Children are born ready to learn. Each new experience is a learning experience, and the connections that these early experiences make in a baby's brain are the most important ones of all. Like building a house, what comes first lays the foundations for what happens later on.
At Goodstart Early Learning, we help educate and care for children in the early years of their life from infants to pre-schoolers. This is the first in a series of posts about the four stages of a child's development within those age groups.
How babies learn
Learning at this age occurs through everyday routines. Activities like nappy changing, feeding, cuddling, waking up and going to sleep are all opportunities to introduce experiences that will help infants learn about moving, communicating, understanding their surroundings and forming relationships with other people.
These simple activities help babies' brains make positive connections and teach them to feel confident and secure and make sense of new ideas and information, as well as helping them to grow a healthy body.
Ways to encourage learning
Babies develop best when they have regular interactions with individuals who can read their cues and respond to their needs.
Talking, singing, listening, playing, moving, feeding, watching and touching are just a few ways to nurture babies' early intellectual and emotional development skills to help provide strong foundations for ongoing learning.
Take note of your baby's unique personality - do they like noise or quiet? Lots of activity or not much activity? Bright colours or faces? How do they communicate when they have had enough of something? Learn your child's cues and you can help them feel respected and cared for as they learn.
Everyone wants their baby to have the best possible start to life. Providing them with a caring, loving environment, where they are valued and their abilities, interests and routines are respected and followed is the best way to give them what they need.
Continue reading about the next stages of a child's development with the rest of our four-part series.