As a daycare / childcare provider in the Coquitlam and Langley area, Rainforest Learning Centre Daycare is well aware of the importance of communication between caregivers / parents and children / infants. This is something that most individuals are aware of, however the reasons why communication is so important are quite motivating.
Talking to you child is incredibly important for brain development. Talking with them is more important than interactive toys, the coolest stroller or the latest fashionable car seat. Children require exposure to words. This may come in an array of opportunities including a bedtime story, nursery rhymes, songs or even simple casual talking with your child or infant, even though they may not understand. When you hear you’re little one babbling on, we find this most adorable, however underneath this is actual brain-building development.
The reason a respectable and trusted daycare setting may be advantageous is because of the continual positive engaging interaction between a caregiver and child. This positive interaction stimulates neural connections / cells in their rapidly growing brains. What is also interesting to note is that words simply flowing from a source like a television, radio or chatting on a telephone are not beneficial.
The university of Rice and Columbia University discovered that children from age birth to four from a lower-income home will hear approximately 30 million fewer words, which is less than 1/3rd than from their more affluent peers. Read more here. More shocking, words that a child may hear from a lower-income family are typically more negative, typically leading to discouragement. Although this may sound negative, it is only statistical information which can also be turned around simply through intervention and talking with your children.
We found the list of ways to increase your child’s vocabulary from this article most valuable. Some of the ways mentioned include introducing your baby to books from birth. How do you do this? Simply place a cloth book in their crib. Find a water proof bath book and keep them by their side in their car seat. More importantly, read to them every day.
The complete full article, which is an excellent read, may be found over at Mind Body Green here.
