Developmental Notes: Feathers Week 1

Communication: Effective communication between adult and baby can be encouraged through touch, eye contact, vocalization, and listening – all are part of the greeting ritual.

Intentional Touch: Gentle rubbing facilitates the learning of relaxation and can help soothe baby, aid in digestion, and relieve colic.

Not all babies will be comfortable doing this activity in class with so much going on around them. Try it at home during a quiet moment. (Did you know that “Grassey Grass Grass” was written and performed by Woody Guthrie?!)

Exploration: Being allowed to explore and experiment within safe limits is of extreme importance to brain development. Those babies who are allowed to explore generally tend to become eager and flexible learners.

Language Development: Babies learn language and the art of conversation from interaction with the adults to your baby, be sure to leave some time for her to respond before continuing. If baby responds, imitate her speech. Imitation sets the foundation for learning language.

Reading: Reading to a child aids in language development. As a child hears language spoken to him, he internalizes the sounds which he will use later in his own speech. Younger babies will not understand what the words mean but will hear words, tones, and inflections which will eventually transfer to his own speech. Speaking in many tones and timbres stimulates an enormous amount of neural growth. Also, reading to a child can foster a lifelong love of reading.