Enjoying sounds, music, hearing, and languages
Level 4
LEVEL 4.
ENJOYING SOUNDS, MUSIC AND LANGUAGES. Baby’s sense of hearing and hearing development.
Baby’s ONSDEP: Her sense of hearing and hearing development intentions:
To completely and totally understand all human language and all music.
New environments provide new language:
Baby is now learning to understand language and music from several different sources if you are doing all, or even only some of, the Magnificent children.love activities in the seven different development fields. She will be hearing at least one language throughout most of everyday and should now be speaking two or more words herself. During this Level 4 the Music and Language activities should be continued in the same way as in Level 3. But if you think back over her language activities now, and you can see there are opportunities to increase the number of words and their meanings in her environment, then do so. The number of words and their meanings in her environment can be increased by, for example, taking her to new environments such as a cheese factory or by exploring the reeds alongside a safe, sandy creek. When in the new environment you and baby can use language that is specific to that environment. That language might include the words frog, mud, sandy bottom, guppy, pollution index, reeds or cloudy water.
During this Level baby’s demonstrated understanding of her first language will gradually increase from her first two words to around 10, 15, 20 and eventually 25 words. She will also demonstrate understanding of two word phrases such as “come here” and “hold this” to complete her development at this level. (See Level 3 for an explanation of ‘demonstrated understanding’).
Some examples of ways to widen baby’s evolving vocabulary are:
- Visit museums and science centres and point out and discuss exhibits. Especially use and discuss interactive exhibits.
Walk through a town or city and stop to look in shop windows and talk about the products. Use descriptive language including information about size, shape, colour, use and name. “There’s a red lawnmower with a 4 stroke engine, chromed handle and four rubber wheels.” or “What a lovely light green and fawn jacket. It has four pockets and a thick woollen inner lining to keep the wearer warm during cold weather”.
Go boating and speak about the ocean, weather, and different types of boats and different aspects of boat construction.
Visit a zoo and read brief facts about different animals at each exhibit. Describe the animals and their activities vividly.
Talk about the science of rain, rock pool life, wind, waves, flight or other subjects when there is rain, rock pools, wind, waves or aircraft in your environment. For example, if using a slippery slide you could do as follows:
Demonstrate to baby how gravity pulls her down a slippery slide when she is using one. Show how friction slows her down (by using feet to slow descent, for example). Play some games on the slide and other equipment with baby trying to let gravity pull her down faster than friction can stop her, or with baby trying to let friction stop her before gravity can pull her down. Ask questions such as, “Can you stop the gravity from pulling you down the slide.” Then wait for an answer and begin discussion mixed with practical attempts.
Take a bush walk and stop to examine and talk about roots, bark, leaves, insects, animals, soil, fungi, streams and other fascinating items.
Eat in restaurants, cook dinner over an open fire and have picnic lunches in parks. Speak about what you and others are doing in each environment so that a meal can be created for baby and you to eat. “Let’s ask if we can visit the chef who prepares the food in the kitchen. We can ask the waiter who helps the chef by bringing the food out to the table.”
Visit an airport and discuss all that you see, including aircraft, wings, fuselage, luggage handling, shops, escalators, gangways, waiting lounges, car parking areas and fuelling. Perhaps book a cheap flight and fly.
Keep it Simple:
It is very important not to become a long-winded lecturer on any of the above (or other) subjects or baby will almost certainly lose interest in the subject. Very brief, accurate and exciting descriptions of only a few sentences are required. Brief, accurate and exciting descriptions are very much enhanced by a hands-on experience such as holding a flower, being pulled by gravity, smelling a leaf, unloading luggage from an airport conveyor belt or touching snakes at a zoo; non-venomous and accompanied by a keeper of course. The hands on multisensual experiences are what baby learns most from and most enjoys doing!
Activities for parents and babies:
Continue to do the Level 3 activities. In addition, try to increase language used in baby’s environment to cover an ever widening number of words and their meanings. Go to places where you can describe activities or objects to baby as mentioned above.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing always think, “baby first,” and stop and talk to her about the environment.
As responsible members of society, we must keep our appointments and contracts with other people, but the developmental and educational needs of our children should always be given a very high priority. Many parents place children on a priority list where earning more money, preparing dinner, talking to other adults, washing, watching TV, or doing other ‘important’ things is given priority over developing their young children. Such parents often say, (sometimes correctly) that they are doing all these things to help their children. The answer to the question, “What should be given priority?” may not be “Children!” in every case but parents who decide to have children should make educating and developing their children a top priority.
Many times each day tell baby how wonderful she is, how well she listens and, when she demonstrates understanding, how well she understands.
What baby should be doing at this Level of development:
Demonstrating understanding of two or more words.
What baby should be doing as she enters the next Level of development:
Demonstrating understanding of 25 words and two word phrases.
When baby can do as above she graduates to Level 5 of Enjoying Sounds. Click on the diploma below to move on to Level 5.
An average child is likely to move on to Level 5 at approximately age 18 months.
A magnificentparent.com child could potentially move on to Level 5 at approximately age 9 months.