Read Dr. Seuss to Your Baby

When my son was around 20 months old, we spent some time reading Dr. Seuss books.  We had a lot of fun with these.  Who wouldn't?  They are so silly.  When we would finish the books, we would continue on rhyming in the spirit of the books we had just read.  This was a lot of fun.  I began to notice that it was carrying over into my son's vocabulary at other times of the day as well.  When I would ask him a question that warranted a yes answer, instead of saying yes, he would say, "Yes, pess is a bess."  If I asked him a question that warranted a no answer, I got something like this, "No, poe is a foe."  I would just quickly explain to those who would hear his answer that we had been enjoying some Dr. Seuss books lately.  It was really quite funny and he certainly learned to rhyme.  Kids are never too young to have fun playing rhyming games.  Why not read some Dr. Seuss to your child and make up your own language?  It is quite fun.

Language - Baby Brain Food

The amount of words a baby hears before their 2nd birthday determines their future academic success.  How can we get our babies off to a great start?  Here are some simple steps to developing your baby's intellect.

• Talk to your baby about everything.
• Sing to your baby.
• Recite nursery rhymes.
• Read to your baby everyday.
• Play music for your baby.
• Get books on tape or poetry on tape and use during baby's playtime.

Skip the Baby Talk

One important rule to follow when speaking to babies is to skip the baby talk.  Parents and caregivers should understand that their babies are working very hard to understand the language that surrounds them.  They are looking for patterns and continuity to understand what words mean and how to use them.  By speaking baby talk to our babies, we are teaching them a foreign language that is completely useless.

Babies learn language best when spoken to in parentese.  Parentese is child-directed speech.  It is the way most people naturally speak to babies.  It is speaking slowly and clearly.  Usually parents speak with a higher-pitch when talking to babies.  This is what babies need to thrive in their language development.

Parents should also use big words when talking to their babies.   Your baby has the ability to easily learn vocabulary from birth to five.  If you provide a rich language environment for your baby, your baby will have a rich vocabulary.

Text Pointing Benefits Baby

When you are reading to your baby, try adding some text pointing.  By doing this, you are training your baby to read from left to right.  Babies are capable of learning this at an early age.  They will also learn which way the pages of the book turn.  When you read very repetitive books to your baby and implement text pointing, your baby will soon be recognizing the words in their printed form as well.

Benefits of Reading to Your Baby From Birth

I have been reading the book Baby Read Aloud Basics.  It is a very good book and includes a list of the ten benefits of reading aloud to babies.

Ten Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Baby

1. Reading promotes listening skills.
2. Reading to baby increases the number of vocabulary words they hear.
3. Reading develops attention span and memory.
4. Reading helps babies learn uncommon words.
5. Reading helps babies learn to understand the meaning of words.
6. Reading helps babies learn the concepts about print.
7. Reading helps babies learn to get information from illustrations.
8. Reading promotes bonding and calmness for both baby and parent.
9. Reading stimulates the imagination and all the senses.
10. Reading instills the love of books and learning.

For more information you can view the website at www.readtoyourbaby.com.  

Baby's First Teacher

You may not have realized that having a baby meant you were signing up to be a teacher.  In fact, parents are babies first teachers.  Recent research shows that the amount of words a baby hears per hour before the age of two will determine their future academic success.  Wow!  That can put a bit of pressure on parents to perform.  How can we parents be sure we are providing our baby with all the language they need to hear?  It  isn't really that difficult.  Here are three simple ways to surround your baby with language daily.

1. Talk to your baby -  Your baby will learn more efficiently by hearing more language.  Hearing language gives your baby the opportunity to master his mother tongue.  You can do this by telling your baby everything.  Tell baby where you are going, why you are going there, what colors you see, how  you feel, etc...
2. Read to your baby -  Babies that are read to from birth to two are able to develop a more advanced vocabulary that babies that were not.  This is crucial when it is time for baby to go to school and begin mastering the written word.  Babies that are read to regularly rarely struggle with literacy.
3. Sing to your baby -  Babies love to hear lullabies.  This is an excellent means for parents to surround their babies with language.  You will certainly use words in your songs that you might not use in everyday conversation.

Follow these three simple steps and your baby will be well on their way to success.

Signing With Baby

It seems that ever since parents saw the baby signing in "Meet the Fockers", many other people have gotten onboard to teaching their babies sign language.  Recent studies have shown that babies are capable of communicating through sign language at a much younger rate than we once thought was possible.  There are so many positive aspects to signing with our babies.  It encourages parents to interact with their babies.  It encourages conversation, which helps with language development.  It helps to increase baby's I.Q. also.  Besides all that, signing is fun!

If you want to take your baby's signing to a new level, try to introduce the written word at the same time you introduce a new sign.  If you are going to teach your baby the sign for milk, you can write the word down and show your baby the word milk.  Tell your baby that this is the word milk.  Then you can make the sign for milk.  This takes but a second but the rewards are huge. Babies have the ability to learn written, spoken and sign language all at the same time and it requires no effort for your baby to learn.  Talk about forming some brain connections, this is a fun way to stimulate your baby's language development.

 

What's the Point?

When you begin teaching your baby to read, don't underestimate the power of pointing.  You can point to the text in books as you read.  You can also point out words as your encounter them in your day.  

I have been pointing out words to my little one since the beginning of her life.  When I pour juice, we read the juice bottle.  When we wash our hands, we read the soap container.  When we brush our teeth, we read the toothpaste tube.

