In the last 3 weeks, information about the three crucial school readiness domains of receptive/ expressive language and speech articulation was provided as a way for parents to feel empowered as well as to support them in digging deeper as to “why” the advice of “talk, sing and read to your baby” is so important. […]
Anyone who thinks that babies under 12 months of age don’t understand much about their world should think again. Babies might not be able to tell us with words what they know and understand, but they can certainly tell us with their faces, their emotions and their body movements. Babies are amazing sponges and imitators. […]
I Stand Corrected: Devices That Know How We Really Feel In my post yesterday, I wrote that jobs requiring “people” skills would be highly valuable in the future, and, therefore, a good idea for my children to possess the skills needed for those jobs, since computers, smartphones and apps wouldn’t be able to understand human emotions. […]
What Babies and Toddlers Need to learn: Be Human, It Will Pay The world is changing so rapidly. Technology has changed our lives so much in the past 10 years. Thinking about what life will be like a decade down the line is crucial to those of us raising children who will eventually turn into adults and […]
In a Mood? Babies and Toddlers Can Tell The above-linked article, written by Natasha Singer and published in the NY Times on October 12, 2013, is not about how babies and toddlers can tell about your mood, but it does provide insight into how they can. The article is an interesting read about the use […]
For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekov The above-linked NY Times article, written by Pam Belluck on October 3rd, reminds us about the importance of reading to our children as a way to build social skills. Of course, infants and toddlers are much too young for Chekov, Munro, Bronte or Austen, but there […]
The video of 40-month old Sam is the perfect example of how a toddler misinterprets others’ actions as a direct offense against him (See my blog from 5/20/13 in which I discuss the topic in terms of Sam’s sad feelings.). Sam often feels anywhere from mildly disgruntled to down-right ticked off that I have to […]
Surprisingly, most people don’t think of understanding emotions as a school readiness skill. Daycares, preschools and families spend so much time emphasizing pre-literacy skills, such as developing a love of reading and understanding rhyme, and “academic-type” skills (e.g., counting, learning letters of the alphabet, etc.) that the majority have come to think that these are […]
Baby and Toddler Land 