Brain and ability development in Babies 1-3 years
Hanna Kuznetsova
No one can emphasize enough the importance of brain development in early
childhood education. Today’s developing technology and research have
allowed us to learn more about the brain, how it works and the critical
periods for its development.
Age 0-6 months.
The main environment for your baby at this age will be the bedroom. It
is important to take note that the baby’s environment prior to the
outside world was the womb. In the mother’s womb it was quiet, dark and
sounds were sedated. This can be attempted to be replicated in the
baby’s bedroom for the first 8 weeks to help the child adjust to the new
world positively. Soft classical music can be played in the room as
this can be soothing to the young baby. Have some natural lighting and
if possible have a window where a child may watch the wind blowing
through leaves or trees.
Baby this young will be mostly attracted to mobiles
with great color contrast, such as black and white. One can even simply
attract a child’s attention, eye tracking, by making shadows by having
the light source behind a parent’s hands.
At 1 month your baby knows to cry for food and expects to be fed
regularly. By 4 months your baby can recognize you in a group of people.
The hypothalamus controls your baby's deep sleep—the
non-dreaming shut-eye that helps your baby's brain recharge after a
hectic day of exploration and development. During deep sleep, the brain
is at rest though your baby's body can continue to move.
Here is the nice web-site to find out more information about this.
Age 6-12 months.
At this stage children are moving about more and have developed strength
in the neck, arms, hands and legs. Hopefully in the early months your
child has had opportunities to move freely. This can be further
implemented at this stage of your child’s development.
Your baby's stronger neck and arm muscles allow him to practice rolling
over toward one side, a milestone that will probably awe and amuse you.
A child generally slithers and pulls up on average about 8 months.
If it is later do not be worried, each child has their own blueprint of
development. If children though are given the opportunity to freely
move then they will never cease to amaze us with their abilities. With the movement mat one can place a mirror in which the child can
watch themselves and see their own reflection to learn more about their
bodies and movement. When a child learns to create movement in their
environment they will feel that they have control which in turn can
later develop into a strong self-esteem.
Children in the period 6-18 months are particularly sensitive to caretaker and that this is the time when they must develop their core attachment to their parents.
The language at this stage is that children are starting to talk
back, and experiment with their vocalization from the sound that they
hear. It is important then to communicate with the children. The dance
of communication can be that the adult talks silence then the child
talks. This is to model to them how communication happens. The adult may
imitate what the child has said or say something else.
When talking to your child there is also no need to talk in a high
pitch voice talk to him/her like you would another person, in a clear
well-articulated manner. There is no need for baby talk for the child to
learn real language. They will learn language from how we speak to
them, so speak to them the properly. Talk to them about how things are
around you; describe what they are seeing, and not just instructions of
what you want them to do.
When reading a book, point to objects one a time and name it. This
will teach children that each thing has a name and they can learn that
if repeated to them constantly.
By 7 months he can remember that a jack-in-the-box pops up when the
music ends.
The
article written by Kathy Sylva about Critical periods in childhood learning.
Age 12-24 months.
The time between one and two is one of rapid change. Your baby is on the
move and discovering the world. Parenting becomes demanding in a
different way because you have to think about safety and setting limits,
as well as caring for your baby. Some parents miss their tiny baby and
others are pleased that their baby has a little more independence.
Children at the end of this stage are more mobile and are able to walk
with stability. If the children are given the freedom to move when they
were younger their gross motor development will flourish. Children now
will be able to do more things with their hands as they are now free
from crawling.
At this stage children are learning to communicate. They may say their first intentional word at 12 months.
You need to encourage this development by constantly talking TO the
child not AT the child. You do not just talk to them to tell them what to
do but also to tell them about the things around them and how things
are going.
At 12-30 months language abilities develop very rapidly.
Between 18 months and 2 years of age her ability to recognize
similarities and differences in things increases and she will be
interested in sorting things into groups, e.g. cars, blocks, animals.
- By 15 months your child is able to walk alone with feet wide apart and arms held high to maintain balance.
- By 2 years of age your child will probably be able to run, without bumping into things and stop when necessary
- At 15 months he gets to his feet using his hands to push up with and by 2 years can get up without using his hands.
- By 2 years most children can go down stairs while holding on but will put two feet on each step before moving to the next one.
- One year old can push themselves along "scooting along" on a four wheeled riding toy.
- By two your child will be interested in and capable of turning knobs and pushing buttons.
And what about language development?
- Your child's speech increases from an average of 10 words at 15
months to as many as 100 or more between 18 months and 2 years. Their
understanding of words is even greater.
- By 2 years your child can tell you most of what she wants with
words eg "outside", "milk", "biscuit", even though many words will not
always be pronounced correctly.
- By 2 years sentences become longer and more accurate eg from "more" to "want more" and then "I want more".
- Your child's language understanding is also improving so she
can remember two things at a time eg "Get the ball and bring it to
Daddy".
- Besides words to say what they want, children at this age have
begun to learn some words to say how they feel, eg feelings of happiness
"goo" or hurting themselves "ow", "sore" or a word for wanting a
band-aid.
- By two years your child will have enough language skills to be
able to tell people what she wants them to do eg "no" or "go away".
- Your baby may stammer or hesitate over particular words or when excited.
What to watch out for?
If by two years:
- your child is tripping over his feet a lot and this is not improving
- your child cannot walk
- she cannot hold a spoon and get most of the food to her mouth
- she cannot pick up small objects
- your child cannot build a tower of 3 - 4 bricks
- she does not say a few single words
- she does not understand simple directions (this does not mean she will always do as you tell her).
