When learning begins
18 May 2012 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: babies in utero, baby, family, in utero, language, literacy, parenting, pregnancy, reading, unborn baby, womb
A while back we mentioned the TED Talk, “What We Learn Before We’re Born,” given by Annie Murphy Paul in July 2011 and posted on TED.com in November. Today we want to focus in on this excellent presentation and highlight the bits that really excite us as advocates of reading to babies in utero.
Annie Murphy Paul and Son Gus
Ms. Paul is a science writer for The New York Times and TIME Magazine, and she’s written a book, Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives. In her talk she explains the emerging scientific field called fetal origins, which studies the ways that health and well-being are affected by one’s experience in the womb.
Many elements of a pregnant mother’s environment, from the foods she eats to the stressful situations she encounters, can have lasting effects on her growing baby’s future adaptation to its world. But, says Ms. Paul, “one of the most fascinating insights I took from this work is that we’re all learning about the world even before we enter it.”
And that includes, of course, learning language! She discusses some of the research findings that we’ve talked about here, such as this one from way back in 1985, in which researchers had 16 pregnant mothers read Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat to their bellies twice a day for the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. When the babies were born, they showed by sucking response that they much preferred to hear their mothers read the familiar Dr. Seuss story than one they hadn’t heard from the womb.
Ms. Paul also mentioned this favorite study of ours that found that newborns cry in the accent of their mother’s language. Her comment on implications of this is fascinating:
Now, why would this kind of fetal learning be useful? It may have evolved to aid the baby’s survival. From the moment of birth, the baby responds most to the voice of the person who is most likely to care for it—its mother. It even makes its cries sound like the mother’s language, which may further endear the baby to the mother, and which may give the baby a head start in the critical task of learning how to understand and speak its native language.
We love the attention that Annie Murphy Paul is bringing to the subject of fetal origins and learning. Even though there’s a wealth of scientific evidence (just check out our Research links to the right!) to show that babies begin absorbing elements of language in utero, there’s nothing like a lively, engaging speaker—who’s a mother herself—bringing science home to our everyday lives. Ms. Paul explains all the research in a cozy, comfortable manner that is easily accessible to us nonscientific types, and her message couldn’t be any clearer: Babies in the womb are paying attention! Your expected child is a captive audience who is poised, listening and ready to learn, and it is you, the expectant parent, who is your child’s very first teacher. Any teacher worth her salt knows the importance of reading aloud to children and its powerful impact on language and literacy development.
Annie Murphy Paul concludes her talk, “Learning is one of life’s most essential activities, and it begins much earlier than we ever imagined.” So very true, Annie, and we’re sure you’ll agree . . . it’s never too early to read to your baby!
Like this:
The pregnant pause
23 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Pregnancy is without a doubt a time of exciting anticipation. You and your loved ones are awaiting the arrival of a new little person, a person you’re so looking forward to meeting, someone you’ve been thinking about since the moment you first discovered you were expecting. As a culture, we tend to be very future oriented, and our perceptions of pregnancy are no exception.
Proof in the puddin'
22 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
There is overwhelming evidence showing that families who make literacy and language a priority in their households produce children who are high achievers academically, and who develop healthy social relationships outside of the home. (Please see this article and this one.) Making a commitment to reading to your baby regularly is one of the best things you can do for her development.
Make it your own
21 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
You and your partner are expecting a baby, and you’ve heard the buzz about all the benefits of reading to that baby even while it’s still in the womb. But gosh, it feels a little funny reading to an unseen audience! Maybe you’re a first-time mom-to-be, or an expectant dad eager to share in every aspect of parenting. You settle down happily with a Dr. Seuss book, ready to start bonding with your little one, but you just feel awkward reading a children’s book to someone you can’t interact with and show the silly pictures to.
