Helping Infant Brains Develop

Soothing Speak

What does it mean when your baby cries?  What can we do to raise healthy, happy children? What do we already know about early childhood that will help us make good decisions?
  The interaction between parent and child is the key component in child development.  Each child is a unique individual born with certain inherited traits, and how a parent responds and nurtures the baby will promote healthy development for a lifetime.
  Babies’ cries are their first attempts at communication.  They may be telling families that they are hungry, cold, wet, or lonely.  Parents will learn to interpret these cries and learn what their baby needs. When parents respond in a loving, nurturing way, babies learn to trust that they will be taken care of.  As their physical needs are being met, babies are also developing mentally, socially and emotionally.

Develop Bright Minds

Promote Word Growth

Talking, singing, reading, and playing with infants help to promote language and communication skills.  As your baby grows, repeat some of the babbling sounds you hear like “baba, gaga.”  This will encourage more verbal responses from babies.   
  Move on to simple sentences like “Mama’s here.  Daddy’s coming.”  Talk to your baby as you go through the steps of feeding, bathing, dressing or changing a diaper.      When taking baby out, describe what you see around you.  “See the truck.  See the big white truck. It carries things. It is blowing its horn.  The horn goes toot-toot.”  This will help brain development as your child is creating an image of trucks and what they do.
 

Telling Stories Without a Book

Sing traditional lullabies such as Rock-a-bye Baby.  Or make up your own songs such as “Mama loves her baby Sarah,” filling in the blank with the child’s name.  Create rhymes such as “Baby Girl, Little Pearl, or Baby Boy, Pride and Joy” and put them to music. Your baby will be delighted with the attention and interaction. 

Help Brains Grow
 
Reading with young children is so important to learning and brain development.  A cozy lap to sit

Interact Around the House

on makes learning safe and fun.  Feel free to add comments of your own.  For example, when reading Bill Martin Jr.’s, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” ask what sound a brown bear would make.  Follow through with sounds for the other animals.
 
Make learning playful and fun.  Be sure to turn off the TV. It can be harmful to your child’s development because children need immediate feedback.  The TV cannot tell your child “Yes, that’s a cat.” or “That’s a dog not a cat.”  It cannot give other information about cats and dogs.  It cannot provide the human interaction babies need.

Photos: Making Cookies http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Taste testing_the_cookie_dough_with_Grandm.jpg
Author: Gaijin Biker(Big Ben) Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaijinbiker/144528062
Fran Darling, fdarling fotos 
Sketch:  Mark Nowicki

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Some Toys Help Kids Grow

“serious” block play

Some toys help children at every developmental stage.  Blocks are examples of extremely valuable learning tools. Studies show that children who play with blocks are better in geometry and algebra in middle school.
   Probably the first blocks are cloth for young toddlers who still chew on materials. These safe squishy blocks can be squeezed, thrown, and kicked.
  Older toddlers get down to “serious” block play.  They learn how to hold on to blocks. They feel how heavy they are, can learn to sort them by the bright colors, carry them around, or float them in the tub.
Building Towers
  Toddlers can experiment with nesting, stacking, knocking down and laying blocks side by side on the floor.  Adults can get on the floor

masking tape on the floor

and stack and knock down towers with them. Children love the sound. They love to fill containers, dump, pick up, stack, and compare towers. Carry on a conversation while playing so they will add words to their vocabulary.
  Three year olds continue playing on the floor so that’s where adults need to be. They will start pretending, constructing buildings for cars, small animals, and figures.
They will love to stack cans from the kitchen cupboard (carefully).
  Young children can be introduced to snap together blocks like Mega Bloks  (giant LEGO type blocks) or large cardboard blocks used for giant towers and houses big enough for family members.
  Preschoolers can play games of sorting by colors, size, and shape.  They can practice counting while they put away blocks and learn a one to one correspondence. Make a rectangle or square out of masking tape on the floor and help them fill it in with blocks like a puzzle.
Moving Toward Robots
  Four and five year olds are ready for large LEGOS, Trio blocks, and others to make imaginative houses, robots, space ships, and dinosaurs. Their play is all about exploring, constructing more complex structures, and following picture instructions.
  Once children become obsessed with LEGOS

play is all about exploring

they will need help organizing the pieces. Construct on a bed sheet so all parts can be found, scooped up, and sorted in smaller sized bins.
 Children will also need help learning it is normal for creations to fall apart.  They learn by putting structures back together and making them better. Offer help. Talk about frustration and taking a break from a project. Children will learn to be resilient, persistent, and determined. They’ll need a safe place for their partially constructed masterpieces away from younger children.

