Child Development in 2011

Last week Jack and I (and visiting Grammy) went to a little mommy and me class that was focused on child development from 6 months to 12 months. A lot of the stuff I already knew but the woman leading the seminar brought up a few interesting points that have stuck with me.

First, someone asked about when they should start giving their child a crayon or pen or pencil. This led to a discussion about how writing skills are becoming more and more delayed in children. Babies at home don't see their parents writing as much as they used to. Adults no longer write checks at the grocery store. We type emails instead of write letters. We pay bills online rather than through the mail. Of course, I'm very old school because I still write thank you cards and Christmas cards, and keep a calendar in the kitchen that I write on. So I'm hoping I am doing enough of that.

The second conversation was about verbal skills. Turns out that verbal skills are also developing slower in babies because they don't hear as much conversation. People are isolated in their homes, no longer friends with neighbors, etc. We spend a good portion of the day surfing the web, typing emails, and texting on our phones. Babies don't hear their parents talk on the phone as much. This is all definitely true for me unfortunately. Since I'm home alone with Jack all day, I don't often talk on the phone. I mean, I talk to Jack obviously and we go for walks, but I am not talking to adults all day. I'm often texting or on iChat with my husband all day but obviously that's silent. The instructor's advice was to just read everything aloud, as silly as it might seem. But read aloud the website you're looking at. Tell your baby what you're texting or emailing.

Anyways, I just thought it was interesting and thought I'd share. :)