The Talking Baby

I just finished a new book written by a husband and wife team, Jeremy and Karina Sweet, titled The Talking Baby.  Jeremy and Karina are a father and mother who are able to speak from personal child rearing experience. Additionally, Karina has experience as an elementary school teacher.  The book is designed to help parents learn not only how to communicate with their child, but also to help a child gain the desire and confidence to speak sooner. Although the book is thin, it is full of ideas to incorporate into your daily life and written in an easy-to-understand way for parents.   If babies were born with an instruction guide on how to communicate with them, The Talking Baby would be that guide.

The book is 56 pages long and divided into 20 parts, with 16 of those being the communication tips and techniques.  Each tip is explained and examples are provided, including numerous examples of exactly how to say things to your baby to encourage communication and learning.  Just a few of the communication tips to use with your child are words to start with, use of repetition, reading books, introducing a foreign language, and how to praise.  The tips are presented in easily digestible parts, usually only 2-4 pages long.  This is great for busy parents and parents of newborns who do not have time to sit down and read a long book.

As stated in the conclusion of the book, my advice would be to start with a couple of the communication ideas presented and incorporate them into your daily routine.  It would be overwhelming, if not impossible, to do all of these tips at once.  My guess is that many parents may already be using some of these techniques naturally with their child.  However, I would recommend this book to parents who feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to start communicating with their child or for others who may be looking for ideas to jumpstart their child’s communication skills.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book to review from the author. No compensation is being received for this review or from any sales of the book.

Teaching Kids About the 4th of July

Last year when Bubby was 2.5 years old, I started teaching her the basics about the 4^th of July.  I told her it was the American flag’s birthday, because at that age she was really starting to grasp what birthdays were all about.  So this is what she learned at that age:

• The date: July 4^th

• It is the American flag’s birthday (because she had no concept yet of what America or the U.S. meant, but did know what the American flag was)

• What the American flag looks like- stars and stripes, and colors red, white, & blue

• The flag has several names: American flag, Stars & Stripes, Old Glory, Star Spangled Banner

• Usually people set off fireworks to celebrate

Now that Bubby is another year older (3.5 yo), I am able to build on her prior knowledge.  This year we talked about:

• Vocabulary: independence, freedom, anthem

• The Declaration of Independence (I have a laminated copy she can look at)

• Important men signed the Declaration because they didn’t want the King of England telling them what to do in America, especially since he lived so far away! (We looked at a map to see how far it is from America to England.)

• Important people during this time:  She loves cutting and gluing so I copied a worksheet with the pictures of 8 important people with a short description.  She put them on construction paper and is learning the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and King George III.  I didn’t go into any more detail about who these people were this time since it is a lot of information, but will definitely be able to build on this next year.

• Symbols of America: Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, Bald Eagle.  I printed out drawings of these (and a few other pictures) from the internet which she colored and we put them together into a 4^th of July coloring book.

• Washington D.C. is our capital and where the President lives and works (and locate it on a U.S. map)

• The “Star Spangled Banner” is our national anthem (and we listened to it)

I hope this gives you some ideas to start with, especially with younger kids.  Sometimes it is hard to know how to explain something in simple terms, or in a way that children can relate to.  I feel it is always best to start simple, especially with something that is tangible (like the American flag) and build from there.  Next year I am thinking Bubby will be able to understand more, and might enjoy one of the educational programs on the History Channel.