Music and Language
If you ever mused about the relationship between music and language, this video should prove to be very interesting to you. Watch it. It takes less than 6 minutes.
Did you ever sit in a car together with three people, chatting lively in a language you do not know at all?
If yes, and you dared to listen, you may have observed the connection between music and language first hand. You probably heard their conversation as a remarkable piece of music, with different overlapping rhythms and several melodies. Even if you did not know the topic of the conversation at all, you may have realized some emotional reactions like happiness and anger.
If you think about it, this must be the way a small baby experiences Mom and Dad talking. The child will then slowly isolate patterns and connect these patterns to certain actions, people and objects.
These associations between sounds and actions, persons, objects etc. are the roots of words. Language is then something like a system of socially sanctioned associations between certain sounds, graphical symbols, people, objects and their relationships.
But not everything we experience can be expressed in words or pressed into commonly shared concepts. Music helps in those moments. If we keep music as a part of our life, we keep our brain open for imagination, creativity and innovation. If we lose the ability to listen to music, and to listen to the world as music, we impoverish our lives. On the other hand, if we retain the ability to listen to the sounds of the world as music, the connection between music and language will help our brains to open some subtle relationships between things, actions and people which we would most probable overlook overwise.
How to Support the Brain Development of Your Child
Brain Development in a child happens at a very fast pace. And it is for this reason often said and in the meantime widely known that the first few years in a child’s life have a very high importance for the complete lifetime of a human. This video is a reminder and a guide for parents.
But all this begs an answer to this question:
How can I support brain development of my child?
The answer is simple and difficult at the same time. And it is not, as you might suspect, proper teaching. The answer is learning. But learning mostly done by the parents. To support your child properly, you have to learn communicating with him or her from the beginning, to see his needs, his anxieties, his happiness, his aspirations. And to learn how to respond to them by providing a secure environment, cheering successes, fostering self esteem and confidence into the world.
Your child has to develop a sense that he is welcome in your world as the unique person he is already way before birth.
If a child is trying to do something impossible, it is always better to show him how it would be possible, or how it could be dangerous instead of yelling “Don’t try this! You are too small, stupid, weak for this!”
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How Brain-friendly Learning Releases Your Child’s Infinite Potential
The Genius in All of Us
Hi,
today I want to show you a one hour long video. I hear you screaming or moaning “I do not have that time!” My answer is: If you do not have the time now to listen to the complete presentation of David Shenk, listen in for just a few minutes right now, and then bookmark it and plan in your calender time to watch and listen in full. And my advise is: plan to listen at least twice.
David Shenk is the author of the book The Genius in All uf Us
I am well aware that this is a controversial topic. And I hope that this presentation can kill quite a number of excuses which might have served up to now well as a comfortably warm blanket covering a “can do nothing” attitude. I am ready to take the heat for that.
When I extract the essential substance for my own life out of this presentation, the result is: be aware of all aspects of your living environment and manage them carefully. Do this for yourself and for the sake of your children!
Early Childhood Experience and Growth of the Brain
I stumbled upon this 4-minute video on YouTube. It comes from Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
It is no secret that good nutrition is a necessary condition for the healthy mental development of a child. But this video explains the other half of the truth: a child’s brain needs the right input to develop, the right stimulation of each sense and all senses together. This means every child needs a life rich in terms of carefully chosen experiences and activities. To provide for this need does not cost a ton of money. But it is quite possible that the close relationship between social standing of a family and success of the children of a family is not due to lack of money, but due to lack of an environment with positive stimulation.
My personal suspicion is that the huge difference in education and life success between children coming from different social environments has not so much to do with lack of money for expensive food and clothing, but is to a very large degree driven by the exposure or lack of exposure to positive social experiences and stimulation of the senses.
There can be no excuse not to spend 4 minutes of your time for this video, if you are living with small children or plan to have a child on your own.
Annabel Karmel: How to Make Fish Pies for Small Children
Very important for child development is good nutrition. This means healthy and tasty food. The food must be healthy and take care of the child`s nutrition needs. And the food must be tasty so that the child can develop a sound eating habit, enjoying food and meals.
Annabel Karmel is a leading expert for children’s food. Here is a video showing how she prepares one of her favorite children meals.
We have taken this recipe from Annabel Karmen’s YouTube Channel
Ingredients
Potato Topping
800g (1 3/4 lb) potatoes
30 g (1 oz) butter
7 tbsp milk
4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the sauce
45 g (1 1/2 oz) butter
1 large shallot diced
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
45 g (1 1/2 oz) flour
450 ml (15 fl.oz) fish stock
6 tbsp double cream
1 1/2 chopped fresh dill (or chives)
salt and freshly ground pepper, to season
Salmon and Cod filling
250 g (9 oz) salmon, skin removed and cut into 2cm chunks
250 g (9 oz) cod, skin removed and cut into 2 cm chunks
150 g (5 1/2 oz) small cooked prawns
70 g (2 1/2 oz) frozen peas
Recipe
Boil the potatoes in salted water.
Preheat the oven to 200oC
Drain the potatoes when they are tender.
Add the butter and milk along with the parmesan.
Mash to a smooth and even consistency.
Season to taste.
To make the sauce melt the butter and sautee the shallot for 5-6 minutes until soft
Add the white wine vinegar and boil for two to three minutes until the liquid has evaporated
Stir in the flour to make a roux. The flour will bind with the remaining liquid to form a paste.
Then gradually add the fish stock and then cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously until the sauce becomes smooth.
Bring to the boil then cook, stirring, until thickened.
Chop some fresh dill, or fresh parsley also works really well with this recipe.
Remove the sauce from the heat and then stir in the cream and the chopped dill or parsley
Season well as the fish is unseasoned. The sauce will be smooth with a glossy finish.
Divide all the fish and peas among 4- 6 mini ramekins depending on their size and pour over the sauce
Cover the mixture with the mashed potato and smooth with a knife.
Now brush the top of the potato with a little beaten egg and bake in your oven for 25 minutes.
Now you have a pie for all the family to enjoy.
At Amazon is a treasure trove available of recipes for babies and toddlers in cooking books from Annabel Karmel