With Montessori, we try to support the child’s development of independence from infancy. We often address movement, toileting, care of self and the environment. What about communication? Can we support independence with communication from infancy? Can we help our babies tell us what they are thinking? Yes! One of the Read more…
Even though our focus is education from birth, I have mentioned before that the child’s mental development actually starts in the womb. When the mother is happy during pregnancy, her body produces endorphins which pass to the baby. Why does this matter? Well, endorphins are natural pain relievers which also Read more…
This is the third part of the supporting development for months 4-7 series. read about gross movement and fine movement.
Development in the first year
In the first two months, the child’s primary language is crying! He uses this to inform you of hunger, tiredness or any discomfort. By the end of the second month/beginning third month however, the child will start cooing. Cooing sounds are vowel sounds like “aaaa”, “oooo” etc. After this stage and around 5-6 months and after a couple of months of watching your mouth speak to him, he will progress to his first syllable which will now include consonant sounds. So sounds like “ma… ma…”, “da… da…”, “pa… pa…”, “ne… ne…”. Sorry to disappoint you but he is probably not calling you even though it will sound like “mama” and “papa” and “dada”but just following the normal language development process.
You can support the proper development of language at this stage by: