Posted on: October 26, 2007
From Baby to Einstein
Toys and games to make your kids smarter? It takes more than a product to make your child smarter – it takes you. Try these five things you can do today to improve your child’s basic skills
By Anna T. Hirsh
CTW Features
Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, Galloping Minds – the children’s educational video market is awash with colorful, pricey multimedia products and packaged smart-toys that claim to boost your child’s cognitive development from the moment it leaves the womb. However, recent studies suggest that not only are these claims false, but, in fact, parking your toddler in front of these popular DVDs and videos can actually lead to decreased language ability and a smaller vocabulary in children age six- to 18-months old.
“I think they’re dreadful,” says Jane Healy, PhD, an educational psychologist and author of “Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds – and What We Can Do About It” (Simon & Schuster, 1999). “There is absolutely no evidence that these products work. Rather than brain building, these products are brain eroding. They keep kids occupied, but the child is then taken away from occupying itself, taken away from independent thinking and learning how to self-motivate. Just putting the word ‘brain’ or ‘Einstein’ on a package doesn’t mean it will do anything for your child.”
So then, if you care more about your child’s relationship with learning than about Oscar-worthy animation, here is some expert advice on what you, the parent, can do to boost your baby’s brainpower – no remote control necessary:
1. Sit down with your child to play, interact and talk
It may sound simple, but with the stress and bustle of everyday life sometimes parents forget that their children are watching them, listening to them and learning by example.
“[Videos] may be entertaining but they are not educational” says Ari Brown, MD, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media, Elk Grove Village, Ill. “Studies show that children under two years of age do not understand the content or context of a televised program. But, if the same information is presented by a live person, an older infant or toddler will ‘get it’ and learn from it.”
“Be with your child,” Healy says. “Watch your children and respond directly to them. Your child’s brain is brilliant. It knows what it needs and will seek it out if you allow it the opportunity.”
2. Reading on a daily basis, starting by two months of age.
Reading with your child, even at a very young age, aids in their comprehension, critical thinking and understanding of the function of language. “Creating a lifestyle of learning starts in infancy,” Brown, author of “Baby 411” (Windsor Peak Press, 2003), says. “If reading/looking at books, for example, is just a routine part of a child’s young life, it will stick with him. The same actually goes for a diet heavy in television – but do you want that to be routine, too?”
By reading to your child, more of the focus is on language, providing your child with the building blocks – words – that will allow them the ability to express a need, ask a question, settle problems, write, read and more.
3. Keep unnecessary stimulation to a reasonable level
Keep in mind that it’s not just kid-targeted videos and programs that can be disruptive to your child’s learning process: Sometimes “SportsCenter” or “Ugly Betty” can be the culprit.
“Don’t turn the television on to watch your own shows while your child is around,” Brown says. “Background television is distracting for a child’s inner voice that they use to concentrate, not to mention something that distracts you from paying attention to your child.”
4. Make the most of teaching moments
It is a parent’s responsibility to provide materials, experiences and opportunities that the child can choose from as if selecting from options in a cafeteria, Healy says. The parent can then physically and verbally expand on that experience to increase their child’s understanding.
“If you are stacking blocks,” Brown says, “count how many you can put on top of each other. If you are at the grocery store, give the vocabulary word for each item you put in the cart.”
At the same time, Brown says, it is also highly beneficial to give your child independent play time starting as early as four months of age. “Learning by problem solving independently is powerful stuff!” she says.
5. Most importantly, have fun with your child
“There is too much stress and pressure on children today, to be like little adults,” Healy says. “Life doesn’t always have to be a lesson. Have fun together, laugh together, enjoy life – this something the rest of the world is not always going to be able to teach them.”
