Baby Einstein Blog

When I was in college, part of our course requirement in Psychology was to take Developmental Psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with the ways that personality, cognitive ability, and behavior change during somebody’s life span, with particular concentration on childhood development. There I met theorists like Erick Erickson, Carl Rogers, and Jean Piaget. I learned about infant reflexes, brain growth, and developmental milestones, among many others. 

Speaking about developmental milestones, they are the important developments of your child from birth to two years. I’ve encountered a lot of developmental milestones checklists since I was a student until my current teaching years. I feel like every mother should have one of her own, to keep track of their baby’s firsts

First part is from birth to 12 months. Some examples are:
*When you child stops crying because he sees you coming, he’s probably saying he knows he can count on you when he needs you.
*When he cries, goos, gurgles, whimpers, smiles, rubs his eyes, arches his back, turns his head away, or opens his eyes widely, he might be saying,
‘I’m sleepy’
‘I’m hungry’
‘I’m wet!’
‘I’m scared’
‘I’m bored…’
‘I’m overwhelmed’ or
‘I’m interested.’
*When he startles and cries at loud noises, he’s most likely sensitive to sounds. Others love loud sounds like vroom vrooms and weee weees, but not him.
*When he smiles and responds with pleasure when you talk, sing, or read to him, he’s saying he loves to talk and sing with you.
*When he cries or clings to you when a new person approaches, he’s probably scared because he doesn’t know this person.
*When he observes his own hands, turns from stomach to back and from back to stomach, creeps forward or backward, or crawls, he’s learning how to make his body do what he wants it to do. He likes to practice the movements he can do.
*When he looks at you and smiles when he has done something great, he might be catching your attention and makes you want to be proud of his early achievements. (:

Who would not know Mary who had a little lamb, Jack and Jill who went up and fell down the hill, and Humpty Dumpty who sat on a wall and had a great fall? How about Little Boy Blue and Little Miss Muffet? Or our friendly animals baa, baa black sheep, the three blind mice, and the owl & the pussycat?  

These are just some of the well-known and loved characters we met during our early years of schooling. They’re our preschool companions, posted in the classroom walls, roving in our books and singing in the classroom music players. I clearly remember my first schooling where I met Little Boy Blue. He’s the first songs & rhymes character my young mind got acquainted with. Little Boy Blue was hand painted in our classroom wall, and I couldn’t forget his picture sleeping under a haycock.

Songs, poems and rhymes are very helpful in our children’s early education. They are so much enjoyable to listen to. Even a very young baby likes a bubbly beat and rhythms that repeat. One time, my pregnant co-teacher told me her baby was bopping along with the nursery songs we were playing in our class, because she can feel her baby move.

Mother Goose rhymes are some of the most favorite rhymes through the years. Several rhymes may even be hundreds of years old, and they are still enjoyed by our children today. Song, rhymes and poems are used to help our kids learn things, like preparing them to read, basic concepts like counting, and values such as respect for people, doing your best, and taking good care of yourself. There are poems, songs and rhymes about people and animals, places and things, night and day, and even silly nonsense ones too. What’s more, there are also jump-rope rhymes, riddles, and tongue twisters for our children’s amusement.