on ages 0-3+, The Joyful Child: Birth to Age Three, to give you an idea, these include:

• The First Year: The Senses, which describes the child’s senses during prenatal and the first year, including information on the absorption of music and language, crying and communication, looking and processing, and the way the mind takes in information.
• Age 1-3, Plants and Animals discusses how a child can be taught responsibility and other advantages of exposing him/her to plants and animals.

BEST REALLY COMMERCIAL SITE

earlychildhood.com - Has links to Discount School Supply all over its site, but we didn't mind because it also has links to free information, including the My Community section with information on topics from making good use of a small space to using a light table in teaching young children.