Well, what about reading some grownup poetry instead? Remember, the essential elements of reading to a baby in utero are:
- Your familiar voice
- A rhythmic story or poem
- Regular reading of the same story or small selection of stories
As shown by the research we’ve been sharing with you here, babies in the womb respond best to rhythmic, rhyming, and repetitive auditory stimulation; such stories are the best remembered and have the most soothing effect on newborns. But of course the meaning of the words you read doesn’t matter to the baby. So you can choose the material you feel happiest and most comfortable reading aloud.
And remember, when a pregnant woman is relaxed and happy, she passes on “feel-good” hormones to her baby. It seems likely that this same effect would take place when she watches and listens to her partner reading to her belly too! You can really make this special reading time your own, specially suited to your tastes and quirks. This can only enhance the fun and connection of the family reading routine you’ll be sharing for years to come. So go ahead and have fun with your choice of stories—you might as well please yourself!
We’ve told you about Shel Silverstein a few times, and we’ll tell you again, because his poems are so charming that they can appeal to any age. Here’s another example of his work, the beginning of “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” from his book of the same name.
There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind. . . .
How about a bit of nonsense? Lewis Carroll is probably best known for his strangeand beautiful “Jabberwocky,” by no means a poem restricted to children’s appreciation.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. . .
Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” is less well-known but no less delightful:
But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat—
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn’t any feet. . . .
An illustrated collection of Carroll’s poetry will bring you and your growing family endless hours of reading fun. And while you’re at it, pick up some Edward Lear! “The Owl and the Pussycat” is full of rhythmic, rhyming nonsense, but don’t miss out on his limericks! Lear was responsible for establishing the wide popularity of the limerick form, and these silly poems will be a great pleasure to read for your own sake as well as your coming baby’s. For example:
There was an Old Person of Dutton
Whose head was so small as a button;
So to make it look big,
He purchased a wig
And rapidly rush about Dutton.
On the other hand, you might prefer to read aloud the poetry of the Romantic age—Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats—which is so rich in rhyme and moving language. William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience is a collection of “happy songs every child may joy to hear,” though definitely more comprehensible to the modern adult’s ear. For example, his lovely “Nurse’s Song”:
When the voices of children are heard on the green
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still.“Then come home my children, the sun is gone down
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away
Till the morning appears in the skies.”“No, no, let us play, for it is yet day
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky, the little birds fly
And the hills are all covered with sheep.”“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away
And then go home to bed.”
The little ones leaped and shouted and laughed
And all the hills ecchoéd.
Take this as your starting point and search for the poems, lyrics, and stories that most resonate with you. Relax, enjoy the language, and know the baby in the womb is enjoying it too!
Why should I read to my baby before birth?
09 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: baby, family, fetal development, in utero, language, literacy, parenting, pregnancy, prenatal, reading
OK, so you’re intrigued. Reading to your baby in the womb seems like a fun way to connect with your expected child. But did you know there’s a heap of research that supports the benefits of this practice? We thought we’d give you a quick breakdown of some of these findings, and point you toward further details.
You might also want to check out this fascinating TED.com talk by Annie Murphy Paul. It’s a synopsis of the latest discoveries in the exciting field of fetal origins.
The Benefits of Prenatal Reading
Your baby will become familiar with your unique voice.
- Research shows that babies recognize the voice of their mother at birth and can distinguish their mother’s voice from that of a stranger.
- See: Effects of Experience on Fetal Voice Recognition.
Your baby will begin to learn language.
- Babies learn first and second languages by hearing them from the womb.
- When they’re born, their cries contain the sound “fingerprint” of their native language—they actually cry with an accent!
- Newborns can distinguish between their native language(s) and languages that are unfamiliar.
- See Newborns’ Cry Melody Is Shaped by Their Native Language, and also: The Roots of Bilingualism in Newborns.
A familiar rhythmic story will soothe your newborn.
- Newborn babies show a clear preference for the rhythm and melody of a song or poem that they heard regularly from the womb.
- Babies actually remember a rhythmic poem or story that they heard during the last trimester for up to four weeks after birth, and they’re measurably calmed by that familiar story.
