I met a mother with TWO sets of boy/girl twins, 12 years old and 3 month old. There was something about her that was very generous – a big heart and big belly – the energy of a real Earth Mother!

Babies absorb all the language they hear around them. If your babysitter/nanny is not a native English speaker, ask her to speak her native language to your baby. You want your baby to hear the best version of a language and not ESL English because they will absorb whatever they hear. That goes for everyone around your baby.

Children under 6 are avidly absorbing language. However, they cannot screen out background music from what is happening in the foreground. If there is music in the background, they have a much harder time understanding and absorbing the spoken language around them. So when you direct any language at the child, even “Let’s have lunch” or “Let’s take a bath,” make sure the music is OFF. Ask your child’s teacher to do the same. When you play music for your child, enjoy the music. When you talk to them, enjoy the conversation. Don’t do both at the same time.