Being the mother of four, I have had a lot of experience with preparing my children to learn. Because my third son is still in diapers, being my child's first teacher is still a responsibility I take very seriously. However, teaching my toddler is not my job; but rather, teaching is how I describe my style of parenting.
As parents, we do not have to change our lives around according to some wild idea that we must teach our children everything there is to know in life. However, by implementing a way of parenting that supports a child's neurological architecture, parents can give children the mental tools for social and academic happiness.
Social and academic happiness comes from success. Humans are hungry for it. Even babies want success. The more the better. A baby experiences success in his mother's reaction to his first smiles. The first time a baby holds her father's finger tightly, as if to emphasize the meaningful way she's looking into his eyes; even this becomes success for the baby who is rewarded with a higher level of cuddling and parental joy.
Success comes to mean control for toddlers who master the skills they need to manipulate their environment. The baby girl who says, "yes," before she can talk, by brightening her eyes and quickly flapping her hands like wings, is able to thrill her parents. She flaps her arms with wide eyes to communicate that she wants something, and she succeeds in helping to control her own chances of getting what she desires.
So what is it about my parenting style that produces children who absolutely love school, and who are regularly recognized at their school's award ceremonies? Are there things that I know, that some parents do not know? Should parents feel guilty if their child does not know what little Johnny and Suzy know? Do all parents really need to teach their children to recognize colors, numbers, and letters when they are toddlers?
Are there things that I know, that some parents do not know?
If people have told you that the way to teach toddlers is by talking about everything you do with them, this is good advice to follow. Parents should begin talking to babies the day they are born and they should not stop. The only difference between my child and some other's in her class may be the amount of talking, that I have done in raising her. Depressed mothers too sad to talk to children may need support for the toddler whose actual brain development depends on being exposed to new information. To babies, information is the stuff from which schemas are formed.
A schema is a person's understanding of the world. When new information is learned, old schemas must be modified to adjust to conflicting beliefs. A baby who learns to wrap his hand around a small ball in order to finally pick it up will develop a new schema for picking up objects. Now the baby has learned that picking up a ball requires that he curl his fingers more than when grabbing mom's finger. The new schema allows a baby the ability to skip having to figure out how to get his fingers around the ball the next time he reaches to hold it.
He has already learned how to release objects from his hand. This is what drives parents crazy when six month old babies learn they can not only hold the keys but drop them too. When an adult has to pick them up, that response is recorded also. All these schemas are foundations for all the learning that follows.
If your toddler is watching shows like Barney, Word World, Dora the Explora, or one of the many other wonderful shows on TV. for preschool aged children, then your child is getting a foundation to learning that he or she will be able draw from as they are introduced to education one day. But if you are not assisting the viewing of your toddler, at least some, then the value of the shows is not going to be demonstrated by your child until he or she begins school.
If you have always been a chatter box, as I have, then you are naturally predisposed to be a terrific parent. But keep a drink close to wet your whistle because once you start talking to the mind of a baby, you become a catalyst to everything that the world has to offer.
By explaining the things we encounter, in creative and repetitive ways, parents actually help form the neurological circuitry that drives messages through a baby's mind. The more information a baby is introduced to, the more she must expand her schemas that she uses to process the environment. The more the baby learns, the more her developing brain responds by creating new connections for nerve endings to pass messages to one another for more efficient thinking!
The brain of a baby will either form the synapse gaps in the mind to accommodate the demand of information to be processed; or the chance to develop these neurological connections will be lost forever if the brain is not stimulated by the environment.
Should Parents Feel Guilty if their Child Does Not Know what Little Johnny and Suzy Know?
Neurological growth comes when babies receive new information from the environment in a safe way. When babies feel safe, they are naturally wired to receive information. Their brain responds with the feel good chemicals called endorphins that naturally ready babies for learning. These are what his future kindergarten teacher will have in mind when decorating the classroom where your child will learn. The teacher has been taught the importance of a happy student, because happy children (and babies) learn better.
As parents our role is great. With every new word you teach your child, you are causing physiological growth to occur in direct response to your teaching! Once in the habit of this non stop teaching that talking parents do, you will be amazed at the level of closeness that communication brings.
Do All Parents really Need to Teach their Children to Recognize Colors, Numbers, and Letters When they are Toddlers?
Keeping a baby informed about everything as a way of parenting can sound like trying to talk on the radio without allowing any silent air time. This really is not what teaching parents must do. Although explaining what a spatula is, and lifting a toddler up to see exactly how the eggs look as they cook in the pan is something teaching parents do, there really is no need to go to extremes. For busy parents, the place to start is with colors, number, and letters when parenting toddlers.
Before my first child was born, my experience being around babies was none. She was born with congenital hip dysplasia and wore a body cast for the first year of her life. She could not move like other babies. My daughter could, however, watch Barney. At four months of age, my baby was watching and she was learning! One article can only relate so much, however, therefore allow me to conclude.
Now that my fourth child is two, I am still learning as much as I am teaching. I am still singing songs about the potty that I began practically with the first package of pampers. I still sing the spelling of my toddler's name. We name the alphabet magnets on the fridge. We find shapes in everything. I sing the alphabet in a unique way by adding the sound each letter makes so that my child learns the "code" of our language. And I use adult words in sentences and take the time to explain what they mean.
The result? Let me close by sharing these age-two quotes from my children. These may be funny, but what they demonstrate are the associations that will allow expansive learning in the future!
Mom: I'm sorry son, but you are mistaken. You have made a mistake.
Son: Steak?! I don't even eat steak!
Mom: Go sit on the couch (sounds like cow-ch) please.
Son: Moooooo!
Mom: Do you want to go to Mc (sound like Mac) Donald's? Do you want to eat french fries?
Daughter: Yes, on the farm!