Communication begins even in the womb.
Neuroscientists are discovering that babies love the sound of words. That is not something that would intuitively occur to a parent since it will be ten or more months into a child’s life before simple words like mama and dada start to be spoken.
Studies have shown that a child, up to the age of eight months, will notice very slight differences in the sound of two spoken words that children at the age of one-year, or older, will not detect.
It appears that we enter the world with an uncanny ability to detect language from our earliest weeks of life. And of the two genders, girls have a unique advantage. That’s because language processing takes place in the left hemisphere of the brain, an area that is more fully developed in a newborn girl than a newborn boy. Answering a mystery that has puzzled parents and educators for generations: Why do little girls generally speak their first words, and then first sentences before boys?
With the help of MRIs, magnetic resonance imaging, which first went into operation 32 years ago, and newer technology: PET, positron emission tomography, and CT, computed tomography scans, we are rapidly opening windows of understanding into the complex functioning of the human brain.
Boys have greater processing abilities in the right hemisphere of the brain, which explains their rapid adaptation to all things mechanical, from their love of building blocks to their curiosity with how machines are assembled and watching them perform. It also explains their greater ease with the abstract world of numbers and math.
In the earliest stages of learning, modern society puts a far greater emphasis on language skills and this is one reason why girls appear to be far better students. A lead they take with them into Kindergarten and keep throughout high school.
For both boys and girls, parents are wise to use words generously from the earliest weeks on. We’re all tempted to translate our words into “baby speak,” such as “See da pwetty puppy?” But in truth it would probably be wiser to say “What a beautiful puppy? Do you like baby dogs?” Better yet, if you can, repeat the same phrase over again in Spanish, or any other language you as a parent, or caregiver, might speak; the hungry brain of that infant your speaking to will absorb those words and much, much more.
That does not mean that at six months an infant will be ready to recite the Gettysburg Address, or the Beatitudes, but it will give the child a head start in their use of language.
One thing that has become clear, as we grow ever more sophisticated in our understanding of the brain and its language processing abilities; everything that we do to introduce new words to children builds on what we have done before. Today educators believe that children entering Kindergarten with a vocabulary of less than 2,000 words are at a disadvantage, particularly as it pertains to reading. Naturally a vocabulary of 3,000 words or more is even better. Best of all is a child with dual language capacity.
The natural instinct of an adult is to have a concern that this will somehow overload a child’s capacity. Apparently that is simply a myth. Children have a hunger and fascination for the sound of words. The earlier you feed that hunger the greater the gift you give them for a successful future.
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Other MVL Parenting Articles:
How an Empty Nest Can Improve Your Marriage
5 Very Important Things to Say to Your Teen about Sexting
Helicopter Parents: Grounding Your Natural Instincts
Sex Education, Part 1: What Both Parents and Teens Should Know
Sex Education, Part 2: Answering Tough Questions
Your Child’s 8 Different Forms of Intelligences
The Five Essential Messages of Positive Parenting
Parents, Beware of the Feelings Trap
Dating Violence: Is Your Teen Safe?
Is Your Teen Really Ready for College?
When Your Child Meets a Challenge
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