Woah! We've got a baby! What do we do with it? Haha! Too dramatic? Okay, okay! Even if you never said those words, you must have thought or felt this way at some point! Starting out with planning your baby's learning journey can be a tricky call for the unsuspecting parent. Even different siblings throw curve balls at veteran parents. You may feel unsure for the most part, while attempting different ideas you picked up from your friends and smart speaks. Truth is, helping your wee one enjoy reading starts from the first few days of their life. Arguably, from the womb, but, for today's blog, let's focus on, "when baby touches earth".
Usually, within the first few minutes of touchdown, your baby senses its environment with all senses but the eyes. Interestingly, the eye would become the most "consciously depended on" sense organ. As baby's sight fully develops, it becomes the key organ for reading. Interestingly, in the early days, vision is one of the least developed sensory pathways the baby can use effectively. Don't be fooled into thinking they are docile, that all they do is lay down and be cute. They are intelligent life, soaking up the new information in their surrounding.
The early days are vital to the development of a skill that would follow them on throughout life. 'What is this skill?", you ask. It's observation! Imagine what goes on in a babies mind when it first clearly sees your face and everyone in the family. It continues to observe intently. That intent stare is not just about your baby meeting your clear visual look for the first time, it's usually mapping the face to the voice, the smell and other observations noted over time.
Most importantly, your baby is taking in the changes in your voice when you say boo boo boo, and you smile, the facial transitions when you laugh and talk. Because finally, he is able to use the one skill he had been building all through those first few days, It's curiosity. Curiosity about a vast world he is newly meeting via the senses. Curiousity expressed in solemn observation.
While we would talk about the tools and tips for building a huge curiosity drive in future posts, the main event here is helping your baby build on developing curiosity about the world around them. Naturally, babies are curious and would observe the world around them. So even if you do not intentionally nurture the development of their curiosity, they would still turn out fine... but they could be more. Imagine how much coding you learnt at age 5. Even with commitment it takes some effort to work your way into understanding it now, if you're not already well-versed with it.Today's children are doing just that. Remember, when you meet the naysayers, we are not raising kids for the world we once knew or grew up in. We are preparing them for the world they are going to live in, the one changing before our very eyes.
So, for mamas and papas, including anyone looking to encourage development and growth, providing stimulation is the key to curiosity. Stimulation encourages observation. Now, this is not about waiting till they are 3 months old to start. It is not about waiting till they can focus on the TV or devices so you can turn on baby stimulation videos, and run off on holiday. No! Far from it.
It all starts from the early stages. When they depend on everything but their eyes. They feel, hear, taste and smell... though there are a lot more forms of sensing being developed as well. Building on these to help your child experience the world around is crucial. For each new observation they learn from, their brain develops new pathways for understanding, processing, learning and interpreting the info. If you're still here reading, you're awesome! Now for the best part... encouraging curiosity.
What can you do to grow curiosity and observation?
Talking to your baby, singing, reading, bonding through touch, massages, contact with items of various textures, all help grow curiosity. You'd be surprised how much a closed-eyed baby is absorbing. Now consider how much an active curious toddler could learn. We analogically dubbed their mind, the sponge. You've heard the saying, children are like sponges, absorbing everything. Babies are even 'spongier'.
As an experienced baby photographer, during photo shoots, I noticed some interesting behaviour in babies in relation to textures.
During most shoots, babies about 2 weeks old, would lay motionless for the most part, eyes closed... except when hungry off course. Much attention was paid to monitoring the temperature of the room, lighting and surfaces with which the babies were in contact, due to their sensitivity. Without fail, almost all babies smile when tucked into an extra-plush blanket that was alluringly soft to touch. It happened to be the one they peed or pooed on. The photographer's nightmare. Seeing the smile was priceless though.
