Did you know that nursery rhymes are one of the best tools you can use to aid your young child’s language skills?

Not only do nursery rhymes engage the baby’s attention because of the bee-boppy rhythm that are inherent in them, but they introduce children to:

• new vocabulary
• rhyme and rhythm
• memory and auditory skills
• and very importantly, to “phonemes”, or the sound units that make up words

(*note: check out some very interesting articles about this here, here , here and here ).

Well, all that to say: nine months ago I became a mother.

One evening I found myself sitting in my rocking chair holding my son and thinking, “I should probably be singing him a lullaby”. So I began…”Hush little baby…*thinking, thinking *…on the tree top…*making stuff up *…why don’t you fall asleep…I think you’ll really like it”.

I sat there…stupefied. Somewhere along the road of life I seemed to have missed something. The only nursery rhymes I could seem remember with some semblance of the real thing were “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. What kind of mother was I? Why didn’t they have classes about this stuff in college?

Well, after that sad attempt of cooing my son to sleep, I decided to put lullabies on the backburner for a while. Not too long after that episode I was trying to find some songs to download on our I-Pod for my son to listen to and thought “Nursery Rhymes! I’m sure there are nursery rhyme MP3’s out there somewhere that I could download for us to listen to (and maybe I’ll finally learn a few!).”

I was excited to find this deal at E-Music (although back when I signed up, they were giving 75 free downloads! Oh, and don’t forget to CANCEL your trial period when you’re finished downloading the songs or they will charge you):

I’m sure there are tons of other offers out there like this. I personally downloaded “Diddle Diddle Doodle Doo” (Brian Melville & Caroline Sweeney) and “Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes” (by Radha).

The first time I hit “play” and my son heard the nursery rhymes being sung correctly (*cough, cough*) a smile spread across my his sweet little face. He loved it! Now every time I walk over to the I-Pod to hit play, he smiles with anticipation. And you know what else? I’ve got almost all of the songs memorized now (as does my poor husband - he could probably sing them in his sleep :))!!!

We’ve also invested in a book full of poems and nursery rhymes that we read to our son (since we believe that reading directly to our children is THE best) and it’s amazing to watch him really stop and listen to the poems that have VERY apparent rhythm.

Sometimes it’s hard to find time to squeeze in all of the lessons that we would like to teach our children in one day. A good way to take advantage of “dead” time is while you are out driving around. Instead of turning on a DVD player for your child to mindlessly vegg out on, go over memory lessons with him. Some things I’ve practiced with my preschooler while driving are:

AGE 2-3:

ABC’s

Counting 1-20 (Eng. and Spanish)

Colors in Spanish

Days of the week

Months of the year

Reciting child’s full name, and parent’s full names

Quoting Scripture Memory Verses

AGE 3-4:

Naming the Presidents (1-10)

Simple Math (Addition/Subtraction)

Counting 1-100

Counting by 10’s

Counting by 5’s

Naming the Continents

Naming what Continent she lives on

Naming what state she lives in

Reciting Her Home Address and Phone Number

More Scripture Memory Verses

Naming the Four Seasons

Naming and Discussing the 5 Senses

Practicing Spanish Phrases

And it’s always fun to sing with your child (without the radio)!!

Little Titus (12 mos. old) finally started signing to me! I was so excited when I saw his little hands form together to tell me “more”! Signing to baby is so important to me. I taught my daughter as an infant, and now I’m teaching my baby boy. At 10 mos. old my baby girl was able to tell me when she was hungry, when she wanted milk, when she wanted something (please), when she needed help (leading to a lot less frustration!), and when she wanted more of something.Imagine being able to empower your baby with the gift of communication! No more crying for their needs, no more whining for their wants. No more frustration on your part or his due to lack of understanding. I’m telling you, it is wonderful being able to communicate to your child before he develops verbal speech.

One of the myths of teaching baby’s sign language is that they will not develop verbal language skills. Studies have shown, and I can tell you from personal experience, that this is far from the truth! There are many proven benefits to teaching your baby sign language. Baby’s who sign:

• Speak earlier than non-signing babies
• Experience less frustration- less tantrums and tears
• Are much happier babies
• Develop significantly larger vocabularies
• Become better readers
• Have IQ’s that are at least 10-12 pts. higher
• Show more advanced language skills

The recommended age to begin teaching baby to sign is around 8 months. Some children do pick it up this early. Others may take a few months, but believe me, if you continue teaching they will begin to copy your motions and associate them with their meaning.

