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Learning Early by Dorothy Einon

Published by Checkmark Books; 0-8160-4014-1; US; Jun. 99

Your newborn baby is completely helpless, with only a few innate reflexes to help him or her survive. Over just five or six years, your baby grows into a confident school-age child with a wide range of skills. He or she will learn physical coordination and gain the strength to walk. Language, social skills and logical reasoning develop, and increasingly you will discover your child's own unique personality.

This book explains what your child achieves at every stage of development. It discusses children's changing perception of their environment and shows how they explore the world around them. Learning Early will give you the confidence to help your child fulfill his or her potential. It suggests games and activities that are not only fun but also a real challenge to your child as well. A full understanding of the purpose behind the games will help you to encourage your child and build a sense of achievement.

Learning Early takes a practical look at the problems of parenting and includes many helpful suggestions. The book's reassuring approach will help you to enjoy your child's first few years as he or she develops the skills and self-esteem necessary for school and the wider world.

Author
Dorothy Einon is a lecturer in psychology at University College, London, with a particular interest in child development. She has researched the psychology of learning at Columbia University in New York and has studied and taught child development in different educational cultures from Japan to Canada. She has worked as an adviser to Fisher-Price Toys and appears regularly on radio and television.

Contents

Introduction 6
Chapter 1 Learning to Be Mobile 12
Chapter 2 From Standing to Jumping 26
Chapter 3 How the Senses Develop 42
Chapter 4 Developing Hand-Eye Coordination 58
Chapter 5 Learning to be Creative 78
Chapter 6 People and Objects 94
Chapter 7 Developing Intellectual Skills 112
Chapter 8 Learning About Space 132
Chapter 9 Learning to Use Language 150
Chapter 10 Acquiring a Sense of Self 174
Chapter 11 Learning to be Social 190
Chapter 12 Becoming a Self-Starter 204
Chapter 13 Head Start for School 218
Index 234
Acknowledgements 240

Excerpt

Introduction

As parents, we have a vital role to play in our children's development. By the time we hand them over to teachers at the age of five, most of their basic learning skills are in place. A happy, confident child who knows that learning is fun will breeze into school ready and willing to participate. Children who enter school confidently are more likely to sail out with their self-esteem intact and enhanced. Whether a child can add two and two or write her name is less important than developing her confidence in her own skills and abilities. Helping a child to realize that learning is one of the great pleasures in life is among the most important lessons we can teach our preschoolers.

If a child knows she "can" she will learn. If she thinks she "can't" she won't. Nobody gets it right all the time, but the child who believes that she can do it will persevere. Self-esteem is the key and that is much harder to measure than prereading skills -- and infinitely more important. Your child develops self-esteem through the knowledge that there are people in her life who will always love her, not for what she can do but for who she is. A child who is told every day in words and deeds that, of all the "Suzys" in the world, she is the best will gain such esteem. And, if she has self-esteem, she can retain confidence in herself and in other people's love for her in spite of making mistakes. A child who believes that she is only loved for what she can do will be undermined by failure and may become too frightened to try. A child who has unlimited love, support and praise has the knowledge and confidence to find solutions. She can take the knocks, feel the despair of failure, yet retain the confidence to try again.

Understanding how children learn
When children are born they can perceive little of the world around them and understand even less. Because their senses are not focused, they look without understanding what they see and hear without comprehending what the sounds mean. In the first few weeks they do not even realize that they are separate from the world around them. Why should they? They cannot control either their body or the world. In this respect, their previous life within the womb has not fitted them for life outside it.

Before a child can discover her world, she needs to find out where her own body stops and the rest of the world begins. To do that she must first realize that she can make things happen, which would be easy if she could control what her body did. As she cannot, it is no wonder that she needs a guide. In fact, she has two guides. One is an inborn development "package," which tells her when and what to be curious about and how best to induce those around her to help her find out. This package is described in the first section of each chapter. The other guide is her parents or caregivers. The more sympathetic, understanding and  consistent they are, the easier her task is. The second part of each chapter provides practical ideas to help you steer your child toward learning.

Underpinning each chapter are the keys to understanding and helping your child reach her potential -- love and knowledge. The well-loved child grows and blooms, and the caregiver who understands how she develops will provide her with the best possible start.

The ways that children learn
At first, children learn by trial and error: this is what all that exploring, poking and messing around is for. What motivates them is their delight in their own action and their parents' or guardians' pleasure in watching and encouraging them to learn. Later they also learn by imitating adults, copying actions and then intentions and interests. A child who watches you interacting with friends will want to develop her own social skills; one who sees you reading will want to explore books.

As children grow up and can understand what you tell them, they start to learn more formally by taking in what you explain to them. But however they learn, all children have their own personal mountain to climb. Not all of them scale the peaks, but with parental guidance they can set off from the best possible base camp. How far a particular child goes ultimately depends upon her individual ability, personality and determination, and more tangible factors like confidence and self-esteem -- as well as a little luck.

The rhythm of development
Children grow in fits and starts. Although your child will gain 10-12 inches (25-30 cm) in the first year of her life this does not mean she grows at a steady rate of 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) each week. She may gain a whole inch in a night then not grow at all for a month or so. Children absorb knowledge in the same way. They go on a learning "binge," then need time to consolidate their findings. They put their ideas together and work out how the new facts modify what they thought they knew.

Parents need to match this rhythm. Life should not be one huge cycle of activities. Children need quiet and busy times, routines and challenges, sensible and serious tasks balanced by games that are silly but fun.

Copyright © 1998 Marshall Editions Developments Ltd
Text © 1998 Dorothy Einon