Tag Archives: confidence

BABY EXPERIMENTS: THE VISUAL CLIFF

Posted on April 27, 2013 by donna| Leave a comment

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WHAT IS “SOCIAL REFERENCING?”

As a baby develops motor skills of crawling and walking that allow her to move around and explore,  she soon begins to look back at mom to see if it is OK to play with unfamiliar objects or to go around new corners.  In child development this behavior of looking back to a parent to see if something new or unfamiliar is OK is called “social referencing.”  Babies and children look to the adults they trust to provide them with clues to safely guide their explorations.  The clues often come from the parent’s non-verbal behavior, in particular the facial expression.

THE VISUAL CLIFF EXPERIMENT

Joseph Campos of the University of California at Berkeley conducted the now classic baby experiment that investigated the role of facial expressions in providing infants with the clues of whether or not to proceed when faced with the unfamiliar.      Using an experimental strategy developed in the 1950s called the Visual Cliff, he created a situation that was unfamiliar and somewhat frightening for the babies.  Infants between 9 and 12 months are placed one at a time on a plexiglass table with a checkered pattern.  In the middle of the table is a visual drop off which is created by replacing the checkered pattern table top with a strip of clear plexiglass.  This created the appearance of a sudden drop in the table although the surface is completely uninterrupted.  The baby is placed on one side of the table while the mother stands on the other side while holding an appealing toy.  When the baby crawls to the center strip where the drop off appears, they sense they change and the potential danger.  They look to their mother to see what to do.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND INFANT DEVELOPMENT

In the visual cliff experiment, the mother makes either a fear face or a smile/encouraging face as directed by the experimenter.  In most cases the baby responded to the fear face by choosing not to cross the visual cliff.  The mothers were trained to make the fear face by raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes, and opening their mouth.  When the mother posed a smile or encouraging face the baby confidently crossed the visual cliff to reach the toy.  Watch the above video from vooktv’s youtube channel to see the experiment in action.

PARENTING TIPS:  BABY CONFIDENCE

Parenting tips learned from this experiment include being clear to make an encouraging face when you child is trying something new that is positive and safe and making a fear face when the child is considering an action not desired or dangerous.    Spend some time looking in the mirror and exaggerating these facial expressions so they become very obvious.  Observe your baby to see when she looks to you as if to ask, “Is this OK?”  Provide clear clues for your baby as she explores the world around her.  This gives baby confidence to explore, play with a new object, by held by an unfamiliar relative visiting from out of town, and more.


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BOOK REVIEW: “RAISING AN EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT CHILD”

Posted on March 14, 2013 by donna| Leave a comment

BABIES AND EMOTIONS

Motor skill development and emotional development occur in babies during their first year.  Although we focus primarily on the development of motor milestones, it is important to discuss emotional development from time to time.  We have habits of how we respond emotionally just like we have movement habits that exercise teachers try and change.  Through a bit of education we can become aware of our habits and then improve them, whether it is our physical movement or expression of emotions.  Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child:  The Heart of Parenting, by John Gottman, Ph.D., is a book for parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and anyone else interested in nurturing the capacity of young children to feel and express their true feelings.  He introduces the concept of “emotion coaching” as he guides parents to the understanding that it is important to help a baby or child feel their true feeling in the moment rather than bury it.

MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND EMOTION COACHING

Emotions go hand in hand with learning movement.  From the joy of learning to execute a new movement to the pain of falling down, babies and children move through a range of experiences on a daily basis in both emotions and motor skills.  Parents can learn to react to these moments with baby through the simple steps outlined in Gottman’s easy-to-read book.  By learning to see the disappointment on a child’s face when her favorite toy just fell apart in front of her, a parent can first identify the emotion first and then provide a solution.  He also recommends a unique game for babies that allows parents to share the emotions of their day and invites baby to share her emotions in return.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN

One of the most valuable sections of this book is the list of books for babies and children that focus on emotions.  Selected books from this list makes a wonderful baby shower gift.  Adding books to baby’s first library that teach emotions makes a nice addition to a collection of books on colors, counting, and ABC’s.  After all, aren’t emotions also the colors of our life?

Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child:  The Heart of Parenting:  by John Gottman, Ph. D. (New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1997).


