Did you know that the power of the spoken word – talking, singing & reading to your baby helps strengthen intricate learning networks in their brain?
As I have shared before it is empowering as parents, to be encouraged that you are your child’s first teacher, cheerleader, and coach! It is a wonderful honour and responsibility knowing that they are listening to you, even before they are born – now that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?
How delightful that your children firstly LISTEN to you TALKING and then they learn to SPEAK. Later when they are ready to learn to READ they learn that the SOUNDS that they already HEAR and KNOW are represented by little squiggles that we call LETTERS.
As they develop and learn to hold a writing implement, which could be a crayon or piece of chalk at first, they learn how to WRITE these letters that make words for them to READ, WRITE & SPELL!!
They put SPEECH to PRINT: known sounds they hear to letters they see!
Rest assured, that you have what it takes as a parent – it doesn’t take thousands of dollars of the world’s biggest, best and greatest ‘this and that’ to give your child the best start in life – all it takes is you!
They are easily delighted and content with you – with your love and with your time spent doing simple (yet profoundly impacting upon their confidence, resilience and security) things with them like:
- singing
- dancing
- making music
- reading stories
- playing in the mud
- splashing with the hose
- jumping in puddles
- making sandcastles
- laying on the grass pointing out shapes in the clouds
- catching bugs
- making cubbies etc.
I trust you have been inspired by this blog that taking time to get back to the simple things in life can be so rewarding and refreshing – remember it’s quality not quantity so don’t beat yourself up with guilt!
Cherish this time, as it passes by quickly.
If you can take any annual leave, it’s good to be mindful to deliberately set time aside to unplug from the world and your devices and simply enjoy one another’s company. Even if you can only spare an hour or two, during the week in the evening or more time on a weekend – you will be so thankful that you did!
In case you need any ‘device-free’ activity ideas please check out my download & print games and workbooks here.
Also I have many free parenting tips and resources in videos on my Learning with Ricardo Reading Mouse® Youtube Channel.
