Early Childhood Concerns

Children learn through exploring, investigation, problem solving and negotiating. They do not learn skills in isolation; therefore difficulties in one area can affect performance in other areas. At birth the child is equipped with a set of Primitive Reflexes (eg sucking, grasping and startle reflexes). These reflexes must be controlled within the first year of life so that the child can gain control over the body.

If these reflexes are not controlled, the child may be at greater risk of experiencing difficulties learning. Brain architecture and developing abilities are built “from the bottom up”. These simple circuits and skills provide the building blocks for more advanced circuits and skills over time. Increasingly complex skills build on the more basic foundational capabilities that precede them. Emotional well-being, social competence and cognitive abilities are the foundation of human development.

Parents frequently raise valid concerns in the detection of their child’s developmental and behavioural problems from an early age and wonder whether their child will grow out of it. Many children’s problems are more subtle and unlikely to be detected until learning and behaviour problems arise at school when reading, writing and spelling are introduced. Studies indicate that fewer than 30% of children with subtle developmental or behaviour problems are detected by their health care provider.

What happens during the first months and years of life matters because undetected and untreated problems in early life require much more extensive intervention later in life. The earlier a child is involved in appropriate intervention programs, the lower the likelihood of subsequent academic or social failure. Learning Connections offers Kindergarten Screening and School Readiness programs which assess and assist children to develop in the following areas – cognitive skills; language skills; independence and life skills; and physical skills.

If your child has difficulty with tasks such as: taking turns, playing cooperatively, behaving in public, drawing recognisable pictures, retelling main facts from a story, pedaling a tricycle, reciting nursery rhymes or cutting and pasting, contact Learning Connections for further information.