Love, Talk, Sing, Read, Play is a website to help parents engage with young children

THE newly launched Love, Talk, Sing, Read, Play website and app gives parents tips on how to engage with their children from birth to six years.

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WHILE a healthy child is all any parent can ever hope for, after the initial health checks, and as the baby/toddler begins to develop, there are always questions about what a child should or could be achieving.

The newly launched Love, Talk, Sing, Read, Play website and app gives parents tips on how to engage with their children from birth to six years.

The District’s Parenting Coordinator and project lead Belinda Power said the website was designed to help parents promote their child’s development and she said she is not worried about parents getting anxious if their children aren’t hitting certain milestones.

Families can check the website for when they should check in with GPS.

“We wanted something that stayed true to the evidence base and incorporated anything new about child development, attachment and brain development, but also something that appealed to the everyday parent,” she said.

Ms Power said that the site is not about saying what is normal, and what is not, but is a pool of information for when certain developmental steps should be beginning.

“We always focus on the words ‘beginning to’,” the Concord-based mother-of-four said.

“This doesn’t mean every child will have developed that way, but they may be beginning to.

“It means parents can look out for these signs, and it’s often things they may have missed.”

The website gives tips for ages 0-6.

She said that while the website is designed to help parents check that their children are meeting all the right social and developmental milestones, it’s just as much about ensuring that parents don’t miss out on exciting moments.

The site also gives advice on when (developmental-wise) to contact your GP.

“We asked parents and they told us they want something that is personal and relates to them,” Ms Power said.

“The website allows them to select ideas, favourite them, add photos of their child and create print outs of their child’s milestones.”

The Love, Talk, Sing, Read, Play website follows the stories of seven children at five development stages.

Parents can click on the relevant age group and read about development at that stage.

They can also read ideas on how to talk, read, sing and play with their child.

The importance of singing is just one of the areas looked at in detail on the website.

Its principal feature allows the site to be personalised when parents sign in and add the ages and names of their own children.

The site also includes a blog written for parents by parents who are also health workers.

ABOUT THE APP

The Love Talk Sing Read Play app contains information for every family to help their children learn and develop.

● Parents receive personalised messages on how their children are learning and developing.

● Parents personalise the app by adding their children’s names and photos to create a memory book.

● They are sent reminders on immunisations and blue book checks.

● The app contains a list of useful State-wide Parenting contacts and parents can add their local contact to this list.

● Learn more at lovetalksingreadplay.com.au

Play is something the website says is important to children’s development.

SAMPLE

The site recommends that for a 4-5 year old child, parents should have a chat to their child and family health nurse or GP if the child is not:

● Playing with a variety of games and activities

● Showing a wide range of emotions

● Able to focus on one activity for more than five minutes

● Able to go to the toilet alone

● Fluent with speech or has problems repeating words or sounds

● Drawing pictures

● Able to brush her teeth, wash and dry her hands or get undressed without help

BACKGROUND

Love, Talk, Sing, Read, Play started as a Families NSW printed resource for parents.

It is a joint effort by Sydney, South Western and South Eastern local health districts, and the resource is now available as a mobile phone app and a website.