Foreign Language for a Babe in Arms

It is not a problem for a baby to learn two languages at the same time in a bi- or multilingual family. But what if mum and dad speak the same language but still want their little one to study a foreign language as it is much easier to learn a language when one is little. I will share my experience of "teaching" our daughter English (Russian is native to her). Any second language could be taught like that.

When Soniya had turned 2 months old, I decided to buy a book of poems with colourful pictures in English. But I could not find such a book in our bookstores. I found some books with fairy-tales instead. And it was for the better as later I found out that the child is not interested in poems at all (these rythmic lines were like a noisy background for her) but likes to listen to stories when mummy is reading them for her.

From 2 to 4 months

I read 5 funny phrases about animals to our daughter - every day, with the right intonation and pronunciation. And the baby was really listening.

From 4 to 5 months

When she had turned four months old, I added 2-3 Read the rest of this entry »

Del.icio.us : children, early-childhood development, home schooling, ideas, kids, language, personal development

Developing Games on Trays or How to organize the Baby’s Space

Our Arseny and Soniya are only 1 year old but we are already studying developing games to play with them in the future. We are sharing a marvelous idea with you from the field of "early-childhood development", the idea of a mother of almost 3 kids already, Karisa.

"First, WHY Trays?

• Let me begin by saying that I am in NO way saying that my beliefs are right, they are just MY beliefs. I share openly about what I believe when it comes to educating young children, and yes I do have a college degree, but that in no way makes me any smarter than others out there. I just share what I believe!
• The TRAY itself: I believe the tray itself provides a sense of space for a young child. When all items are contained on a tray (or a mat, or something similar), it is easier for the child to visualize all involved with the activity and also how to CLEAN it up! Cleaning up is a huge part of this method for me.

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• The ACTIVITIES: I believe in providing simple, yet engaging activities that sometimes expose a skill and sometimes are just fun! I love the discussion times these trays provide. I love the concentration required. I love that Krash is developing perseverance, focus, and determination to accomplish tasks. I love the vocabulary alone that stems from the tray activities, it really is endless. I love that I can change up the activities easily without a ton of work each evening. I love that most of the items on the trays aren't *toys* so they are refreshing for Krash and engaging.
• The ENVIRONMENT: Trays provide Read the rest of this entry »

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How to organize a Home Playground for the Tots with One Year’s Difference in Age?

Today we are answering the question of Daria, a reader of our blog:

"So far, I have not been able to think out how to make table and a home playground for our elder daughter (24 months) for her to be able to make crafts and other creative things as we also have one ore baby (12 months) who will bother her. It is not possible to leave all the things like paints, pencils and plasticine on the table for them to be reached by he girl at any time as then you will get tired to collect all thi stuff about the room".

We have asked mums who have also got toddlers with 1-1,5 year's difference of age between them what solution they've got concerning this issue.

Vera, the mother of Bazhena (4,5) and Kyrill (almost 3):

«Kyrill started crawling late, when he was about 8 months old. Till some certain time, we could play (study) peacefully with our daughter. But I decided in the very beginning: the things which are really not to be touched (by both the children) should always be in boxes on the refrigerator in the kitchen: everything for plasticine modeling, puzzles, pencils, brushes, watercolours, etc. I bought these boxes in "Ikea" but you can also

Read the rest of this entry »

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Rocking Chair – the Best Friend of Parents

I picked up this idea from the book "The Baby Book" by W. and M. Sears when I even was not pregnant yet. Rocking chair! It was mentioned in the book a couple of times as a good means helping worn-out parents and overexcited children to relax.

At that time, the idea of the rocking chair was put by somewhere at the periphery of my consciousness and came to life again in some months when baby-twins arrived in the family of my sister. Exhausted by constant rocking, the parents decided to try a rocking chair and immediately bought two. "It was the best investment for all the period of my fatherhood", later said Paskal, a Swiss husband of my sister.

So, the idea was tested. But when our son was born, we did not use it at once. First, Read the rest of this entry »

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Handmade Visual Aids for babies of 8-36 months old. Tips from our Readers

How to make developing toys from the things at hand for a small baby? A reader of our blog has shared her ideas with us:

What to Do with Diapers?

The pictures on the diapers are very bright. You can make a game using them. To do it, cut the picture out from the diaper, collect two pictures of each type, stick them on (colour) cardboard, laminate the cardboard (or cover it with sticky tape) and cut it into pieces. The game is ready! So far, with a tot of 18-24 months old, we are just looking for the pair pictures. You can also gradually add more pairs of pictures into the game and when the child is older you can already follow Read the rest of this entry »

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If the Head Does not Fit the Neck of the T-shirt. A Tip from our Readers

We were presented with two wonderful T-shirts. But… we failed to put them on our baby - his head did not go through, the little one was crying. Looking at other factory-made T-shirts, I saw snap fasteners on one of their shoulders. So, I unripped a side seam, edged it, sewed on a button on one side and made Read the rest of this entry »

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