baby genius
Is your baby a genius? Your very own future Albert Einstein? We all want our children to be intelligent, maybe not genius, but certainly intelligent, right? Is it all in their genes or can we do anything about it?
Many studies have shown that playing music, reading to your child, and appropriate loving touch all impact their future intelligence. Each new experience, sound, movement creates connections in our children’s brains and repetition helps secure these connections. In “Your Child’s Growing Mind” by Jane M Healy, Ph.D. I found an additional list of “dos” to help your child’s brain stimulation. Here are some of the items on the list…
- Childproof your home for safety
- Keep playpen time to a minimum
- Repeat repeat repeat
- Help baby focus on one sense at a time-sight, smell, taste, touch, hear
- Place toys just out of reach so they must actively grasp them
- Bring in new toys one at a time
- Talk to your child, link language with other senses
- “Your overall goal should be not to teach your baby, but to help her discover how to organize experience for herself.”
Music can play a huge role in these developmental years. Nursery rhymes, songs, chants, and games instill a sense of rhythm that leads to greater coordination. This begins with strength and balance- bouncing a ball, riding a bike- but grows into forethought and the ability to plan. Children’s learning, much like Mozart’s music, is based on variations of a theme. A child picks up a toy and looks at it, perhaps mouths it, turns it over, drops it, reaches for it again, studies it. Mozart’s music often begins with a melody and then plays with it, in essence dropping it, reaching for it, turning it over. Many believe simply playing Mozart’s music will build your child’s learning ability. For more information on that idea read “The Mozart Effect” by Don Campbell. But I believe while listening to music is highly important that interacting with the music is even more beneficial. Moving, bouncing, clapping, dancing while listening. Creating pictures in your mind or with your crayon while listening. This interaction, especially for the kinesthetic and visual learner, will make even more of an impact.
With today’s pressures remember that our children also need plenty of down time. They need to learn how to relax. Be a good example and learn to relax yourself! This is a good time to simply listen to and enjoy beautiful music.
What do we do if we think perhaps our child is not measuring up in their intelligence? First, keep in mind that children develop in a vast variety of time frames. Don’t stress over the charts and graphs that say when your child should be able to do such and such. However there are a few things of which to be aware. If your child shows any of these, consider it a warning sign and have your child evaluated by a professional.
- Always “good”, sleeps all the time
- Consistently poor eye contact with parents
- Failure to respond to voices and other sounds
- Right and left sides move unevenly
- Noticeable delay in many or all of the typical milestones
- Delay in social responses- doesn’t wave goodbye, play peekaboo
- Failure to develop language
- Abnormal response to light, sound, touch
Each state has an Early Intervention program and children 0-3 years old showing these warning signs can be tested free of charge and, if needed, receive free learning programs. Our youngest son showed a few of these signs and has been receiving free programming for the past year and a half. The improvement has been remarkable. At a year old he could not yet crawl. Now at four he runs through mountain trails without a second thought. He continues to receive speech therapy but everything else is completely up to (and beyond) “normal”. For more information about early intervention programs please go to ECLKC.
If your child is progressing normally in their brain development or is already a “genius”, encourage new stimulation. If your child is struggling there is no shame, get the help you need and continue being the wonderful parent that you have been striving to be. And wherever your child is intellectually remember that music interaction can take them to the next level.
Brenda Hunten
Brenda, known to her students as Ms B, grew up in Southern California and has always loved and been involved in music. By the time she graduated with honors from college with her degree in music she had performed in several dozen countries and most of the fifty United States. Along with her continued performing, she went on to teach private vocal lessons and singing classes for several years and formed and directed a choir of 150 children. Her deep love for music and early childhood education brought her to Kindermusik. In 2008, Brenda, along with her husband and three children, moved to the Santa Clarita Valley where she is a licensed Kindermusik Educator and director of Kindermusik with Ms B (www.KindermusikwithMsB.com). Ms B is a member of The National Association for Music Educators, California Music Educator’s Association, The California Association for Music Education, Music Teacher’s National Association, and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers.
blogger bio
Brenda, known to her students as Ms B, grew up in Southern California and has always loved and been involved in music. By the time she graduated with honors from college with her degree in music she had performed in several dozen countries and most of the fifty United States. Along with her continued performing, she went on to teach private vocal lessons and singing classes for several years and formed and directed a choir of 150 children. Her deep love for music and early childhood education brought her to Kindermusik. In 2008, Brenda, along with her husband and three children, moved to the Santa Clarita Valley where she is a licensed Kindermusik Educator and director of Kindermusik with Ms B (www.KindermusikwithMsB.com). Ms B is a member of The National Association for Music Educators, California Music Educator’s Association, The California Association for Music Education, Music Teacher’s National Association, and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers.
Contact Information for Brenda:
Kindermusik with Ms B -a musical jump start for your child’s body, mind and soul.
www.KindermusikwithMsB.com
KindermusikwithMsB@gmail.com
661-312-5632
