Does your mood affect your baby?

WOW! Startling statistics came out in 2009 which said, many parents (69%) do not realize that children as early as 6 months can experience feelings of sadness and fear. While 65% do not realize that their moods can affect their babies. Children as early as 1 and 2 years of age can experience feelings of feeling good or bad about themselves. Also, only 70% of parents realize that it is important to sing and talk to their baby from infancy.

Unfortunately, parenting doesn't come with a user's manual like that shiny car sitting in your driveway. Spread the word-- talk to your baby!!!

http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/parenting-resources/final_survey_report_3-11-2010.pdf

Where are they now?

Have you ever wondered about your 2 month, 6 month, or 12 month old baby's brain? Definitely! As a mother or father, haven't you tried to read everything you can to learn more to support your baby? I certainly have tried! But there is just so much out there! Well, the people at the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families (www.zerotothree.org) has certainly thought about what parents think about!

This site provides you with a map of your baby's brain from birth to 36 months of age. You can click on different aspects of brain development and what your baby is doing at that certain time of their life. Quite interesting! Have you ever wondered why your 2 or 3 year old has a difficult time controlling their "aggressive" behavior? Check out this site and find out!

Let me know what you think about this site!
http://www.zerotothree.org/baby-brain-map.html

getting ready to read!

So, about 8 months ago, my then 3 year old embarked on the journey of learning to read (I know, that really started at birth). He eagerly began sounding out letters and making words. He was and still is well on his way. I was very impressed with his eagerness and willingness to sound out words. Obviously, his favorite word to read is..... you guessed it, his name! He likes to find all of the T's in stories and on billboards and write his name or just T's on lined paper. In my eyes, I think, what an accomplishment for any child! I am asked, how did you teach him that? The trick is, I didn't! In Hart and Risley's seminal work, "Meaningful Differences", they found that it was the amount of play talk before the age of 3- not race, social class, or even family income that predicted the intellectual accomplishments of the child at age 9. Much like "T", these children were not being "taught", parents and preschool teachers were talking to them with the use of "play talk". "Business talk" is more adult-centered, serious, and goal-oriented, offering fewer affirmations, and it directive. "Business talk" deals with the here and now and doesn't go far beyond that constraint. Imagine your day at work- that is adult talk or "business talk". Now, business talk certainly has a place in your child's life. But play talk is very different. Play talk is imaginative and silly, open-ended, encouraging, responsive to the child and offers choices. It describes objects and events and it is decontextualized.

Oftentimes, I talk with parents about some of the best ways to support their kids at home. My first answer is always, talk to them. Reading is built on the foundation of language- in some form. Talk with your child about everyday experiences- while you are cooking, cleaning, playing, or rocking to sleep.

Think about your day with your child- how many words do you use when you are talking with them. When something goes wrong are you quick to yell, "NO!" with no response to why this not a good idea and provide possibilities for other ways to do things? So think about your day- when you talk with your kids are you using "play talk" or mostly "business talk"? This can make quite the difference in later outcomes!