Some good signs to begin with are milk, and more. Others I would recommend are: drink, sleep, help, hurt, please, all done, and wet (for diapers). Of coarse, these are just basic words that baby would need to better communicate his needs to you. And You don’t have to stop there; once baby has learned a few signs, he can begin to form sentences: “More milk, please.”

Here is a good website I found with a visual demonstration of some signs. There are many good resources out there to teach you some common signs. Another good one that I really like is Baby Einstein: My First Signs DVD.

Here are some lesson tips to help you get started:

Teaching “milk”: When it’s time to feed baby his milk, before you give it to him say “Milk, milk”, and show him the sign. Then as baby begins to drink say it again, “milk, milk”, and make sure he can see your hand signing this again. Do this every time you give him milk! Ask, “Do you want some milk… milk?” Repetition is key.

Teaching “more”: Sit your baby down to a snack that he really enjoys, but just give him a little bit. Place the food container within baby’s sight. When he runs out of food, and obviously would like some more, ask him, “Do you want some more…more?” Keep saying it, “More?” Then give him a little more snack and say again, “More…more” showing him the sign repeatedly. Do this a few times in one sitting. Do the same thing every day. The more he sees you doing the signs, the faster he will begin to do it himself!

(Note: make sure that you don’t cause your baby to become frustrated. This will only discourage him. Don’t make him sign before you give him a snack until he has displayed the ability to do so.)

Teaching “please”: This is a good one to stop all of that undesirable whining! When baby drops something, and starts to point and whine, show him the sign for please and tell him, “Say please…please.” Keep showing him the sign and saying the word. Then take his hand and help him do the sign. Immediately after his hand has done the sign give him his desired toy, and tell him, “Good job! Please…please!” And repeat the sign again. Do this every time he whines for something, and before long he will begin signing please instead!

You can do this yourself. You don’t have to sign yourself and baby up for some expensive baby signing class! Check out a good sign language book from the library, buy one used on ebay, look around on the internet. The key is teaching baby to associate the sign with the meaning of the word through repetition, and positive reinforcement!

How can you really stimulate your child’s mental development? Spend time with him! Play with him, hug him, read to him, love on him! Relationships are the best fuel for a baby’s brain, and one-on-one attention is invaluable.

Obviously, though, you can’t spend every minute playing with your baby or your house would turn into utter chaos (just imagine the piles of laundry and dishes and your poor husband pleading for a warm meal)! So, you need to find balance.This is how I maintain my days:

Quiet Tasks (computer time, paying bills, organizing, crafts)

• I do quiet tasks during my son’s nap time since they usually take the most concentration and they are generally quiet and won’t wake up my son.

Loud Tasks (dishes, cooking, cleaning)

• These tasks usually don’t take as much concentration, so it’s easier for me to keep an eye on my son and answer his needs. I usually do these right after he wakes up from a nap and while he’s playing by himself (he generally likes playing by himself right after he wakes up).

Time with Baby (playing, cuddling, reading)

• When he gets bored of playing by himself we start our mommy and baby time. I also set an hour aside each day for my son and I just to play and have fun, apart from the times we play when he begins to get bored. My husband also has about an hour of Daddy/Son time each evening with my son.

Here are some ideas on how to stimulate your baby (these are some things that we like to do):

Mommy & Baby Fun

• Sit in our bay window and watch cars go by – son loves this! He totally zones out!
• I stack blocks, he knocks them down, I stack blocks, he knocks them down
• Read books
• Walk around the house to look at everything – he loves “looking” and being held
• Smell spices from the spice rack
• Take a bath – I think most babies love this – it’s so relaxing!
• Tickle time and play with mommy’s face
• I read poems to him – they are really “boppy” sounding (i.e. boppy rhythm) and I read them with a lot of wild expressions – he loves it J
• I zoom him around the house in his baby walker real fast
• Take him on walks outside and let him touch and feel leaves, sticks, etc.

Baby Alone Time (of course, this depends on their age – my son is 6 months)

• Play some fun nursery rhyme music for him to listen to (or classical) while he plays – my son smiles every time I turn it on!
• Mobiles, Jungle Gyms, Exersaucers and walkers are all very enjoyable to little ones and gives them a lot of activity
• Tummy time in front of mirror
• Give him balls to roll across floor
• Tie a ribbon (obviously be careful and keep an eye on this) to his foot and attach the other end of the ribbon to bells, metal measuring spoons, or something that jingles above him. When he kicks, the bells jingle – he learns cause and effect. It’s amazing how fast he’ll link kicking with jingling! My son kicked like a maniac when he figured out that he could make noise!
• Stuffed Animals – my son loves his monkey, Fred. He hugs him, puts choke holds on him, chews on his tail and gnaws on his ears.

