2013 Lectures
The Center for Children and Families welcomed parents and professionals to campus for its fifth annual series of lectures aimed at promoting school readiness and achievement.
| Candice Mills, Ph.D. “Life After Preschool: Supporting Skills that Help Children Thrive” |  |  |  |
As parents, families, and teachers, it can be overwhelming to decide how to help our children best prepare for the world beyond preschool. This talk focuses on how to nurture several key skills in our children to help them be eager to learn, willing to ask questions, and resilient when faced with obstacles.
| Andrea Warner-Czyz, Ph.D. “Early Communication and Academic Success in Children with and without Communication Disorders” | | |
The ability of infants and young children to develop speech, language, and listening skills influences not only later communication skills, but also academic success. This talk reviews ways for parents and professionals to facilitate early communication in young children with typical development and in children with speech, language, or hearing difficulties.
| Margaret Caughy, Sc.D. “Succeeding Despite the Obstacles: Closing the Education Gap for Children in Poverty” | | | |
Early academic achievement is a potent predictor of later success, and children living in poverty are at increased risk for early academic failure. In this presentation, we will explore not only the factors that put poor children at risk for poor academic achievement but also characteristics of poor children, their families, and their communities that can support resilience.
| Raul Rojas, Ph.D., CCC-SLP “Bilingualism and School-aged Children: What We Know and Where We Go from Here” | | |
Children learning English as a second language enter the school system facing a tall order: they are expected to learn and perform as well as their monolingual peers, and to do so in an unfamiliar language. Unsurprisingly, many bilingual children exhibit academic difficulties and are over-represented in special education services. This presentation will explore the phenomenon of bilingualism, including some of the latest research with bilingual children, and implications for the future will be discussed.