6 things to do to give a head start

According to the University of Londons study entitled Effective Preschool and secondary education, there are 6 things in particular that contribute to the benefit of babies intellectual, social and behavioural outcomes, and they all involve quality time with YOU!

here are 6 simple things you can do from the moment baby is born:

Read to her : as well as being soothing an comfortable place for baby to be, snuggled up in your arms while listening to the rythemic sound of you voice, it teaches baby about language, about listening skills, about sounds, and is also a valuable tool for sparking their imagination and boosting learning. its even good to read to your baby in the womb, a way for her to get used to your voice, and a lovely way to bond pre birth.

Sing to her: Nursery rhymes have been past down for thousands of generations, and there is a reason. Its more than just good fun to sing, its a great learning tool for young children, as its fun it makes learning easier, they just drink it in! Music is something that a whole lot of babies respond to, even when distressed, if music is played or the sing song sound of our voice, that we naturally use when talking to babies, somehow it calms them down. Find music you babie seems to like, and make it part of your day! with older children, by having hand actions in songs, like incy wincy, it can improve motor skills and help develop co ordination! as well as songs being a good way to learn a story how it has a beginning a middle and an end. the benefits for learning are bountiful!

Play with letters and numbers : if a child is even slighty familiar with numbers and letters by the time they get to school, this really gives a head start, as its not totally new to them, its familair and by making numbers fun, like singing about numbers 1, 2, 3,4,5 once i caught a fish alive for example, you can almost garentuee it will have gone into the sponge like brain to be recalled at a later time.
let baby play with alphabet blocks and maybe foam numbers in the bath, keep it simple and keep it fun, is key!

Paint and draw : you may think babies are too young and floppy to participate in painting, but children are naturally very very creative, and we can foster this tendencie, by introducing colours and finger painting, letting bub touch the paint and play with sponges even at a very young age can be heaps of fun, and very stimulating. art you see, encourages abstract thinking, and problem solving, as well as enhancing sensory awareness with the differant colours and textures. remember we are creating experiences for babie to encouarage more connections to be created in the brain, the more of the right stimulis the better.

take her to the library: The libary is the gem of any community, they are always welcoming and helpful, a place for children to come and play and learn and interact. Lots of libaries have weekly story time sessions that often include craft and music.
it creates a positive enforcement that books and reading and learning is good and fun and will benefit our children in the later years, as we know that if children are reading books it has great applications for their IQ and future acedmic performance. babies are not instantly able to distinguise colours so its been said that its highly stimulating to introduce black and white patterns and pictures for your baby to look at, as the black and white really really stands out to baby and they find it fascinating. go to this link and get a free downloadable black and while book for your baby that this couple designed and have made it available for anyone who would like to try it ! http://www.youareborn.com/blackandwhite.html

Socialise: join a playgroup, star your own, invite other mums to your house, by being around other people and babies, baby can learn by listening looking, learning through imitation, this enables baby to gradually develops social-cognitive, language and behavourial skills. also the more comfortable and used to being around lots of people and differant places, this will prime him ready for later stages like pre school. See it also as a chance to get out of the house, make friends, meet people, and share interests. google baby activities, and have some ready for you mums to do when you meet up, even a lovely group baby massage would be lovely!