Babies are constantly learning. Give them a variety of experiences to enjoy!

Babies love studying faces. They are fascinated by the different expressions and characteristics they see. Using this curiosity is a great way to teach the parts of the body, starting with the face. When you notice that your baby is looking at your face, use this valuable moment for a “lesson time”.

Take his little hand and use it to touch the different parts of your face. As he touches them, tell them what they are called. Let him feel your eyelashes tickle his hand as you say “eyes…eyes”. Kiss his hand as you say “mouth…mouth”. Wrinkle your nose as you tell him “nose…nose”, and so on as you name all of the parts of your face. Make it enjoyable, and if baby loses interest then try again later. You never want to force learning or make it unenjoyable.

After you’ve been doing it for a while baby will want to do it on his own, touching the different parts of your face. When he starts doing this you can begin asking him where parts of your face are; “Where are my eyes?” If baby finds them by himself, give excited praises for his accomplishment! And if he needs help, then guide his hand to the right place, and give him lots of praise for that too! Babies love energized encouragement; cheers and kisses. The next phase would be asking him where the parts of his face are.

Start with the basics; eyes, nose, mouth, ears. Then move on to hair, cheeks, chin, forehead. When baby has gained interest in this new game, and can point to their own facial parts, he is ready to start learning the rest of his body parts. Don’t overwhelm baby with all of the parts at first. Let them build up to it. Just add a few new parts at a time.

You will be amazed at how quickly baby will learn, but be patient. Before he can even say the words, he’ll be able to point his pudgy little finger to every part of his little body if you continue these lessons.

Keep having fun!!

A good beginner “lesson” for babies is teaching them animal sounds. Start off by getting your baby’s attention, either by putting him on your lap facing you, or maybe while you change his diaper, whenever. Then start naming common animals, and with your best imitation make the sounds of each animal. Say “The___ says____”. Repeat the sound each animal makes two or three times, so baby can better associate and memorize. Do this often; daily, or even several times a day if you can remember to do it. Eventually baby will be able to mimic these sounds himself!

Sometimes I would start to do this with my baby and then draw a blank! All part of the Brain-Dead Mommy Syndrome!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Dog- woof, woof

Cat- meow, meow

Bird- tweet, tweet

Frog- ribbit, ribbit

Duck- quack, quack

Mouse- squeek, squeek

Horse- neigh, neigh

Rooster- cock-a-doodle-do

Cow- moo, moo

Sheep- baah, baah

Pig- oink, oink

Owl- hoo, hoo

Bear- growl

Monkey- oooh-ooh, ahhh-ahhh

Snake- ssssssst

Bumble Bee- buzz, buzz

Donkey- he haw

Lion- roar

Elephant- you’re on your own! I can do a pretty good elephant, but spelling the sound is another thing!

Anyways, hope this helps get you started. The funnier the better, so animate not only your voice, but your face and body as well!

I need your advice…

A while back (when I was still “great with child”) my husband bought me an i-pod shuffle so that I could listen to sermons or audio books while washing dishes, folding laundry, etc.

I ceased using that poor ol’ i-pod once our son had arrived because I didn’t want to be walking around the house consumed with David Copperfield while my poor son was wailing in his exersaucer.

Being thoroughly sad that my still shiny i-pod was stuffed away in the closet collecting dust, I decided that I could use it to download music for my son. Using the Christmas money that my grandma gave me to spend on my son, I began to shop for a speaker dock that the i-pod shuffle would fit in…and here it is: The DREAMGEAR DGIPOD-985 Mini Speaker for iPod Shuffle

Cool, huh? It’s on a truck somewhere in America making it’s way to my house this very moment and I can’t wait to set it up in the nursery!

Now my goal is to find songs to download for Little Man to listen to. Any ideas or good websites I should check out?

I’m thinking Christian and classical, but I also thought a few children’s story downloads would be fun. Anyways, I need some guidance here!

I was thinking about a fun activity you could do with your sweet little bundle of love. Singing to baby is always stimulating and entertaining. I’m sure you already do this, but here are some ideas you might be able to use. Fun, but short, upbeat songs seem to bring smiles.

You can have a “Silly Songs Time” for a few minutes each day, if setting a specified time helps you to actually do this with baby, or you can just randomly sing silly songs throughout the day when the urge to do something goofy suddenly comes over you! Either way, baby will love watching an animated mommy sing with gusto!

Here are my favorites. Just the first verse or two is enough to entertain: