Help Baby to Talk - easy start

When babies hear the same sound spoken over and over they will start to want to say it themselves. When baby is in the first few weeks and months we can make this process even better by focusing on the simple sounds "Oh" "Ah" "Oo". These are the first sounds you will hear a baby make because they are the easiest.

Each sound is made in the same way and the only difference is the shape of the mouth and lips. So as well as repeating these first sounds back to baby ( mirroring ) we can increase the number of times baby hears each of the sounds, by playing games in a "communication game".

A "Hide and Reveal"  Game to play

Hide your face behind a scarf, a book, a magazine - just for 3-4 seconds, then move the object away, open your eyes wide as you look at baby and say "AH! " . The aim here is to make the baby curious, not to scare him. If you keep your face out of view for longer than a few seconds  and if you shout, the baby will get distressed and cry -  the opposite effect of the delight you want. Repeat this about 4 or 5 times  and the baby  will come to understand the game and look forward to it.

Repeat the game several times a day. Each week change the sound you make so one week it is AH!, the next week, make it EE! then the next week OO!

Huron Daily Tribune > News > Local News:

Parents don’t need a teaching degree — but they do need to teach

By Kate Hessling
Tribune Staff Writer

Published: Friday, April 8, 2011 11:35 AM EDT

HURON COUNTY — Let’s face it: Learning does not begin in preschool or kindergarten.

Experts upon experts have stated — based on an abundance of research — that parents truly are their child’s first teacher.

Last week, Dr. David Walsh, founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family, and author of “No! Why Kids Need It and How We Can Say It,” presented evidence that in order to instill self-discipline and raise self-reliant children, a parent’s job begins at their child’s birth.

“Talk, talk, talk, talk — read, read, read, read,” he said, noting that is the recipe for success, as research shows a child with a greater number of one-to-one conversations and whose parent regularly reads to them is going to be able to read much easier than a child who does not have as many one-on-one conversations to or isn’t read to that often.

He said it’s critically important for economically at-risk families to understand this concept, because it’s proven the number of one-on-one conversations a child in poverty hears gives the child a knowledge of only one-third of the words learned by a child not living in poverty.

By the time a child living in poverty enters kindergarten, the child has been read to 24 times, Walsh said. A child not living in poverty has been read to about 2,000 times by the time he or she enters kindergarten.

“Can you image the disadvantage?” he asked, as he stressed we need to help parents understand how important this is — and how important it is to engage their children in conversation.

He said it has to be personal interaction — not media, as primary language is acquired through the feedback loop between the child and the caregiver. Walsh said a lot of evidence shows having a television on actually interferes with a child learning its first language.

Yet 28 percent of babies under the age of 2 now have television screens in their bedroom, Walsh said. He attributed this fact to the plethora of products like Baby Einstein DVDs that target babies 5 months and older because that’s when children can focus eye sight and sit up.

He said the smartest thing about this product is the name, because it sends a threat to parents that if their child doesn’t have them, the child will be stupid.

Walsh said there’s no research stating it’s beneficial, and Disney actually was ordered to provide a full cash refund for any purchase of the Baby Einstein DVDs because they used deceptive advertising.

He said the images of the videos are harmless — but the end result is that they wire a baby’s brain to orient to screens before it can crawl or speak. And it results in a child expecting to be constantly entertained.

Baby Einstein, My Baby Can Read, Brainy Babies and Baby Mozart are just some of the products out there targeted to anxious parents who are afraid their child won’t get off to the right start, Walsh said. But while all of them promise to give children an advantage, there’s no evidence any of them can do so, he said.

That’s because a child’s real world experience is much more rich than what a child can get from a screen, Walsh said.

“Creativity and imagination should come from the child — not the screen,” he said.

Walsh stressed he is not “anti-technology.”

Huron County has a Parents as Teachers (PAT) program through the Huron Intermediate School District, according to Rebecca Gettel, Huron County Great Start Collaborative director.

PAT offers parents the knowledge and skills to help their children build a foundation for academic success.

It is a free home visiting program and is open to all families with children ages birth to 5. Home visits take place monthly and a trained parent educator gives parents developmental information and activities for their child(ren).

The information includes methods to enhance parent-child interaction that promote social and emotional development and age appropriate language, mathematics and early reading skills.

For more information about the local PAT program, contact Great Parents Great Start, located at 711 E. Soper Road in Bad Axe, or call (989) 269-3485.

Read the full version of this article in the Huron Daily Tribune or online in our e-Edition.

Speech Development Oral Motor Skills | Caring for Baby

Speech Development Oral Motor Skills | Caring for Baby: "Why chewing is important for speech development
Cherie Lyden
March 24, 2011

The introduction of solids in your baby’s diet is not only important for nutritional reasons, but for the developmental of oral motor skills. These are the actions of the mouth, lips, tongue, cheeks and jaw as they suck, bite, chew and lick. These motor skills work the same muscles in the mouth as those which are needed for speech development.

When foods are introduced into your baby’s diet, it’s important that as your baby’s feeding skills develop, that textures change from liquid to solid. Different textures require different oral motor skills, which are important for speech development. For example, pureed and lumpy food encourage chewing. Chewing helps develop the use of the tongue by giving it a good workout, which is important for many different speech sounds, i.e. t, d, k and g, as well as speech development. Solid foods help develop and strengthen the jaw, as well as the lips and tongue muscles, which are required for speech. The lips also help to keep food in the mouth, and is important for sounds m, p and b.