Babies feel, and can interprete the sensation from textures. You however need to be observant of their reactions. Our little baby is so in tune with textures and his senses. If he left a bit of wetness after a fart, not even a poop, a measly stain, he fussed till he was cleaned. Bit of a TMI but the best example of a baby's sensory response. Well you can imagine the pile of cloth nappies from the 3-week old.
What does sensory awareness look like?
Tactile Stimulation
Run your babies finger or hands over different textures, leather, feather, wool, fabric, wood, stone, yarn, fur etc.
Aural Stimulation
Play music of all sorts, and sounds of all kinds, piano sounds, guitar, pipes and wind instruments. bird tweets, woodpecker noise, hummingbird buzz, ocean shore, rivers, whale songs,
Visual Stimulation
High contrast visual aids. Pick a story book and let them gaze through. As babies, when they are oblivious, you could play around with your own commentary, or simply read the book. Black and white cards or red visuals are helpful. Place some brilliant toys in view. Brilliant toys that sound are a winner.
Olfactory stimulation
Get them smelling different scents. At 6 weeks I observed my baby curious about the smell of minty baby balm. While rubbing down his chest, during a cold, he seemed to stay still completely, sniffing the air. When the tub was held closer, he tracked which side of him it was an stayed still once he found it.
Spatial stimulation
Place them safely in your arms and walk round the house. The aim is to encourage them to observe their space or environment. In our household, we call it the tour. We talk about each room, who it belongs to, where our baby sleeps etc. Usually one person gives the tour and has become part of a routine that settles him to sleep.
The list of things to make their spongey minds wonder is endless!
Tip:
Whatever you do, you might find yourself second-guessing the effectiveness or your babies level of engagement. This is where you have to trust your baby, while he quietly learns without giving you the clues you may be looking for. At this point, you never get the satisfaction of knowing. This latent period is the foundational block for a highly tuned and explorative baby. If your are reading this while pregnant, and you want to turn it up a notch, play music to your bump during pregnancy. Try all the above sound-based stimulation techniques through a headphone attached to your bump. Usually, you would get increased baby activity or movement during this period. Just mind that the volume is not cranked up too high. I played classical music over a headphone spanned across my bump. While one of my babies would move actively and settle into the music, the other was active through out the music play.
Usual reaction to super readers is that some babies are peculiar. Yes and not really. Taking aside unmeasurable parameter like genetics and physiological development factors, all babies can grow into super babies. You've only got to nourish and water your garden. Add a little bit of consistency and you'd be surprised what result you get. So, how do you nurture a curious mind? Create fun learning opportunities.
Here’s how to do it:
Make a playlist of sounds and a list of textures and scents. Doesn't have to be different every time. A set of enriching sounds textures or smells baby gets used to, is better than a thousand she'd only interact with once in time. I used the "atmosphere" app on android for sounds. Fruit smells or natural scents are a safe bet. Do not use essential oil except you are certified to use those. They are not only strong, but they can also impact hormonal/mood responses. That would be overstimulating or overwhelming for a baby. Cloth books and toys with multi surface textures should do if you are not overtly adventurous. If you're out and about, give mini tours, while you talk about the fun things around. That should do it!
Make a schedule based on your baby's active period. Don't wake them up for "this exercise" or interfere. When they become alert, you engage. When they become uninterested or look away, they're done. It's in the subtle cues. Basically, it's all play, fun and babbles.
Don't overdo it. Listen and observe your baby's non-verbal clues. They are usually clear. Observe the patterns. 5 minutes or less should be enough.
Talk to your baby about what is happening or what they are experiencing in the moment. 'Hey cupcake, do you feel that? It's a feather, a parrots feather. It feels soft and fluffy. Tickles doesn't it." etc. Sure you get the idea.
Most importantly, enjoy it. The process should be fun for you too! Your child's experience or understanding of the world around them is a fraction of how you interpret and communicate your own experiences. Make it positive and enriching.
Was there any new idea in here you haven't yet explored with your little one? Is there something cool you do that isn't on our list? Feel free to share with us!
Jasmine and Joseph
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