September 2000Vol. 1, No. 6Bilingual Guide Teaches Parents About Brain Development
English and Spanish-speaking parents have a new tool to help their baby's brains grow and develop.
Building Your Baby's Brain: A Parent's Guide to the First Five Years, by Teaching Strategies, Inc., was developed under a grant program administered by the Department of Education. Directed towards parents, grandparents, and caregivers, the guide describes recent scientific discoveries about the development of the brain, including the mechanics of how brain cells connect, and the "windows of opportunity" for learning during the first five years of life.
The guide's recommendations to parents include the following:
- Engage your child by talking, reading, playing, singing, touching.
- Have a healthy pregnancy and communicate with your unborn baby.
- Test your newborn's vision, since the brain connections for sight can only be made in the first few months.
- Provide guidance and teach about feelings, self-control, and how to relate to others.
- Incorporate music and art into your child's first years to promote math, sensory, and thinking skills.
- Carefully choose a childcare or preschool program.
- Make your home safe, never shake or throw a baby in the air, and take precautions to prevent lead poisoning and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
- Take good care of yourselves.
Download a free copy in English at: http://www.teachingstrategies.com/bookshop/detail.cfm?productid=7
Download a free copy in Spanish at: http://www.teachingstrategies.com/bookshop/detail.cfm?productid=18
To purchase a set of 10 books for $29.50, contact:
Teaching Strategies, Inc.
P.O. Box 42243
Washington, DC 20015
Phone: 800-637-3652
Fax: 202-364-7273
Email: info@TeachingStrategies.com
URL: http://www.teachingstrategies.com
Related Items
For more information related to early brain development, see these articles in past issues of the Children's Bureau Express:
- "Congress Convenes Research Briefing on Early Childhood Intervention Programs" (June 2000)
- "New Glossary Defines Brain Development" (April 2000)