Lego robotics

Whether building sets or their own creations children learn complex patterns, classifying, sequencing, counting, fractions, problem solving, and cooperation. They learn how to be structural engineers working with gravity, balance, stability, and beauty—all this from blocks. Third graders on up are ready for Lego robotics.
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Selecting Books for the Very Young

Spur Curiosity with Books

The word is getting out on how important it is to read to young children from birth.  Parents and grandparents can be seen adding books to diaper and toy bags. 

Since the world of children’s books is unlimited, how can we develop an early childhood library that includes a wide range of children’s books?  
Selecting Books
When selecting books for very young children, it is important to keep the child’s developmental level and interests in mind. For infants, choose books with simple, large pictures or designs in bright colors.  Include some cloth, cardboard or washable books with pictures of people or familiar objects.  Add small hand held photo albums with pictures of family and friends in the plastic sleeves. Proceed to books that tell simple stories with few words and colorful illustrations for toddlers.
Rapid Word Growth
  During this period of rapid language development, there is a great interest in words, rhymes, and repetition.  Children will enjoy participating by naming, touching, repeating phrases, and retelling stories. It’s a good time to read nursery rhymes, fairy tales and classics such as “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, alphabet, and number books.  Be sure to choose books that can be read in one setting due to the short attention span. 

Open Young Minds with Reading

Young children are curious about the world around them.  They enjoy stories about everyday experiences, pets, toys, home, and people in their environment.  They like to be part of the story so you may substitute the child’s name for one of the main characters.
Playtime Books
  This is also an age for enjoyment of imaginative play.  Look for books in which animals or machines such as trains have a voice.
  Preschoolers build concepts through experience.  This is a delightful time to learn about colors and shapes, the senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.

Books Help Introduce New Experiences

Look for books in the areas of science, math and art.
  As children grow, they are learning about the larger world.  Look for titles about people from other countries or cultures. Books can also help with fear of new experiences such as making friends or going to school. Berenstain Bears books are good inexpensive examples.
  Children seek warmth and security in their relationships with adults.  So snuggle up together or have children sit in your lap as you read.  Be sure to allow your children to select books based on their own individual interests.  It is OK to read books suggested for older children.  Your children’s listening level is well above their actual reading level.
  Your children’s librarian and independent bookstore are excellent resources for what is new in the world of children’s literature. Also check out Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook or go to his website http://www.trelease-on-reading.com
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Raising Wild Children

How can you recognize a wild child? Is he sitting on the couch playing computer games or bending over a parent’s smart phone? No. 

What Do You Smell?

Wild children are outside, exercising, playing, and discovering the wonders of nature.
  Discouraging research suggests that the average North American child spends about seven hours a day watching screens while only seven minutes playing outside!  In his new book, “How To Raise a Wild Child”, Scott Sampson, chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, suggests that the present-day disconnect from nature, which is becoming so apparent, points to “one of the greatest and most overlooked crises or our time”.
   How can we counteract this disturbing trend towards virtual reality and pretend people who live in a cartoon world?  With permission from Dr. Sampson and Claudia Carbone, author of a nature article published in “Colorado Parent” magazine, the following are ways to foster “wild children”, kids who share deep connections with nature and real people.
  Sampson writes, “Nothing will spark a child’s interest in nature more than his or her parent’s own passion for the natural world.”  Here’s how to do it.
Notice Nature
 

What Do You Hear?

  Nature is all around us.  Find a place where you and your children can sit for a few minutes day after day and season after season to open your senses and deepen your nature connection.
This is an activity easily done by kids of all ages.  Be immersed in the environment. What do you see? What is changing?  What do you hear?
Engage Children
  Connect and engage with nature through walks, exploring various ecosystems, puddles, mud, streams, gardens, and climbing around or making collections of natural materials.  Talk together as you explore.

Where Can You Walk?

Wonder with Children
   Ignite the senses and get kids wondering about all sorts of things.  Tell stories and share your experiences.  Decide to research some things together that you wonder about.  Find books about nature at the children’s library or bookstore and read them together.   You will be building background knowledge and vocabulary at the same time.  Dr. Sampson writes:  “Technology has created a gaping chasm between children and nature. 

What Do You Wonder?

Immersion in wilderness not only awakens the senses and provokes deep thoughts and feelings, it also often leads to transcendent experiences that deepen the bond with nature.”
   Parents and other caregivers can help close the gap between nature and technology by mentoring our children. There are many easy and inexpensive experiences in nature that can be fun for kids and adults alike. Start today to raise a wild child!  “How To Raise a Wild Child” by Dr. Scott Sampson, is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and available soon at bookstores.
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest