Parents are an infant’s main source of information about the social world. Practically from day one, an infant is reading his parents’ facial expressions, noticing their tone of voice, and watching their gestures. Even at this early stage, he’s using this information to develop skills related to social and emotional development.
We have talked and written about the importance of healthy brain development for about a decade, and we were often the lone voice on this subject in our community.
It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but for our youngest children, there is no substitute for the millions of words that they need to hear in their first years. The more parents talk with their child in those early years, the more likely their child will excel academically later in life.
For many of us, the New Year is an exciting time because of the promise of unexpected surprises and new opportunities.
The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions goes back centuries, and most of us in the closing days of this year will reflect on our priorities and make our own declarations for 2014. As singer-songwriter Brad Paisley has said: New Year’s Day “is the first blank page of a 365-page book.
The holiday season is underway: Many Memphis families recently finished celebrating Hanukkah, others are getting ready for Christmas in less than a month, and still others anticipate Kwanzaa shortly thereafter. At this time of year, we are often asked: “What is the most important thing for parents and families with babies and toddlers to remember during these special times?”