As parents, we are constantly being put in the position to say “no” to our children –and for good reason! “Can I have cake for dinner?”, “can I paint on the wall?”, “can I have (another) toy car?”. Those requests call for an automatic and definitive “No!”. Or do they? There can be more options than simply saying no to your child, options that are just as clear, but also show that you hear what she’s saying, and understand why she wants what she wants.
In Part 1 of this article we said that exposing your child to music from an early age has a positive effect on his social and emotional abilities in the future.
Findings of a study point out how children respond to music with joy and how this facilitates their expression and learning. Listening and singing about feelings also help toddlers identify the words that correspond to certain emotions. Clapping and singing to the song “If you’re happy and you know it” evokes feelings, even when there are no lyrics to the music. Studies examining 3-9 months babies show that, even at that age, babies can discriminate between happy and sad music and how this fosters social and communicative development. As music enables different emotions, it also provides the opportunity for children to be in touch with their feelings and, later, with the feelings of others.
Did you know that 1 of every 10 babies around the world is born preterm?
Researchers around the world dedicate their lives to find non-pharmacological early intervention methods, such as kangaroo care and music therapy, with the single goal of helping early development and minimize the adverse short- and long-term consequences of prematurity.
Music has long been recognized as an effective form of therapy that provides positive health benefits. Several studies have shown the effects music has on mental health. It reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, it’s even been found more effective than prescription drugs in reducing the anxiety of patients before surgery. Furthermore, researchers found that listening to or playing music increases the body’s production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells. This type of cells attacks invading viruses and boost the immune system’s effectiveness.
Play is an essential part of your child’s development. Here’s where he learns how the world works, develops relationships, and builds the skills he’ll need for everyday activities. An important part of this stage involves your little one learning how to explore and play by himself. Learning this provides him with opportunities to understand how objects work, be creative, foster his self-esteem, and get motivated to take on future challenges. As little as 9-10 months you can encourage your child to play alone while you remain nearby. How?
Around this time, you might notice that your little one gets a bit frustrated or fussy when he tries to express himself and fails. Your baby will enter a range of months in which what he understands and wants to say has not caught up yet to what he’s capable of saying; particularly between 8-24 months of age. That’s why, at the beginning, gestures and imitating will become vital. He’ll watch closely for your cues and try to imitate the words you say, as well as learning how to seek your attention or help. Crying might be the first option, and it’s totally understandable since he can’t put into words what he wants and that is frustrating.
We’ve previously discussed how your little one starts communicating through gestures since he’s around 5 months and how different types of gestures impact his learning process. We’ve also mentioned the discovery of how preschoolers use gestures to better understand a situation and how this correlates to their efficacy when doing a task. Here we’ll briefly talk about gestures and how they impact children’s problem-solving skills.
Around this time, you’ll notice that your child is starting to understand simple concepts like the difference between big and small. As you continue to foster his cognitive development, you’ll see how he starts understanding numbers, spatial prepositions, and makes mental representations of an object. You might notice that he even understands a lot more words than he can say. It’s been demonstrated that adults and children express their cognitive understanding through gestures before they are able to put it into words, especially when learning something new.