Do you wonder what you can do to help your baby become a strong learner, and ultimately successful in life? When you understand a few things about child development, it’s easy to support and assist their development, with lifelong benefits. Babies are born to learn. The first 18 months of life are crucial in creating the structures we use to learn, to think, to feel, and to express ourselves throughout our lives. These are developed through movement.
It’s one of the secrets of parenthood: Not just children get separation anxiety! Many parents are unprepared for the feelings of sadness and emptiness they have when separated from their children. The emotions that pop up when you leave your child with a babysitter or when you watch your child drive away in the school bus can span from a dull ache all the way to worry and panic.
I often hear parents ask, “When should my baby start walking?” To begin with, ‘should’ is a word that we should outlaw when it comes to babies! The important milestones in a baby’s life - such as walking and talking - occur at completely different times for each baby. Independent walking, like many other milestones, has a wide range of normal. Some babies begin to walk at 10 months, and others wait until they are 18 months old or sometimes, even longer - and it’s all perfectly normal. How and when your baby begins his walking career has nothing whatsoever to do with future motor skills!
Nothing is more exciting than watching our children learn to read and write. The good news is if they’ve heard hundreds of stories, have books to interact with, have access to writing materials, and see you model reading and writing in everyday life, they’re just champing at the bit to learn to read and write themselves.
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