- There’s lots of research in this area. See: Prenatal Maternal Speech Influences Newborns’ Perception of Speech Sounds, and A Melodic Contour Repeatedly Experienced by Human Near-Term Fetuses Elicits a Profound Cardiac Reaction One Month after Birth, and Aspects of Fetal Learning and Memory.
When you take time to relax and read, your baby relaxes, too.
- When an expectant mother’s heartbeat and breathing slow down, her baby responds physiologically, endocrinologically, and neurologically.
- These responses have a positive effect on the baby’s growth and development.
- See: Fetal Responses to Induced Maternal Relaxation During Pregnancy.
Bonding with your baby prenatally benefits his future health and emotional well-being.
- When a pregnant woman feels love for her expected child in the womb, she releases endorphins (“feel good” hormones), which trigger the same hormone release in the baby.
- The baby becomes accustomed to these hormones and mimics the mother’s positive physiological response.
- The result is a baby who has unhindered physical, cognitive, and neurological growth, and who is born with a general sense of safety and well-being.
- See: Prenatal Bases of Development of Speech and Language and Prenatal Stimulation.
The more words your baby hears, the better adjusted and more successful she will be in life.
- There is a direct correlation between the amount that parents talk to babies and their academic and social success.
- The more words a baby hears in the early years, the more advanced her language and literacy development will be in the future.
- See: Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children.
Reading to your child before and after birth strengthens family and social bonds.
- Establishing a routine around reading creates a sacred, centered, regular time devoted to you and your child.
- This helps expectant parents and siblings develop a relationship with the baby before birth, easing the transition into parenthood and siblinghood.
- It’s also an opportunity for others (grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends) to get involved in the prenatal bonding process.
- In the bigger picture, family reading helps establish a culture in which literacy and language are a priority.
- See, again: Prenatal Bases of Development of Speech and Language and Prenatal Stimulation.
The Research Confirms: It’s Never Too Early!
Pretty convincing, isn’t it? Now that you’ve seen all the research that supports in utero reading, it seems the real question is, why wouldn’t an expectant family read to their baby before birth? It’s so clearly the right thing to do!
Like this:
The gift of reading in utero
01 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: auditory stimulation, babies in utero, books, books to read to baby in womb, cognitive, language, reading to a baby in the womb, reading to your baby before birth, research, ro r
’Tis the season for giving, and what better gift is there for expectant families than a book that’s perfect for reading to a baby in the womb? We’ve received requests for suggestions of titles from our followers, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to share some of the best books for reading to babies in utero.
If you’ve been following our blog and podcast, you know that the research says that the best stories for reading to your baby before birth are those that are rhythmic, rhyming, and repetitive. Preborn babies respond best to this type of auditory stimulation, and studies definitively prove that these kinds of stories are the best remembered and have the most soothing effect on newborns! The following list includes fun rhyming stories that you and your baby will enjoy before and after she’s born.
Ashley, an expectant mother from California, shared with us that she is reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle to her little “bundle of joy.” Ashley has chosen an excellent example of the type of story that is perfect for reading to your baby before and after birth. The poetic meter and repetitious verse will create those neural pathways in your baby’s brain that will lay the foundation for future language learning.
Author Bill Martin Jr. and illustrator Eric Carle have collaborated to create many other appropriate titles, including Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? These books all have colorful illustrations that will engage babies and adults alike.
Another favorite Bill Martin Jr. title is a whimsical rhyming alphabet book called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. In a catchy beat it describes the antics of the personified letters of the alphabet—great fun to read aloud.
Mem Fox is a prolific writer of children’s books, and many of them are perfect for reading to your expected child. The adorable illustrations and simple verse in her Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is just perfect for introducing your child to the joys of reading. Other appropriate titles by Mem Fox include The Magic Hat and Time for Bed.
A traditional favorite is the series of books written by Ludwig Bemelmans about Madeline, the little French girl. These stories told in simple verse may be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for the adult reader.
