Posted by
janet on Jun 22nd, 2011
Madga Gerber extolled the power of a single word that is fundamental to her child care philosophy. This word reflects a core belief in a baby’s natural abilities, respects his unique developmental timetable, fulfills his need to experience mastery, be a creative problem solver and to express feelings (even those that are hard for us to witness). The word is a simple, practical tool for understanding babies,...
Posted by
janet on May 24th, 2011
This video is somewhat shocking at first glance – just about every glance, actually. Even when my 9 year old daredevil son saw it, he exclaimed disapprovingly, “You let her get on the table again?!”
The “table” is actually just a wooden platform a few inches high, a focus of interest and activity for babies in the RIE Parent/Infant Guidance Classes. The 8 month old baby in the video is an extraordinarily...
Posted by
janet on Apr 11th, 2011
Babies are natural self-learners. Well-rested, fed, emotionally nurtured, and in the absence of intense teething pain or other discomfort, even the youngest infants are curious explorers. All babies need is a safe, peaceful environment, some basic objects to examine (unnecessary until they are 3 or 4 months old) and many opportunities throughout the day to move freely and make their own choices without our...
Posted by
janet on Apr 7th, 2011
Hi Janet,
Still avidly reading your blog and just read your listening article. I have a question: I started taking my daughter (28 months) to a gym class at a local community center (can’t afford the fancy kid gym classes), and I’m interested in your thoughts regarding her behavior and how best to deal with it.
My daughter in general is a fearless, fun little girl with tons of energy, so I figured the...
Posted by
janet on Mar 23rd, 2011
Could there be a more educational infant toy than this one? Watch a 9 month old baby (on two different occasions) exploring the wonders and intricacies of a simple kitchen tool we wouldn’t give a second thought to while rinsing pasta or washing grapes. This is an example of the kind of independent play and experimentation that builds strong minds, long attention spans and encourages a love of learning.
Note the...
Posted by
janet on Mar 9th, 2011
I can understand the urge to walk babies. After all, they seem to like it so much. When we help our babies walk, they are gleefully entertained — enjoying us enjoying them — while we’re getting a preview of one of life’s major milestones. Sometimes we’re compelled to walk our babies because we think they need help developing their motor skills and believe it our duty to teach them. We worry that...
Posted by
janet on Feb 15th, 2011
Dear Janet,
About a month ago my baby started pulling to standing, which is wonderful and exciting. However, about two weeks ago she started standing in her crib immediately after I put her down for sleep. She holds onto the side of the crib and screams and cries. I’m not comfortable letting her cry like this for more than 20 minutes (which feels like an agonizingly long time), and so after giving her this...
Posted by
janet on Jan 3rd, 2011
1) Babies are not only as present and aware as adults, they are more so.
Recent brain studies show that babies can’t help but take in everything around them. They are big picture thinkers, unable to focus in on only one or a few aspects of their environment and exclude the rest. This “lantern-type” attention is what allows them to learn and develop more rapidly in infancy than they ever will again.
2) Babies...
