7 things no one told you about your newborn baby and learning
You might think your newborn baby is mainly concerned with sleeping and feeding – and you’re right!
But, amazingly, what you don’t see is that their brain is already learning and it’s primed for extraordinary growth over the next three years and beyond. Here are a few things you may not have considered about your new baby…
1. Your baby is already learning in the womb
Research has shown that babies in the womb can hear, and remember sounds. They learn to recognise the sound of their mother’s voice. They recognise familiar music and sounds they hear repeatedly in the womb. They even learn to recognise certain tastes and learn syllables! - I told you they were amazing!
2. Your baby’s brain is only 25% developed at birth
Your baby’s brain is not fully developed at birth. The most rapid stage of development is during the first 1000 days from conception to two. By the age of 3, their brain will be 80% -90% developed. That means this time is crucial for your baby. Your baby’s learning potential is huge, and their brain is developing in response to the experiences they have and the environment which you provide and in which they live.
3. The experiences and conversations you have with your baby builds their brain!
At birth your baby’s brain has the majority of the neurons (that’s the cells in the brain that help us process information) that it will need for life. But the neurons aren’t yet wired up and connected. They need to make these connections with other neurons for thought processes and actions to develop. This happens through the experiences and interactions your baby has. The quality of those interactions and experiences helps make the connections strong.
It’s this process of making connections and getting rid of unnecessary connections (pruning) which build the foundation for the rest of lifelong learning and development. This means that what your baby experiences, sees, hears and feels lays the foundation for the structure of their brain! - It blows your mind, doesn’t it?!
4. Your baby learns through play.
But what is a quality interaction?
Well for your baby it’s play!
When you play with your baby you’re actually speaking their language. Their language is play.
They use play to explore the world,
discover new things,
consolidate things they have seen before
and act out things they have yet to experience.
When you play with your baby you’re helping their brain grow! It is a really powerful way to communicate and connect with your baby.
When you play, let them lead the play interaction. They will show you what they want to focus on. Follow their lead and play the game they want to play it’ll help their learning. Be sure to also let them play alone sometimes too. During this time they’re honing their newfound skills.
5. What your baby experiences over the next two years forms the foundation for their learning going forward.
Your baby seems so small and helpless right now, but the experiences you are giving them are actually preparing them for learning for school and for life as a whole! That feels huge, doesn’t it?
It is!
Unfortunately, we are finding many children are arriving at school not ready to learn and play, (we call it not school-ready). When this happens, they can find it hard to get involved in all the learning opportunities school is offering them and that can leave them falling behind their peers.
Research shows that children who have more of the school-ready skills, start to learn more quickly once they are at school and they perform better in all areas, practically, emotionally and educationally.
It’s not surprising really, is it?
Because they have the foundations in place they can crack on and enjoy the learning opportunities offered because they have to spend less time mastering the basics - those basics, that MUST be mastered in order to be able to access the more complex learning opportunities.
School readiness refers to all the different things that help a child thrive in school and life.
It refers to things like:
being able to hold a pencil correctly
being able to put on their shoes and coat
being able to go to the toilet on their own and wash their own hands
being able to play with others
being able to share (well, most of the time!!)
being able to sit still for a short time
being able to hold a book and talk about what they see
being able to listen to instructions – and even follow them, on a good day!
but it also means being confident to leave parents,
happy to interact with other adults
being strong and confident in their body movements and so much more!
All children develop at different rates, but in order to thrive in school the more they have mastered these skills, the easier they are going to find it and the more likely they are to revel in the experiences and opportunities. So it’s worth helping build your baby’s skill sets. And fantastically we do it all through play! Because playing strengthens muscles and connects those neurons, which over time helps to prepare your baby for life learning
6. Helping your child doesn’t need to be hard
At this point, you might be thinking it’s time to sit your newborn down and teach them to hold a pencil.
Please don’t! - You’ll be doing more harm than good.
Remember I told you - it’s all about play!
Here’s why… when they hold a rattle, THAT is the beginning of learning to hold a pencil.
As they hold it, they strengthen their hand muscles and begin to develop their hand-eye coordination as well as their understanding of cause and effect. It’s also really fun for them. It’s a challenge and that challenge builds neural connections in the brain!
Start with talking to your baby, look at them, read them stories, and give them time to explore their environment through kicking and touching. Through this chat, your baby will be learning to focus, finding out about communication and will be beginning to develop their language skills. (Frighteningly, more children are arriving at school with language difficulties than any other special need).
Let your baby explore, you’ll be helping them to find out about the world around them. Ask them questions, you’ll be developing their questioning skills.
Let them play with rattles, bricks, puzzles and shakers you’ll be developing the muscles in their hands which will lead to good motor control for skills like holding a pencil, using scissors, and doing up their coat buttons.
It’s these tiny things that prepare them for learning and builds their brain.
7. How do I know what play to do?
You may well not know - and that’s ok! That’s why, here at Oliiki, we have created a programme of tiny playful moments for you! The Oliiki app is packed full of age-appropriate, easy-to-do, playful activities that are mapped to the brain science and the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum so you don’t need to worry if you’re doing the right thing at the right time - if you are following Oliiki you will be!
Simply pop in your baby’s due date or birth date into Oliiki when you sign up to the app, and each day an activity will be delivered to your phone for you to share with your bump, baby or toddler. Complete one activity a day and you are well on the way to building your baby a really strong brain and helping ensure they are one of the children who WILL be school-ready.
Not only does Oliiki help your baby become school-ready, but it also upskills you!
By showing you WHY you are doing the activity that you are doing and showing you the science and research behind that activity, you will have a greater understanding of the development your child is gaining from the play you are doing.
Why’s that important? Well, the more YOU understand, the more you will do, and the more you do, the more your baby’s able to develop. It’s clever really and it helps you feel amazing!
That is why 98.3% of parents in our survey said that the Oliiki app made them feel more confident parents when they were using the Oliiki app. Want to give it a go? Download Oliiki in the app stores today for a FREE 7-day trial
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