How to Educate Your Baby

Today I got a Facebook question from an old friend that I had so much fun answering, I thought I'd share it here.  My friend had a baby that was due within a couple days of my Prince (I don't remember which of us ended up having our baby first)  This is what she asked.  "Since our babies are so close in age, I was hoping you might be able to point me in a direction of age appropriate learning?"

So, for her and anyone else interested in how to help your baby learn, here are my thoughts.

At this age she needs lots of free play time. Children learn through play and that starts now. She should have lots of opportunity to play with materials and move around on the floor. She's learning new motor skills so quickly right now.  Going from rolling, to crawling, to standing and eventually walking.  Give her lots of time to practice these exciting new skills.  That means trying to limit time in the car seat, swing, exersaucer, etc. to give lots of floor time. (I type this as my baby sits across from me in his baby swing).

 Avoid anything electronic for a few years. Tons of research shows that TV is really bad for babies brains. Even toys with lights and sounds are not the best for babies.  There are pleanty of advertisers out there who will try to convince you that their video, electronic toy or computer game will make your baby a genious.  Don't believe it!  Babies especially need to interact with REAL PEOPLE AND THINGS.  This is so important.  I also don't recommend flashcards for infants or toddlers, real books are so much better.

 Outside play time is importnat too- get as much of it in as possible now before the weather gets too cold.  I'm not very good at this one.  I'd usually rather be inside, but babies (especially once they're old enough to wear sunscreen, after 6 months) should have playtime outside whenever the weather allows.

 Interact with your baby. Talk with her as you go about your daily activities. Talk about what you're doing, what she's doing, what happened last, what's going to happen next, etc. etc. Then make sure you take time EVERY DAY to READ to her. She is definaely not too young to enjoy books. Start with sturdy board books and allow her to feel, play with and mouth them...you want her to learn to love books. You don't have to read the pages as written. Most of these books don't have many words on the page anyway. Instead, talk about what you see in the pictures. Use the same books over and over again, the repetition is good for her brain, but also introduce new books every once in a while. At this age babies especially like the touchy-feely books such as the Usborne series "That's Not My..." (Full disclosure: I sell Usborne books)

Sing to her too. This is great for her language development. Nursery rhymes are good for this as well.  Songs and poems accustom babies brains to the rhythm and flow of language, besides introducing lots of interesting vocabulary words.

She's a bit young yet for art, but by her first birthday you can start doing finger painting and things like that with her. That's a fun stage to look forward to :)

For more information about the best learning activities for children from infancy through the preschool years I highly recommend the book "Play- The Foundation that Supports the House of Higher Learning" by Lisa Murphy.  This book is written to Early Childhood Eduators and parents of young children

Big thanks to my brother for teaching me how to put hyperlinks into my text so you can go right to the sites that sell the books I'm recommending.

What learning activities do you enjoy with your baby?