This morning while at my local supermarket, I found myself intrigued by a mother and her infant. The infant was in its car seat fastened to the shopping cart. The car seat was propped up so the infant could see his mother. What drew my attention was that this mother was singing to her baby. As I inched my way closer I realized she was making up little verses about the items she placed in the cart. My favorite I heard was “we have the biscuits, we have the biscuits, and now all we need is the gravy, yummy yum yum, yummy yum yum”. I wondered if she know how much she was contributing to her baby’s language and communication development.
Language and communication development in infancy is important for emotional experiences, expressing needs, and relationships building. It also builds the framework for reading, writing, and communicating as the infant grows. During infancy babies require language, reading, and writing related experiences such as reciting songs and rhymes, finger plays, and reading books.
While observing this mother singing and interacting with her infant it was apparent that the baby was listening, absorbing, and anticipating the mother’s next words. As I was loading my purchases into my car the mother pushed her cart by me still singing.
This sounds like a great example of 'Child directed speech (CDS),' which we discussed yesterday in class.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is so great that the mother made grocery shopping into a learning experience to her child. There is so much to learn and so many different objects in a grocery store. And with the mother singing rather than just talking i'm sure kept the child a lot more interested in what he/she was learning about. -Elisabeth Arnold
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to do with your child at the grocery store! There are a lot of things children can learn just by sitting in the cart and watching their parent load all the groceries in it. What a great way to engage children and teach them the many things the store holds.
ReplyDelete-Kelsea Kreighbaum
Children love music. This mother was contributing to her child's development in so many ways. My girls are now grown, but I remember how much fun we had at Wal-Mart and the grocery stores. I would show the girls the items I put in the cart and tell them what it was but I never sang to them in the store. I like that mother's way of thinking. Making up those silly little songs is providing tools for that child to have later in life. I have a granddaughter that is three and she loves to make up and sing funny songs.
ReplyDeleteSusan Davis