New
early childhood research from the University of Iowa and Indiana
University found that how parents respond to all that baby talk can
speed up a baby’s vocalizing and language development. That’s great news
for those of us no longer fluent in Baby talk.
Hang around babies long enough and you start
hearing things. From soft sweet coos to long monologues of
“dadadadadada,” babies talk a lot—even though we have no idea what they
are really saying! That’s okay. We don’t need to understand all the
words (or non-words!) to join in the conversation.
How Parents Respond to All that Baby Babble Matters
“It’s not that we found responsiveness matters,” explained co-author Julie Gros-Louis in a press release, “It’s how a mother responds that matters.”
In this six-month-long study, the research team watched the
interactions between a dozen mothers and their 8-month-old babies two
times a month for 30 minutes. During this free playtime, the researchers
monitored how mothers responded to their babies’ positive vocalizations
when directed toward them.
Researchers learned that how the mothers respond makes a big difference in the language development of their babies:
- Babies with mothers who responded to what they thought their babies were saying showed an increase in developmentally advanced, consonant-vowel vocalizations.
- The babbling of these babies became sophisticated enough to sound more like words.
- Over time these babies also began directing more of their babbling toward their mothers.
- Babies whose mothers did not try as much to understand them and instead directed their infants’ attention to something else did not show the same rate of growth in their language and communication skills.
Bottom line: Respond to all that baby babble!
How to Answer that Baby Babble with Music
Babies love the sound of their parents’ voices. Parents can feed that
love and grow their babies’ use of language at the same time by
singing, listening, moving, and dancing to music. After all, music is a
language parents and babies both understand. Musical activities, such
as those included in every Kindermusik class, help parents engage with
their children and be responsive to them. Here are ways for parent-baby
pairs and other caregivers and teachers to use music to support the
early language development of babies.
1. Engage in vocal play—one of the earliest stages of language development. Vocal
play is how babies’ learn to use the tongue, gums, and jaw muscles
needed to produce vowels and consonants. When caregivers participate,
too, they expose babies to the sounds that make up our language and
encourage them to practice taking turns communicating. Vocal play works
best when a parent and baby can see each other’s faces, making it easier
for a child to mimic mouth movements. Plus, this eye contact also helps
parents and babies bond.
Parenting Tip: Sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with your
little one. Pause after key parts of the song, such as “E-I-E-I-O” and
wait for your baby to respond. You can also explore the different sounds
the animals on the farm make like these families did in Kindermusik
class:
2. Let babies experience steady beat by bouncing to music. The
brain processes music in a similar way to how it processes language.
Research even shows that children who can repeat and create a steady
beat show increased neural responses to speech sounds when compared to
other children. Steady beat competency relates to a child’s ability to speak and read fluidly during the school year.
Parenting Tip: Put on some music and bounce to the beat with
your baby on your lap or on your hip. This lets babies experience steady
beat with their whole bodies. Try one of our favorite lap bounces: Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel.
3. Rocking the way to language development.
Gently rocking babies throughout those quiet moments of each day gives
parents the opportunity to combine vocal play and steady beat—and
receive 2x the benefits!
Parenting tip: At the end of the day or after a feeding, hum
“Hush Little Baby” (or another favorite lullaby) while you gently rock
or sway your little one to the beat. As with “Old MacDonald,” pause
during key phrases and wait for your baby to respond. Before too long,
your baby will grow into your toddler and be able to “rock” in a new
way, like this Kindermusik toddler does at home while listening to music
from class!
Throughout the Kindermusik experience, we use music to help parents
engage with their children, be responsive to them, and gain
developmental insights and practical tips along the way. After all, a
parent is a child’s first and best teacher.
No comments:
Post a Comment