Articulation Exercises – Developing Language

Today I share some articulation exercises for language development in children starting from the first year of life.

Speech sounds are produced when the organs of articulation perform a complex set of movements. We correctly pronounce the different sounds as separately so in the speech flow due to the strength, good mobility and differentiated work of the organs of articulation. Thus, pronunciation of the sounds of speech is a complex motor skill.

Already in infancy a baby performs lots of different articulation and mimic movements with the tongue, lips, jaw, accompanying these movements with diffuse sounds (babbling). Such movements are the first stage in the child’s speech development; they exercise the speech organs in natural living conditions. Accuracy, power, and differentiation of these movements are developing gradually in the child.

Games in Early Child Development

In this article I cover a topic about the importance of games in early child development.
It is known that people distribute all their energy conventionally among such areas of life as:

• work (direct action);

• contact with the surrounding world (friendship, communication, love);

• interests (hobbies);

• and the body (aimed at maintaining the beauty of the body).


A game is the dominant activity of a child, in which all the described above areas of activity overlap. In other words, life and play are almost inseparable for the child, but namely a play provides his development.

Milestones of Baby Development

According to the milestones of baby development, a 3 month old baby must be able to reach for the toys hung over him, get a finger in her mouth, to hold a rattle in his hand. A 4 month old baby must consciously reach out for the object he liked, and in a month, he must put a thing from one hand into another one, etc.

Every day the baby’s movements become more precise and skillful, but ... For your baby to develop in accordance with the described rules, you have to help him a little. After all, biology just determines the potential of the child, but he can develop only if he gets appropriate training.

Importance of Nursery Rhymes for Babies

Let’s speak today about the importance of nursery rhymes for babies. Your speech, full of literary and artistic forms of expression, will necessarily lead not only to the development of a child's language and improve its understanding, but will also contribute to the enrichment of his aesthetic and emotional outlook.


Choosing nursery rhymes

While choosing chants and rhymes for your baby you should keep in mind that it should be a harmonious rhyme that will cause a rich range of aesthetic experience in you. Do not worry if you see that the baby does not understand you. Remember that he sees, hears, feels and absorbs everything like a sponge. He sees your example of attitude to poetry.

What are Musical Education and Musical Development?

Have you ever asked yourself "What are musical education and musical development? How music influences my baby’s development". In today’s article I want to introduce you to musical education to help you encourage the development of your baby’s musical abilities.

So, musical education is a purposeful shaping of the child’s personality by the impact of music - formation of his interests, needs, aesthetic attitude to an individual.

Musical development is the result of formation of a child during the active musical activities.

And musicality is a number of abilities that help the child manifest himself in different musical activities: listening to music, singing, movements, musical creativity.

The more often your baby communicates with music, the more musical he gets; the more musical he gets, the happier and more welcome are his meetings with it.

Healthy Immune System in Babies

Maintenance and development of healthy immune system in babies is, in my opinion, the major task of parents after providing them with safety, nutrition and love. And what gift could be better than a strong health for the whole life?

Initially, a newborn has a good immune system (provided that pregnancy and childbirth were normal and a child was born healthy and with no abnormalities), which he gets from his mother. When being breastfed, a baby has a strong immune system up to six months. But if a baby is fed baby formula, he starts being ill earlier.

In any case, a baby initially has a strong immune system. The task of parents is at least not to weaken it, or better to boost it greatly. The best way to stimulate the immune system is to constantly train it, i.e. it should be forced to always work (but not with full strength).

To maintain immune system in a constant state of readiness to work against diseases, you can do the following actions:

Put few clothes on your baby. This does not mean that the baby has to feel cold. If the body temperature between the shoulder blades on the back is normal, then the baby is warm, even if his hands and feet are cold. Overheating is more dangerous for babies.

Emotional and Social Child Development Stages

In today’s article I focus on peculiarities of emotional and social child development stages.

Have you noticed how it is interesting to watch the development of your baby? How your little one not just learns something new every day, but also shows in his own way the things he has learned and mastered. In my opinion, emotions are the most fascinating thing your baby is beginning to show while trying to communicate with you.

So let’s talk in details about peculiarities of social and emotional development of your little one within the first year of life.


1 months

• Baby is active for one hour during the day;
• he cries when he needs help;
• calms down when taken in your arms;
• his face looks indifferent and does not express anything when being awake;
• is able to establish eye contact;
• responds to your voice;
• adapts his position in the hands of the person who holds him;
• looks at your face in response to your smile.

Father and Child Development

In today’s article we are talking about father and child development. Is father necessary to care of his child or it is only the mother’s duty? How to inspire the father to participate in his baby’s development? Let’s try to find answers to these urgent questions.

