In conversations with other moms of young children, I’m often asked what are you teaching your LO or what is she doing new? I originally wanted to create a month to month learning system for my daughter but decided to take a different approach. I found it was best to nurture my LO by meeting her where she was. I didn’t start off with lesson plans. I also didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. Using the many resources available I was able to look into her monthly developmental stages to ensure I was supporting her where she was. I used apps on my phone such as What to expect and Baby Center to track where my daughter is and possibly should be. One developmental stage I found often throughout the first year was centered on building the child’s physical strength. The first 10-12 months of your child’s life they are learning how to operate their bodies. As they grow, they learn how much they can and cannot do with their bodies. They start off strengthening their body to be able to hold themselves up (tummy time) so they may crawl. Once they master that you’ll be building their confidence so they can stand, walk then eventually you’ll watch them take off running. During this stage our daughter was often bare foot around the house. This helped when she was learning to stand and walk. With nothing between her feet and the ground she was able to steady her balance and build her stability. Another focus area is hand/eye coordination and fine motors skills. Try giving them different sized toys - small and large- to pick up. It’ll help them learn how to use their little fingers and how to pass an item from one hand to the other. Keep an eye on them so they don’t swallow a small toy though. If you’ve started introducing solids, foods like cheerios or gold fish are great to get their fingers going. Having them pick up one at a time will help develop the '“pinch” movement using their thumb and pointer fingers. If you want to get the family involved with your LO’s development use what you have. One of our family bonding activities included our LO’s toy balls. My husband and I would play ‘tag’ throwing the ball at each other trying to hit the other. At first our LO just sat there and watched us play - probably wondering what we were doing. Eventually she started going after the toy ball. She’d so sweetly bring the ball to either one of us. She hasn’t quite started throwing the ball back at us but we know it’s coming. It’s a fun play time activity where she’s learning how to play with others. The toy balls are also good for developing her grip.
Moral of the story: be a kid, with your kid!
Regardless of where your LO is lean into their development. I had thoughts that I should be doing more during my daughter’s first year of life but I was being over critical. So long you play with them, have some reading time, turn on some music to dance with them and talk with them you’re helping them develop. Intentional quality time is a learning environment. They are learning simply by observing what you are doing, how you feel, how you make them feel, and they listen to the words you use. Take this as an opportunity to introduce your joys to your LO. You never know, it could turn into a shared love.
It wasn’t until my daughter turned 11 months that I really became intentional about teaching her. We worked on colors, sign language and attempted alphabet sounds. Learning our colors went so well! She was patient and quite attentive. We learned red, blue, yellow, green and orange in English and in Spanish. I used her toys to introduced one color at a time (ex. this is red, rojo). Each time I said the color in English, I’d also say it in Spanish. After saying the color a few times I’d show her another color (ex. this is red, rojo and this is blue, azul). Hiding both behind my back I would then bring the two colors back out in front of her. I’d ask her to pick the appropriate color (ex. which one is blue, azul?). She’d receive praise and affirmations when she selected the right color. If she didn’t, I would give her another chance. I’d let her know the correct color of the one she chose and ask her again to pick the original color I asked for. We did this activity for about 15-30 minutes depending on her attention span. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, family visits and unpredictable schedules our routine was thrown off. Time continued to pass without us working on our colors consistently. However we started working on other things. As I shared in my blog Baby Sign Language, I taught my LO how to sign some of her basic needs. This is only one step to teaching her how to communicate. And though she’s beginning to say more words, we still use sign language daily. Another easy learning activity is pointing to parts of your body. I’d sit my LO on my lap and point to our eyes, nose, mouth, etc. This, too, is an opportunity to show your LO how to isolate a specific body part. Wiggle your nose, blink your eyes, and raise your eyebrows. Again, you’re demonstrating what they can do. Now, our attempt to work on the alphabet at 11 months didn’t go so well. She wasn’t quite interested at the time. I tried a few times even a few different ways but decided I wouldn’t force it at the time.
Since my LO is 18 months now, I am reconstructing our learning time while working through discipline in every day situations. Though our day has set times for learning, a nap, meals, bonding and play I try to follow her lead. I don’t want to push her so hard to do a specific activity at a specific time that she ends up having a break down. I’ve set up a learning environment where she can play independently and space for us to learn together. We use our alphabet and numbers mat that will help learn letters and numbers up to 9. I’m hopeful this activity will continue to expand her love for reading. It’s the start of her recognizing sight words. We spend a great deal of time reading where we take turns reading to each other. I’ll have her point to the image in books and in return, she’ll take my finger to point at whatever she’s reading. I am mindful that children need structure in their day but also play time. One day during play time with her Daddy I noticed my LO she started counting with me. I said one, she joined in by saying two, three! I was shocked and excited! I couldn’t believe my ears. We say it so much when she’s wrestling with her Daddy that she’s starting to join me. I took this as a sign that she’s ready to start learning numbers. We have quite a busy summer planned. Between learning, discipline, and play time our days are full. We are working through her tantrums by leading the example. Though it may be tempting at times, don’t meet your frustrated child with frustration. Change their scenery and try comforting them.
Here are a few activities to consider when working on developing your little one:
Colors
Alphabet
Numbers
Cook meals together
Read, Read, Read
Sign Language
Paint with yogurt
Color/Draw
Go to the park - interacting with other little kids is good for their social skills
Puzzles + stacking - something that will help them working on their problem solving skills
Cleaning - they can help with everyday house chores like laundry, dishes, picking up their toys, etc. Develops a sense of teamwork and responsibility.
