During your child’s first few years, they will learn and develop a lot. Their development will help them navigate life easier and they will use these new skills throughout all of life. From the time your kiddos are infants, they are learning and developing different skills. These include language, fine and gross motor, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Your little one is learning a lot, even in the first year of their life. You can learn more about how their development within the first year of life in our previous blog!
While many people think babies are just adorable blobs of fat, they are actually the best students out there. They are learning by observing and developing different skills on their own. It is amazing how much babies and toddlers can learn just but watching people interact with others and objects.
While your kiddos will likely learn a lot on their own, there are things you can do to help boost their development and offer them an aid along the way. At Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center, we will provide your child with a stimulating environment and programs that can help encourage their development. While we are a center focused on early childhood development, there are things you can do as well to aid in your child’s development. Read on to learn more about the simple things you can do to help in your child’s development.
Work on Language
When your baby coos and starts “talking,” talk back. As annoying as you may think the baby voice may be that many people talk to their infants or pets in, it is the best voice to talk to your baby with. Make high pitch noises and draw out your syllables, this will help develop the part of your child’s brain that understands speech and produces language. This kind of talk is called “parentese,” according to Scholastic. Talking to your child as they grow can also help make it easier for them to learn language and develop that skill.
Working with your children an understanding language. This is the more important part of language in infants. Your child should be able to understand language before they start speaking it. Read to them with books that they will love, with large, colorful pictures and simple sentences. As you read, make it exciting and point at pictures as you make sounds that correlate. As your kiddo gets older, ask them what the book was about and talk to them about the books you read, this will help improve their receptive language skills.
Choose the Right Toys
Toys are great for children, not only will they be entertained for hours, but they will also be able to explore and learn more through their play. Getting toys that encourages this learning and development can help. Get toys that make them explore and learn cause and effect. When a baby plays, they will be testing what happens if they do different things. This will teach them how things around them work and can also boost their gross and fine motor skills, based on what toy they are playing with.
Answer Questions and Ask Some
Young kids ask a lot of questions. They want to know everything about how the world works. Many parents can get annoyed with these question sessions after the first five questions, but your kiddo is learning, encourage it and answer their questions. This will help keep them curious and wanting to learn more. Answer all their questions as best you can, ask them why they think certain things work the way they do, and if you don’t know the answer, look it up. You can learn together.
Asking questions is also a great way to help your child’s development. If you don’t know the answer to one of the questions they asked you, be sure to ask them what they think before looking it up. They may have a very imaginative answer and you could help boost their creative thinking.
Teach Empathy
If you want your child to develop good social skills, you will want to teach them empathy. Teach your child about sharing, caring, feelings, and how to act with kindness. This will also help with emotional skills and cognitive learning. When you teach your child empathetic responses, the brain will make more connections. Teach your child why showing empathy and kindness is important, how to act when someone else seems sad, and that they are allowed to have and express feelings. Help your child learn how to properly express their feelings, this will improve their emotional development.
Your youngster will be learning and developing a lot during the first few years of their life. You can help boost their physical, emotional, social, and language developments by encouraging them, making them think, and helping them to better understand life. At Yellow Brick Road, we work hard to give your children everything they need to boost their development and understanding of the world around them. Contact us today to learn more and help your child’s development today!