My daughter has learned to read granulated from the bag of sugar, luminous from the toothpaste, and Toyota from our van.

Today during our family devotional time I handed her my Bible and asked her to find the book of John while I quickly left the room.  This was just meant to be a distraction and nothing else.  I heard my husband praising her as she found the book on her own, pointed to the word John, and said, "John."

That is how pointing works.  No formal lessons.  Just interacting with words as we encounter them.  It requires no planning and the results are priceless. :)

Interaction With Baby Equals Faster Learning

If you purchase a video series to teach your baby to read, your baby can learn to read just by watching the videos.  By having your child faithfully watch the videos, your child can and will learn to read.  However, if you decide to get involved and interact with your baby, your baby will learn much faster. Videos that teach babies to read are not meant to be a substitute for parents interacting with their babies. You can review the words your baby is learning by viewing the slide show together with your baby.  You can review the words your baby is learning by implementing flash cards or books into your routine.  If your baby senses that reading is something that is important to you, it will be important to your baby.  Spend some time on occasion watching the videos with your baby and discussing what is happening.  Television can never replace interaction with people face-to-face.

Reread Baby's Favorite Books

Have you ever noticed that when your baby likes something they demand to have it again and again?  It may be a favorite video or a favorite storybook.  This can sometimes be exhausting for us grownups.  Rereading a book 16 times in a row can b e a little much for those who didn't demand to hear it again.  When my son was 18 months old he wanted to hear the book "Moon Boy" 16 times in a row.  My dear daughter, bless her heart, granted him his wish, at the loud protest of her other siblings.

Is there a benefit to hearing something repeatedly?  For babies and small children the answer is yes.  There is so much to learn from repeated exposure to language.  Books that rhyme teach your child the sing-song manner of poetry.  Through repetition to language your child is learning vocabulary and how to read.  By repeatedly rereading the same books to your child, while pointing at the words while you read, your baby will also be learning how to read. Simple, but true.

My daughter just discovered "We're Going On A Bear Hunt".  She requested to hear it again and again.  I pointed to the text as we read the book.  Since the book has a lot of repetition, when I would pause at the end of a phrase, she knew just what word to say.  Don't hesitate to grant your child's request to "Read it again!"  It means there is just more for them to learn the next time around.

Teach Your Baby To Paint

You can start teaching your baby to paint beginning around 18 months old.  Place your baby in the high chair with some watercolor paint, paper, a brush, and a cup of water.  Never leave your baby unattended.  Show your baby how to dip the brush in water and then rub it on the paint.  You can explain what colors the baby is using and discuss the kind of lines the baby creating.  This may soon become a favorite activity for your child.  Babies that are given the opportunity to create, without interference from grownups, are capable of amazing things.

Be sure you show your baby how to clean the brush by dipping it in the water each time you change colors.  There is so much to learn from this activity.  Your child will learn what happens when they mix colors.  They will learn what happens when they don't wet their brush.  They will learn what happens when they don't clean their brush.  They will learn what happens when they apply pressure to the brush as opposed to not putting pressure on the brush.  These are valuable lessons and carry over into other areas of art as well.

2 year old Gabriella enjoying a little art time.

Read to Your Baby

Experts now agree that it is never to early yo start reading to your baby.  Many parents read to their babies in the womb.  They develop this practice during pregnancy and continue on after the baby is born.  If you don't feel up to reading to your swelling baby, you can always start at birth.  It is a good idea to have your favorite books on hand before you have your baby.  The days and weeks after giving birth can be hectic and crazy.  If you plan ahead and have some of your favorite books on hand, you can read to your baby during your cuddling and feeding times, while you both recover.  Parents that don't begin reading to their children until much later are more likely to experience resistance from their babies.  They are more likely to want to grab the book while you are reading and rip the pages.  If you begin at birth, you can successfully teach your child to properly handle books.  You are providing entertainment and a rich language environment for your baby, not to mention creating a love of reading that will last a lifetime. 

http://www.intellbaby.com

Play a Rhyming Game

Get out your magnetic letters or some alphabet blocks and start playing a rhyming game with your baby.  You will be teaching your baby many things with this simple letter game.  You will be exposing your baby to the patterns of our auditory language as well as the phonetic patterns visually.  Your baby will take notice of the fact that only the first letter is changing when you create a new word.  Your baby will be paying attention to the sounds the new letters make and how they affect the part of the word that doesn't change.  You can start off with simple words like wall, ball, fall, call, mall, and stall, etc...  You can even have your baby get involved by handing you the letters to make the change to the word.  This is a very fun, interactive way to teach your baby more about language and it phonetic patterns.  Babies are always learning.  With just a little stimulation they may surprise you as to what they discover.

Words - The Building Blocks of Literacy

Recent research tells us that the amount of words per hour your baby hears before the age of two will determine their future academic success.  It has been discovered that children who are surrounded by language become strong students.  The gift of words is something that you can begin to give your child immediately from birth.  Talk to your baby about everything.  Read to your baby.  By doing this you are giving your child a solid way to communicate.  You are increasing their vocabulary.  You are the first teacher your child ever has and by speaking to your baby often, you will help to assure their success in life.

At birth your baby is born with about 1 billion brain cells, however there are few connections.  By stimulating your baby you are helping your baby make connections.  Every word you say or read to y our baby will result in your baby's brain growth.  Our words are like food to our baby's brains.  If you do nothing else, talk to your baby and read to your baby.  These two things are the most important factors in your baby's development.