A delay in introducing solids with different textures as your baby develops, can lead to a fussy infant unwilling to accept new tastes and textures, as well as a delay in chewing and muscle development, which can affect speech sounds later on.

Here is a brief overview of what to expect and when, as well as the types of food to introduce in the first 12 months:

Newborns
Babies are only able to suck and swallow at this stage, and they have an immature digestive system, therefore require breastmilk or formula as their primary source of food. The jaw action used in breastfeeding helps a baby to chew.

3 months
Babies have better head control, are able to put fingers in their mouth, and have a better range of mouth and lip movements. Their digestive system is still immature to receive anything but breastmilk or formula as their primary source of food.

4-6 months
Babies now have better jaw and lip control, with the ability to move their tongue up and down which makes it easier to suck, chew and move food to the back of the mouth to be swallowed. Usually around 4-6 months, babies show signs that they are ready to be introduced to foods, which complements their primary source of food, either breastmilk or formula. A baby’s digestive system is still maturing but from about 6 months, a baby needs more nutrients than breastmilk or formula alone can offer, therefore solid foods are introduced. These solid foods need to be varied, nutrient and energy dense and have a silky smooth texture (pureed or mashed), which will make it easier to swallow and digest. Breast milk or formula must be continued for the first 12 months of a baby’s life and always offered before solids.

Note: Some signs that a baby might show that he/she is ready for solid foods include the baby is able to sit upright, has good control of head and neck, wants to put things in his/her mouth, ability to suck pureed food from a spoon, interest in food, and not satisfied with the breast or bottle alone.

7-9 months
Solids should now be well established with a lumpy, mashed and finely chopped texture, as well as well-cooked or soft finger foods from about 8 months (avoiding hard foods that a baby can choke on i.e. whole grapes, nuts and raw carrots). With better eye-hand coordination, a baby will show interest in self-feeding, which includes finger foods and the use of a spoon. Finger foods are more effective than purees to encourage chewing and development of muscles in the mouth. Babies should be encouraged to drink a little water from a cup.

10-12 months
Solids can now be coarsely chopped and consist of more soft finger foods. Babies are more independent with eating and are able to chew food well, separating what needs more chewing and what can be swallowed. Lip muscles are now stronger and are able to hold more food and liquid in the mouth. Babies should be able to hold a cup to drink water from.

1 year onwards
Children should now be eating frequently i.e. 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day, and a wide variety of family foods. Children now start to develop a rotary chewing movement, as well as a more stable jaw, which accommodates the action of the tongue. As children continue to grow, their motor skills become more refined and they learn more oral motor control. This is an ongoing process, which continues to develop speech.

If you are at all concerned about your child’s speech development I encourage you to seek a referral for a qualified speech therapist.

Cherie Lyden is a Nutritionist and Mother – www.lydenvitality.com

Help Baby Talk with Rhythm and Pattern

This week we're thinking about how rhythm and pattern helps babies learn to talk.

Speech and language have a pattern. Each language has it's own rhythm and pattern. Human beings also love rhythm as experienced in music, dancing and poetry.  If you were ever taught a foreign language at school, you probably learned a simple song or poem in that language and you can probably still sing it or recite it word for word today, even if you can't remember other words in that language now!

So using rhythm and pattern when you to talk to your baby is a great way to delight your baby and embed the sounds and rhythms in baby's memory. Rhythmic actions and physical movement patterns also help baby's brain to develop at this time when the brain is at it's most ready to grow.

There are a number of ways you can do this.

One way is to create a movement series, like taking baby's hands and clapping them lightly together and saying:

Clap clap clap your hands, clap clap clap ( say the last "clap" louder)

Repeat the sequence several times ( at least three and up to six) until baby gets used to the idea, then hold baby's feet and tap them lightly together and say:

"Tap tap tap your feet, tap tap tap ( say the last "tap" louder )

Now you have the basis of a rhyming routine, you can say:
the clapping line first then the tapping line.

Do this routine several times a day for about a week.

Each week, think of a new line to add, like:

Tap tap tap your nose, tap tap tap.  ( touch baby's nose lightly with your finger)  ADD this new line to the previous lines in the series, so the whole routine gets longer each week. Instead of 'tap' or "clap" you could say "kiss" - "Kiss your knee"

As the weeks go by, baby will recognise the routine and anticipate what's coming next. Baby is learning about patterns and rhythms.

I'd love to hear how you and your baby enjoy this. So please leave a comment below.

Click this link to learn more about how to help baby talk

Closing The Achievement Gap With Baby Talk | 89.3 KPCC

"Closing The Achievement Gap With Baby Talk
Jan. 10, 2011 | Alix Spiegel | National Public Radio

A child growing up in a poor home hears fewer words per hour on average than a child in a higher-income household, research has shown. So around the country, programs are trying to reduce the achievement gap by getting parents to talk more to their kids.

In the mid-1960s, Betty Hart was a graduate student in child development working at a preschool in Kansas City, Kan. The preschool was for poor kids -- really poor kids. Many came from troubled housing projects nearby.

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