Dr. Seuss has dozens of rhyming books, and some of our favorites are One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Horton Hears a Who, and Green Eggs and Ham.
Sandra Boynton is the author and illustrator of many fun and melodic board books, including Barnyard Dance and Pajama Time. These books, with their lively illustrations and all-around silliness, are bound to become cherished additions to your child’s story repertoire.
You’ve already heard us gush about the wonderful poems of Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Everything On It) and Jack Prelutsky (Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face, A Pizza the Size of the Sun, and Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young), but there are many other wonderful options when it comes to prenatal reading:
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop by Chris Raschka
Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw
Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, and Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies
Remember that it’s important that you enjoy reading the books as much as your baby enjoys hearing them. Keep in mind that these are the 
stories that your baby will become familiar with and will request again and again once she’s born. Right now, your baby is a captive audience, snuggled up all safe and warm in your “reading womb.” She waits to hear the beautiful sound of your voice and the beloved story, a magical combination that she’ll respond to and that research shows will help her cognitive and language development.
And one day soon, when your child is all cozied up in your lap, sharing this sacred and special reading time, she will say those words that will be music to your ears, “Can you read that again, Mommy?” or “Just one more time, Daddy!” Now, what could be better than that?
Pathways to language
17 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: brain development, cognitive development, hearing inside womb, human interaction, last trimester, science, vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky is certainly not a household name, but if you are a parent who talks and talks to your baby, you have intuitively stumbled upon the groundbreaking research territory of this brilliant cognitive theorist. Vygotsky’s study of babies and young children in the early 20th century led him to conclude that the best learning takes place when the learner is guided and supported while taking on something new by what he called “a more knowing other.” Parents help their children construct their knowledge of language by introducing them to new words, and by modeling intonation and expression of voice, facial expression, and hand gestures. So, just by talking and talking, you are drawing your child along in his language learning and cognitive development, supporting his acquisition of new words, and introducing him to all the benefits of communicating with other people.
Of course, this communication can start even before your child is born. We know that babies can hear voices from inside the womb, and it is the mother’s voice that is heard most often and most clearly. During the last trimester, your baby will become familiar with the unique intonation, melody, and cadence of your voice. Research shows that the baby in the womb responds to repetition and rhythm, so by reading a poetic story you will be introducing your child to the beauty of language, and to the exciting world of human interaction. Once your baby is born, you can enrich his auditory experience by pointing out illustrations and objects that will help him to assign a visual image to the words he has become familiar with.
Reading a rhythmic story to a baby in the womb is also important to his brain development, building the foundation for future speaking, reading, and thinking. Here’s the amazing science that explains why. Months before birth, a baby is tuned in to his mother’s voice and the rhythmic sound of her heartbeat. The developing nerves in the baby’s ears are connected to his brain, and the stimulation caused by sounds creates new neural pathways as the baby grows. When sounds are repetitive, rhythmic, and familiar, the pathways are defined and strengthened. So by reading a story or poem over and over again, you are creating and reinforcing pathways in your baby’s brain, and these will lay the groundwork for continued learning and development. The research shows definitively that babies who are read a rhythmic story regularly in the last trimester, remember and are soothed by the same story after birth!
If you’ve followed our blog and podcasts, you know we’ve spoken a lot about the detriments of babies’ interacting with an artificial device such as a TV or computer monitor (see Interactive? Parts 1 and 2). Just last month more evidence supporting the importance of human vs. electronic interaction was provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which reviewed hundreds of research studies done since 1999 on the effects of TV on babies and toddlers. Consider the following statement from the AAP, made in October of this year:
“Pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of 2 years. Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers (e.g., child care providers) for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, exposing such young children to television programs should be discouraged.”
There is no doubt: when it comes to your child’s language learning and cognitive development, nothing comes close to the rich and loving interactions your child shares with you and the other “more knowing others” in his life. So keep talking and talking to your baby, before and after birth. You’ll be glad you did . . . and your new friend Lev Vygotsky would be so proud!
