WordWorld: The Land of Early Reading

WTTW and PBS Kids have brought another fine educational show to the air. WordWorld is a computer-animated television series, which promotes literacy for small children who are just beginning to develop reading skills.

WordWorld is an innovative series, because it presents words in an entirely new way. Most shows for early readers present words on the screen next to puppets, cartoon characters, costumed people, etc. This approach is okay, but the on-screen characters tend to distract children. Most children will tend to focus on the talking characters and pay little attention to the words on the screen. The problem is that, children will not even look at the screen unless there is something entertaining to see. The reality is that the characters have to be present to hold the children’s interest.

WordWorld offers a creative solution to this dilemma. In WordWorld, the animated characters, WordFriends, are made of words. For example, the letters D, O, and G form the dog’s body, and the letters P, I, and G form the pig’s body. Going a step further, WordWorld is filled with WordThings. WordThings are objects made from letters. For example, the letters B, A, R, and N form a barn. This is a wonderful approach, because the show can hold the interest of children with characters while simultaneously getting children to look directly at words. Since the characters are made out of words, the children wind up focusing on actual words, which just so happen to form the named objects.

WordWorld is true to its name. WordWorld is a world composed of words and a wonder place for children to begin learning about words. The imaginative producers of this brilliant show should be commended for how they have permanently raised the bar for educational television.

Developing Brains Need Iron

Research is continuing to indicate that iron is extremely critical to early brain development. Iron deficiency anemia is a common condition for young children who are not receiving enough iron in their diets. The danger is anemia can lead to a permanently low intelligence quotient (IQ).

Iron is important because it is an essential part of hemoglobin (Hb). Hemoglobin is what allows the red blood cells to transport oxygen to the body cells. Lack of hemoglobin limits the blood’s ability to feed the cells, which therefore limits tissue growth.

Essentially, iron deficiency anemia results in a lack of oxygen in the body various tissues. When tissue is starved of oxygen, it fails to grow and can suffer permanent damage.

Brain development is of primary concern when considering the effects of iron deficiency anemia on young children. Brain tissue in unborn and young children is under constant development, and an adequate oxygen supply is absolutely critical to proper brain formation. An inadequate oxygen supply can result in an underdeveloped brain with permanently lower cognitive ability.

For this reason, pregnant mothers should be certain to consume enough iron throughout their pregnancies, so that the developing brains of their unborn children can benefit from proper oxygen levels. (Note 20% of women suffer from anemia during pregnancy.) Parents should make sure that their children continue to receive proper amounts of iron throughout childhood.

Iron is available from many sources, such as beef, green leafy vegetables, raisins, dried apricots, almonds, etc. A diet with plenty of Vitamin C is also advisable, because Vitamin C aids in the body’s absorption of iron.

If you are concerned about your child’s iron levels, ask your pediatrician to test your child’s hemoglobin level. The hemoglobin test is a simple blood test that requires a quick prick on the toe or finger and a small blood sample. In many cases, the results of a hemoglobin test can be available in as little as a few minutes. (Note: Pregnant women should also be tested for anemia.)

Correcting iron deficiency anemia is fairly simple. If your or your child is anemic, the doctor will be able to prescribe a diet that will include proper iron levels.

Your Baby’s First Noun

A breakthrough moment in a child’s language development is the realization that objects have names. You can help your child reach this breakthrough moment by repeatedly exposing your child to a single object and stating that name of the object.

The best object to use is a ball. The object is extremely simple, so it is easy to process and remember. The word ball is short and simple to understand.

To teach your child the meaning of the word ball, choose a solid-colored ball. Red is the ideal color for this ball since red is visually striking and babies develop the ability to see red at a very early age.

At random times throughout each day, hold the ball one to two feet in front of your baby’s eyes. Look your baby in the eyes and clearly speak, "Ball." Move the ball slightly to refocus the baby’s attention and repeat, "Ball."

