Giving the Gift of Words

For centuries scientists have been confused about learning to talk. It turns out that a child’s brain cells are learning language even before babies are anywhere near ready to talk. So it is important for us to talk to a baby from the minute the baby is born. I try to tell the baby what I am doing “I’m washing your toes.” Point at things in the room and name them. “I’m closing the curtains, so that the room will be dark and you can sleep.” Tell the baby what I like. “This is my favorite music. I will hold you and we can dance." Thinking is not good enough. We aren’t giving the child the word unless we say it out loud. A big vocabulary is one of our most special gifts to a child.