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BABY BOOKS: “CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM”

Posted on February 21, 2013 by donna| Leave a comment

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A-B-C BOOKS FOR BABY

Toddlers learn their A-B-C’s through songs and books.  One of the most popular songs taught in preschool or at home is the Alphabet Song.  A popular baby book for learning the A-B-C’s is “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault.  Reading and especially singing the A-B-C’s makes the letters of the alphabet familiar to baby through playful repetition.  The playfulness packages the learning as fun.  Think of singing as playful speech development. When parents sing the song to baby often, the child begins to learn the sequence of letters:  ”A, B, C, D, E, F, G, …”  The more familiar the child is with the song the easier the learning may be.  Babies enjoy listening to the Alphabet Song and would enjoy reading “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”  Add this book to baby’s first library and learn the song in the above video.

Many parents remember the tale from their childhood with a smile on their face.  The fun and energetic rhyme of alphabet letters climbing over each other to get to the top of the coconut tree is recanted through song in the above video from icnelly’s youtubc channel.  We love this version of the rhyme because parents can learn it and sing it to baby.  With its lullabye-like quality baby will enjoy it and soon will learn her A-B-C’s.  Books for babies such as “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” make an entertaining break during a motor skill play session and are useful for wind-down time prior to a nap.


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TODDLER DANCES A JIVE

Posted on November 28, 2012 by donna| Leave a comment

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BABY CONFIDENCE

Mastering motor milestones during baby’s first year leads to conquering the dance floor in year two, as little William demonstrates in the above video from Studie43′s youtube channel.  While at a dance hall event he seizes the opportunity to jive solo on the dance floor to the hit “Jailhouse Rock.”  Watch closely to see all of the details he picked up while watching his parents rehearse earlier.  William knows to stay in one place at times and other times to travel around the floor.  He knows to bend his knees and change levels.  He occasionally throws in a good jump.  William moves his arms from his powerful elbows and finds expression even in the movements of his fingertips.  At the end he enjoys taking a bow which is followed by brushing his hands as if thinking “Well done!”  This is a great example of a toddler who has developed a strong self-image by skillfully developing his coordination, stability, and strength by conquering the motor milestones of infancy.  We call these toddlers “Superstars!”

BABIES DEVELOP SKILL

Dictionary.com defines the word “skill” as ” with expertness” or “dexterity.”   Babies learn their motor skills with various degrees of aptitude.  With some gentle guidance and when given a lot of time and space to play with movement, they often improve their motor skills.  When a baby first learns to crawl her coordination may be awkward, but if given time, space, and hands-on cues, she soon crawls very fast across the room and up the stairs.  When given the opportunity to learn each motor skill “with expertness” a baby develops strength,   coordination, balance, stability, and ultimately the confidence to “bust a move” on the dance floor.  We see the relationship between the powerful use of the elbows in William’s jive and also in a baby learning the motor skill of rolling.  His ability to keep his knees bent reminds us of a baby learning the motor skill of standing.  The baby transitions from bent to straight legs many times which builds a lot of strength and familiarizes him with the variety of levels possible:  knees very bent, knees bent a little bit, and knees straight.  This is a skill used in most dance forms.  We see William dancing with his legs, his elbows, his fingers, and his smile!  William is confident, coordinated, and courageous!


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WHAT IS SKILLED MOVEMENT FOR BABIES ?

Posted on November 3, 2012 by donna| Leave a comment

baby climbs stairs with guidance from a motor skills teacher

THE CULTIVATION OF MOTOR SKILLS

“What is skilled movement for babies?”  Let’s begin by asking “What is skilled movement for adults?”  A skilled tennis player has strength, excellent coordination, and agility.  These skills begin in infancy where we develop our movement patterns in the brain and nervous system.  We all know that abilities are part nature (genetics) and part nurture (experiences).  Skilled movement lessons work with the latter.  They have to be “cultivated” through developmental guidance.  This includes learning parenting tips for hands-on coaching of motor skills at home, choosing toys for developmental play, and selecting baby gear that nurtures optimal development of muscles and bones.  Through an on-line guide for parents, private lessons, group classes, and virtual instruction, Stellarcaterpillar.com is your resource for cultivating baby’s skill development during this important first year.

