Speak and communicate

If your nanny’s first language is not English

Friday, September 2nd, 2011 8:08 pm | By Stephanie Woo

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.

No more background music

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 9:30 am | By Stephanie Woo

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.

Class Difference and Language

Saturday, June 25th, 2011 8:16 am | By Stephanie Woo

Children of welfare families hear 3 million words a year at home. Children of working class families hear 6 million. Children of professionals hear 12 million. Big difference.