Many women often face the fact that their husband is afraid to take the baby in his arms, refuses to stay alone with him, is not able to change a diaper. Being free not to care of his baby,the a father cannot have fun and joy of communicating with the small child and he really believes that the baby needs only the mother and his health and normal development depend only on her. But it is not true! Father‘srole in raising his child is great. His care, education and communication with the baby affect the physical, mental and intellectual development of the child.

Family as the Main Parenting Institute

Traditionally, a family is the main parenting institute. A child will keep everything acquired in his childhood throughout the rest of his life. The importance of a family as the main parenting institute is due to the fact that a child spends most of his life in it, and none of the institutes of education influences a person as long as his family does. Family lays the basis of child’s personality, and he is a half-formed person when it’s time to go to school.

A family can be both a positive and a negative factor of parenting. A positive impact on a child's personality is that no one but those closest people to him in his family, the mother, the father, the grandmother, the grandfather, the brother, the sister, do not care of the child and do not love him better and stronger as they do. And at the same time no other social institution can potentially cause so much harm to the education of a child, as his family can do.

Family is some kind of a team that plays a basic, long-term and important role in their child’s education. Anxious mothers often have anxious children, ambitious parents so often suppress their children that an inferiority complex starts developing in them; an intemperate father, being angry at the slightest provocation, unwittingly and often shapes the similar type of behavior in his children, etc.

Develop Creative Mind in Babyhood!

For a child’s life to be easier in his future, for him to easily solve different tasks, to find friends easily, to be interesting for other people, and so on, it is important to develop creative mind in babyhood. Let’s consider why.

     -   Do not talk nonsense!
     -   Let's be realistic!
     -   Stop inventing!
     -   Do like all people do!
     -   Slow down!
     -   Be serious!
     -   Do not laugh!

How often we have heard these words from significant people to us, and how we were totally confused for a long time, were deprived of the ability to move on, were deprived of creativity. And what is creativity? It is a process of free self-expression; it is the growth of a personality. "Do not talk nonsense!" From whose point of view is it nonsense? The threat of external judgment and critical censure creates fear in people that they can make mistakes and, as a solution of the problem, these people do not do anything, they do not develop. And they live their lives being gray mediocrity.

Benefits of Newborn Baby Massage

Massage for baby is a great way to strengthen the child's body, as well as to prevent and treat various diseases. But what are the benefits of newborn baby massage and how to perform it properly, so as not to harm a baby?


Benefits of newborn baby massage

An infant’s skin is very susceptible to various influences, so the first few months of baby's life are the best time for massage.

Baby massage helps to speed up his mental and physical development. Such procedures have a tonic influence on the baby’s body. Massage helps the musculoskeletal system strengthen, to stimulate bone growth, to increase metabolism, helps muscle tone to get aligned, work of the heart to become regulated and to activate blood circulation.

Regular massage helps to prevent and treat such diseases as rickets, constipation, flatulence. Due to massage some parts of skin are being irritated affecting certain internal organs. Infant massage promotes the renewal of the epidermis and improves thermoregulation of the body.

What about Day Schedule for a Baby?

It may seem strange, but lots of baby’s skills, so important for him to be raised properly and his personality to be rightly formed, are being developed form the first days of life. Following the day schedule and daily routine are one of these qualities. Daily routine of most babies can be disrupted; they don’t distinguish between times of the day and easily mix updays and nights. 

As for feedings, it also requires your parenting impact. The baby might want to eat whenever he wants to, he can start acting up, crying and demanding attention. It is important in such cases to gradually accustom him to day schedule and specific meal times. Thus you will greatly simplify your life and teach your baby about order and discipline. Of course, this process requires patience and time; it will be difficult for your baby to understand what you want from him and why you don’t feed him. He can start misbehaving and crying and you should entertain him in such moments. You can play with him, try to cheer him up, give him his favorite toy or just talk to him. Eventually, the baby will get used to the fact that it is necessary to eat at certain times, but not when he wants to.

How to Talk to Babies

It is recommended to mothers:
 

-   To prohibit only what really must be prohibited;

-   When saying “no”, use only anxious expression and intonation;

-   Think out this problem seriously and find a solution. Obviously, for different child-mother pairs there will be different optimal solutions.

What mothers should not do when talking to the child? Here are some advices:

-   Repeat (imitate) the child’s sounds and actions and add something new to them;

-   Actively use gestures;

-   Understand what the baby tries to tell you, i.e. tell him what he would say if he could speak;

-   Point to the objects you are telling about to your baby;

-   Say the names of people and objects that your baby is interested in;
-   Tell him in simple phrases what is happening now;

-   Emphasize on the keywords ;

-   Repeat the same thing several times. 

Why is this behavior beneficial? Here are some explanations.