Repeat this up to five times and then offer the ball to your baby. To let this lesson sink in, allow your baby to play with the ball for as long as he or she wishes. Repeat this process a few times each day.

Eventually, you will see a glimmer of understanding in your baby’s eyes. Your baby will eventually comprehend that the object has a name. Your baby will know that the word ball is not just a sound that comes from people’s mouths, but a word with actual meaning. Once your baby gains the understanding that objects have names and words have meanings, your baby will begin to travel down the glorious path of understanding language.

To Sign or Not to Sign

A few years ago, it became stylish to teach babies how to communicate with sign language. Teaching babies how to sign has grown in popularity, and many are debating over whether sign language is beneficial, innocuous, or harmful.

It is true that babies can learn sign language effectively. Toddlers are even better at it. The benefit of a child being able to sign is that he or she will be able to communicate long before he or she could possibly speak. The child may also gain an early understanding of the interactive nature of communication. Clearly, these are positive aspects of teaching a child to sign.

Teaching a child to sign has its negatives, however. If a child can effectively communicate wants and needs through sign language, he or she will have little to no incentive to speak. Learning to speak is an extremely difficult task. The child has to experiment over and over to learn how to manipulate the mouth to make proper sounds. There is no incentive to struggle with the pronunciation of the word milk when one can just hold out a hand and squeeze the fist to make the sign for milk.

Learning to speak is a highly important developmental milestone. Unfortunately, some children have a great deal of trouble learning to speak. A delay in speech skills may be a small problem at first; however, the problem compounds rapidly as the child ages and approaches more advanced developmental steps. Since it is possible that relying on sign language may delay a child’s speech development skills, the parent should carefully consider whether the benefits of signing are outweighed by the potential risks.

Schoolhouse Rock Still Rocks

Anyone who was around in the 70s and early 80s remembers those Schoolhouse Rock music videos that came on during ABC’s Saturday morning cartoons. Animated shorts with catchy tunes like “Three is a Magic Number,” "Conjunction Junction," “I'm Just a Bill,” and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" taught the children of America about math, grammar, civics, etc.

Emmy Award-winning Schoolhouse Rock was the brainchild of David McCall, an advertising executive whose son was having trouble learning multiplication tables but seemed to have an excellent memory for pop song lyrics. McCall decided the solution to his son’s troubles was to marry education and music, and thus began the songs and animation that eventually became, the edutainment phenomenon, Schoolhouse Rock.

In the years that followed, David McCall with help from George Newall, Tom Yohe, Bob Dorough, Radford Stone, Lynn Ahrens, et al., tackled material in almost every area of elementary education. The result is a few dozen three-minute music videos that make learning fun and remarkably memorable. If you grew up during the Schoolhouse Rock era, I’ll bet you still remember the lyrics to some of those songs and still have not forgotten the lessons they taught you. Can you believe that was twenty to thirty years ago?

The good news is that all of these Schoolhouse Rock videos are available on DVD, and the subjects they cover are still relevant. You can take an enjoyable stroll down memory lane while your child has a blast learning about all sorts of subjects.

The comprehensive Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD is available from most DVD retailers and generally costs less than $15. Please note that this material is geared toward elementary school children. Preschoolers will be able to enjoy the music and animation, but will probably find much of the subject matter too complex to understand. Also note that this Schoolhouse Rock DVD is controlled by Disney, so prepare to be assaulted with commercials when you press the play button.

Having a Ball with Colors

When your baby is able to sit upright on his or her own, you may want to begin introducing the concept of color. It’s best to start simply by using balls of different colors.

Begin by selecting two balls of complimentary colors. The balls must be the same size and material. Color should be the only difference. The color difference needs to be obvious to avoid confusing the baby.

The best complimentary color combination is a blue ball and an orange ball. A yellow ball and a purple ball would be an acceptable combination; however, do not use a red ball and a green ball. Even though red and green are complimentary colors, there is a chance that this color combination could be problematic. If your child has red-green blindness, this color combination will make the exercise unproductive and possibly stressful for the baby. (Click here for more information about red-green color blindness.)