- she often runs very far away [out of sight] or climbs extremely high without hesitation.
Social emotional development.
By
18 months children are usually:
- exploring the environment around them, touching, pulling whatever they can see and reach
(make sure that toddlers are safe)
- enjoying physical contact (cuddles, tickles)
- emotionally changeable, quick mood changes from happy to sad to angry
- likely to be afraid of strangers
- showing a strong attachment to parents
- showing distress when left by a parent and often clingy when the parent returns.
There may be a problem if, by
18 months, a child:
- does not show a preference for familiar people
- does not show separation anxiety.
By
2 years children are usually:
- starting to explore more widely, opening doors and drawers
- playing near other children, but not yet with other children
(unless the other child is older and able to adapt her play to fit the 2
year old).
- unable to share
- very fearful of separation
- dependent on a comforter such as a dummy.
There may be a problem if, by
2 years, a child:
- does not show awareness of different people.
Motor skillsBy
18 months children are usually:
- walking skilfully, but also often falling if they try to run fast
- climbing onto low furniture
- able to push a toy such as a trolley
- able to put one object such as a block deliberately onto another
- starting to scribble with a pencil
- able to pick up small objects.
There may be a problem if, by
18 months, a child is:
By
2 years children are usually
- able to run fast without falling over when turning corners or stopping
- squatting steadily to pick up objects from the floor
- able to bring a small chair to the table and sit on the chair at the table
- able to walk backwards pulling a toy or trolley.
There may be a problem if, by
2 years, the child is:
- not walking steadily, especially if the child has a limp.
Speech and language
By
18 months children are usually:
- babbling loudly and often to themselves and to others, as though having a conversation
- listening to things said to them, and understanding some things such as 'no'
- able to follow a few simple instructions such as 'get your shoes'
- able to identify a few familiar objects when they are named (such as 'show me the ball', or 'where is the spoon')
- using 6 or more recognizable words (the words may be quite
unclear, but the primary caregiver is able to tell what is meant by the
sound).
There may be a problem if a child:
- is not babbling often
- is not starting to use some meaningful words
- does not listen when others are talking to him.
By
2 years children are usually:
- able to use up to 50 recognizable words
- listening to things that are said to them
- starting to put 2 words together such as "daddy's car"
- joining in with familiar songs
- babbling while playing, with a few recognizable words in the babble.
There may be a problem if a child:
- is still mostly silent while playing
- does not respond when others talk to her
- is not able to point to objects when they are named
- uses signs, grunts or gestures only when she wants something.
Few links:
1
2 Thanks to this web site, it helped me a lot in my project.
Age 2-3 years.
Three year old do not tell 'lies' as such but sometimes the inside and
outside reality gets mixed up. The baby will love to talk to you about these
important things. Never laugh at their confusions, and give them small
amounts of simple information when explaining things.
- 3 year old often enjoy being with other children and they now begin
to play together more. They are learning that other people are real and
have feelings. This means they can be upset when other people are
upset.
- Taking turns is a skill that they will learn as they approach
four, but if they are upset or worried they will not be able to share
their own special things.
- They are starting to be able to wait a short time for what they want, such as 'we will go out after you eat your lunch'.
- 3 year old are less likely than 2 year old to have kicking
and screaming tantrums. They are eager to please you. With your help
they might be able to try something else or wait for a few minutes.
- Your child may still have fears of noises, the dark, animals, monsters etc
- 3 year old are developing a sense of humor and like to laugh at and repeat silly words and situations.
- They will like to have choices but they usually can cope best
if the choice is limited such as "you can wear your red shoes or your
blue ones".
- They may still need a dummy, blanket or other comforter when tired or away from home.
- They can have very stereotyped ideas of what 'boys' and 'girls'
are like, eg girls wear pretty dresses and boys are like Superman.
- They are starting to take responsibility for their own toileting.
- They may have accidents (wet pants) during the day and be wet at night.
A three year old
- can now understand that her mind is separate from those of her parents, and that they cannot read her mind
- still does not really understand about things like height and
size. She will think that a tall thin glass holds more than a short fat
one - so there can be mistakes with pouring
- shows some understanding of time and understand that night follows day
- understands the meaning of tall, short, big and little
- can say whether they are boys and girls and can tell you
whether other children are boys or girls, but they don't yet understand
that their sex is permanent
- can tell you how old she/he is
- 3 year old get across what they want to say in most situations.
- Some 3 year old speak very clearly, while others still use some 'baby talk'.
- Some may stumble over some words but this will probably clear up by itself within the year.
- The average 3 ½ year old knows more than 1200 words.
- 3 year old can usually understand "place" words such as - under, on, beside, back, over.
- 3 year old ask questions beginning with "What" "Who" "Where" and "Why"?
- They can talk about what happened yesterday and about tomorrow.
When you should have your child checked by a health professional:
- If you can't understand what they say most of the time.
- If they are not using sentences of three or more words.
- If they are not interested in using the toilet or they are frightened of using the toilet.
- If they have big fears that go on for a long time.
- If they can't jump with two feet in place.
- If they don't seem to understand what you say to them.
- If you are worried.
"Babies who participated in the interactive music classes with their
parents showed earlier sensitivity to the pitch structure in music,"
says Trainor. "Specifically, they preferred to listen to a version of a
piano piece that stayed in key, versus a version that included
out-of-key notes. Infants who participated in the passive listening
classes did not show the same preferences. Even their brains responded
to music differently. Infants from the interactive music classes showed
larger and/or earlier brain responses to musical tones."
