Talking and Touching

Oral communication is an essential ingredient in a stimulation environment. From your child’s earliest days, make it a practice to talk to her while feeding, bathing and dressing her, for the sheer pleasure of it. Such interactions foster early language development, which in turn gives the child a powerful means of affecting her environment. The impersonal voices of television and radio do not create the same effect as your own; it is the direct, loving contact that encourages your youngster’s early play with words. You can also read to her. At first she will simply enjoy the sound of your voice. Later you can look at picture books with her, naming the objects shown, helping her points her finger at them and praising her when she makes the right connections.

Touch is another powerful form of communication. Hugging, holding and playing  pat a cake all express your loving acceptance while helping your child become familiar with the notion of her separate identity. But remember that whether you are talking to your bay eye to eye, showing her how something works or engaging in a family session or rough house play on the carpet, it is vital to have frequent encounters in which your attention is undivided, focused on her alone. However brief such episodes may be, your total concentration during this time underscores your for her, and tells her in a way she can understand how important and worthy a person she is.