Life as a Baby in Celosia

As with most things in the land of Celosia, I'm not talking about anything remotely "schoolish" for her. At the beginning, almost everything in life helps a baby learn. But I am a fan of enrichment, so what has Robin been up to?

In Glenn Doman's book, How Smart is Your Baby? (horrible title, good book, it is available at most libraries), there are different activities to do with your baby from birth onward. I like the initial red stage activities, I've pretty much skipped the orange stage with both of my kids, and now Robin is mostly ready for the yellow stage. Find some amazing checklists here to help you stay organized and for lots of other tips, visit DomanMom's blog.

I'm just going to jump in where we are right now. Disclaimer: I don't follow the program exactly, but it does help me to be mindful throughout the day about how I can play with Robin and what to include in her environment. So what does the yellow stage look like?

1) Touching lots of different and contrasting textures
2) Learning about objects (mostly fruit) through her five senses - taste, smell, texture, seeing the real thing, a picture of it, the written word, and hearing me say its name.
3) Seeing bits of intelligence every day (large, simple, clear pictures, one per 10 in x 10 in card)
4) Balance activities - tons of fun and both my kids have enjoyed these tremendously.

General ideas from the program I also like (paraphrased by me):

1) Keep baby in the least restrictive environment possible - sitting on my lap vs. sitting in a chair
2) Lots and lots of belly time - get the whole family on the floor with the baby often, or raise the baby up to your level (belly on bed and you on the floor so heads are level)
3) The main idea is purposeful interaction to help develop awareness, mobility, and language.
4) Let the baby move, move, move!

It can be very intimidating at first, but just pick something to add to your baby's life. You don't have to do the whole thing to be successful. Even if it just encourages you to talk to your baby more, look at books together, go on walks, etc, then you're doing a great job. With Raccoon I'd always feel guilty, like I wasn't doing enough, but even from the little I did he benefited. I'm not organized enough to be a full Doman mom, but the important thing is that we like what I do.

Coming out of the Doman Closet

I am a Doman mom. Arg, I just jumped out of the flashcard closet, let me back in, let me back in! Before the bashing begins, I have to say a few things in my defense. If you have no idea what I'm talking about... all the better for me. :)

1) Bits of intelligence are really quite a bit more than flashcards. It's more like the illustrations from a picture book. I think it's the "drill and kill" idea (which I've mentioned before here and here) that people object to, more than the actual material itself.

2) Raccoon LOVED doing bits with me, up until he was about 7 months old and crawling all over.

3) The whole program has a huge emphasis on mobility, which has always worked well in our family.

4) JOY. It's all about joyful learning. If it's not fun, stop it and do something different.

5) I also firmly believe that it works for some and doesn't for others, so the best thing for the child is to have a happy mother who enjoys being with her children (most of the time, ha ha). If it's stressing you out, then it's not a good thing in real life no matter how much it looks great on paper.

6) There seems to be a double standard out there. If your child is born with known special needs, then you are encouraged to do every type of available therapy to help them "catch up." But if they are born normal (as far as you know), then for some, any type of early learning is considered forced and bad. For me, the goal is to help my well children be as well as they can be.

 

Sample Bits of Intelligence

We're Back

Hello! Life has been chaotic in Celosia, so we haven't been doing much school. We have successfully moved countries and are settling into our new house. Thanks to my parents and their church, our home has a fully equipped playroom. There are shelves and workspaces enough to satisfy any Tot School mom, I dare say!

These are the things that I want to focus on for May and June:

Raccoon
1) Books
2) Imaginary Play
3) Outside Time

Robin
1) Belly Time
2) Sitting Time (currently propped up by pillows)
3) Bits (idea from How Smart Is Your Baby)
4) Books (simple pictures with high contrast, like Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear...)
5) Outside Time

 

I opened up the cupboard today and found play-doh supplies galore!

 

 

"Batman" is putting stickers on paper attached to an easel in our new kitchen.

(I now own a child-size easel! I am so excited!!)

 

Raccoon has never liked trains or cars much, but he enjoyed this wooden set.

(This is in our new playroom, there is a whole wall of shelves!)

 

Here's Robin working on some sitting time and playing with her slippers.

 

 

Raccoon is 3.5 years old and Robin is 3 months old.