To begin the lesson, take a blue ball and an orange ball in each hand. Present the balls to the baby. Shake the blue ball slightly to get your baby’s attention and say, "Blue ball." Then, shake the orange ball slightly and say, "Orange ball." Repeat this several times.

Continue to repeat this process a few times each day. Eventually, your baby will catch on to the color difference.

When you believe that your baby understands the concept of color difference, place the blue ball and the orange ball a few inches apart on the floor in front of your baby. Point to the balls. Ask the baby which is the blue ball. There’s at least a 50% chance that the baby will point to the blue ball. If the baby chooses correctly, clap your hands, cheer, and exclaim, "That’s right! Blue ball." If the baby chooses the orange ball, gently say, "Orange ball." Then point to the blue ball and say, "Blue ball."

To let the lesson sink in, let the baby play with the balls for as long as he or she wants. Repeat this lesson a few times each day. Eventually, your baby will be able to correctly identify the blue ball without fail.

Once the baby can consistently identify the blue ball, begin asking the baby to point to the orange ball during the lessons. Eventually, the baby will be able to consistently identify both the blue ball and orange ball.

Once you are confident that your baby fully understands the difference between the blue and orange balls, introduce a yellow ball to the set. Continue along with the process until the baby can identify all three balls. Eventually, you can add a purple ball, a red ball, and then a green ball.

Using this incremental approach, you can teach a child all six of the basic colors. More importantly, your baby will also learn the abstract concept that similar objects can be classified by differing features such as color.

Memorizing with Flashcards

Some information can be learned only through memorization. Information such as letters, numbers, colors, animals, etc. cannot simply be understood. They must be committed to memory.

Memorization is very difficult for young developing brains, but children do begin learning to memorize in the earliest stages of development. Flashcards are an excellent tool helping your child with the process of memorization.

Flashcards can be made at home or purchased. Regardless of where you get your flashcards, make certain that they are simple. Ideally, a flashcard will include only a single object and its name. Flashcards with multiple objects or busy backgrounds can be confusing.

When presenting flashcards to your child, keep the cards in the same order. Following a consistent order will speed the process of memorization.

Click here for information on making your own flashcards.

Count Your Baby’s Head-Lifts for Physical and Mental Exercise

One of the first things that your baby will need to learn to do is lift his or her head. This is an important skill because it allows the baby to visually explore the surroundings, and it provides crucial exercise for the baby’s undeveloped neck, arm, and chest muscles.

You can help your baby develop his or her muscles with a simple game that will provide physical and mental exercise. Here’s how to play the Head-Lift Game

Find a comfortable space on a carpet or mat. Put your baby on his or her chest and position his or her elbows and hands on the floor in a comfortable pushup position. Lie on your chest in front of the baby, facing the top of your baby’s head.

Call to your baby. The baby should push up, lift his or her head off of the floor, and face you. As soon as your baby lifts his or her head off of the floor, start counting enthusiastically. As soon as your baby’s head touches the floor again, stop counting.

Let your baby rest for a few seconds, and call your baby again. As soon as your baby lifts his or her head off of the floor again, restart the count at one.

Continue counting, stopping, and restarting in this manner. Eventually, your baby will recognize the speech patterns of your counting and will realize that the head-lifts are influencing your actions. This sense of influence will give your baby motivation, and your baby should begin trying to hold his or her head up longer each time you start a count just to see how high you will go.

Over several days, you will notice that your baby’s strength is increasing rapidly. Once your baby can hold his or her head up long enough for you to count to one hundred, you will know that your baby has gained some valuable neck and upper-body strength and has had a solid introduction to speech patterns and numbers. Best of all, your baby will have gained a sense of accomplishment and a lot of face time with an encouraging coach.