 BABY’S FIRST YEAR

Motor skill development is one of the many frontiers of infant development.  Others include eating, sleeping, and speech development. Babies receive coaching with their speech development by imitating the sounds mom makes such as “BA, BA, BA,” which soon becomes “BALL.”  In each of these three areas, parents guide baby through her development step by step.

With motor skill development, it is not as well known how to coach the skills along the way.  For years, parents have seen only “delayed” or “disabled” babies receive movement lessons, so they often are not as aware of the value for a healthy baby.  They may see it as “therapy” for “a problem” rather than coaching for confidence and skill development.  Also, many people think: “baby will learn to crawl when she is ready.” Yet, many babies never crawl.  Some crawl after much frustration.  Others crawl without the most efficient coordination. This revolutionary new method, grounded in neuroscience and infant development research, provides a framework for baby to thrive. Our goal for baby is crawling with strength, coordination, and joy.

 WHAT ARE SKILLED MOVEMENT LESSONS? 

In a Stellar Caterpillar lesson, parents learn how to touch baby in a way that develops baby’s awareness of her body parts and prepares her to learn movement patterns.  Parents learn how to observe the mini-milestones that make up the large motor milestones so they can show baby the physical clue they need to get the most benefit from the skill they are learning.  For example, a baby in tummy time that struggles to lift her head may need a gentle push down on her pelvis to make it easier to lift the head.  It’s simple, but it works.  After one or two tries baby learns to keep the pelvis down and she lifts her head.  Now she will enjoy tummy time!

 TOP 3 BENEFITS OF SKILLED MOVEMENT LESSONS

  1.  Physical mastery.  Baby gains excellent control of her body through building strong bones and muscles, excellent posture, good balance, and stability.
  2.  Independence.  A sign of a healthy and happy baby is one that can move in and out of positions, travel across the room, and get her hands on objects. She discovers how to get into sitting and then to get out of it so she can crawl across the room.  This is very important since some babies put in the sitting position are “stuck” there (They did not get into it on their own so they can not get out of it either).
  3. A strong self-image. “I can do that” seems to be her attitude as she approaches each milestone.  Baby enters toddlerhood socially confident and eager to try new activities.

MOTOR SKILL COACHING—WHEN DO I START? 

The answer is: the sooner the better.  Lessons for newborns also help with colic, sleep, digestion, and crying.  The hands-on skills parents learn cultivate a clear image of the body in baby’s brain. This lays the groundwork for baby to learn how to move her body.  Parents learn how to choose toys that invite developmental play.  Discussions include which pieces of baby gear to avoid and which ones to buy.  For a limited time, the popular virtual lessons are available at a special introductory rate.  For those in the Los Angeles area, try a Stellar Caterpillar class!  Follow us on Facebook!


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BABY BOOKS: “INSIDE, OUTSIDE, UPSIDE DOWN”

Posted on September 20, 2012 by donna| Leave a comment

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BABY BOOKS TEACH CONCEPTS OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION

Reading books teach babies more than just how to say new words.  When selecting books for baby’s first library, think about what concepts the books are teaching.  Some books teach colors or numbers, some teach the names of animals, and others stimulate the senses through touch and feel.  Some of our favorite baby books teach concepts of spatial orientation.  This means that baby learns the difference between on and off, in and out, under and above, and more.  Baby learns these concepts in the context of the environment.  For example, in “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell the animals hide under the rug, behind a door, and more.  In Campbell’s story, the words “under” and “behind” are concepts of spatial orientation and the objects “the rug” and “a door” are the locations in the environment where these concepts occur.

BERENSTAIN BEARS BABY BOOKS

An outstanding baby book for teaching spatial concepts is “Inside, Outside, Upside Down” from the beloved Berenstain Bears collection. The main bear of the story takes a trip to town “inside a box” that gets placed “upside down” and  ”on a truck.”  Baby learns the concepts of inside/outside a house as well as inside/outside a box.  You can listen to a reading of the story in the above youtube video from NatalieStarfish’s youtube channel.  A clear understanding of where one is in space is one of the most important aspects of motor skill development.  This understanding develops a much higher level of skill in a child’s movement ability.  Begin teaching these concepts early through baby books.

Inside, Outside, Upside Down:  by Stan & Jan Berenstain.  (New York:  Random House, 1968.)


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