Worried - Intellectual Stimulation for Babies

[LLL_Sarah]

My husband gave me the book How Not to be a Perfect Mother by Libby Purves for Christmas when I was pregnant with my first child. It was the only book I read before having her. Personally I think it prepared me better than any of the books that are so popular today.

SARAH

 

[arkcocoon]

thank you all so much for sharing your experience with me. must admit its difficult not to feel inadequate when everyone else around you is doing something you're not. it is nerve racking when you come to appreciate how competitive hk is ... even when it comes to getting your kids into a good kindergarten - my friend even prepared a slideshow for his son's interview with one of the more well-known kindergartens - and his son is only 2.5 yrs old!!

more often than not though my gut feel tells me that i should leave my son to enjoy his childhood (babyhood) and do things he enjoy. flashcards or not i guess he is who he is and if he has my brain or my husband's he can't be doing too bad

 

[carang]

do what YOU think is best, forget what everyone else is doing...they are doing what THEY think is best. that's fine. i'm sure by the time they are teenagers, you won't be able to tell the difference!

 

[joannek]

i went thru exactly that about feeling inadequate when i'm raising my child differently than my peers. my husband noticed that I kept defending myself when ppl ask me sth about bringing up my child. that's when i realised that I was actually not confident in the path I chose. i realise that I have to believe that this less-academic-freer way is what I feel apropriate for my child, and that my husband is with me all the way. and that i've done enough research to back myself up. since then i feel so much more confident in the way that i've chose to bring her up.

 

[bekyboo44]

I believe the best way to stimulate a baby/child is simply by taking them out in the world.

A child can learn that a bus is a bus by having a flashcard waved in front of their face; or they can learn that a bus is a bus by riding on one, they also then learn how a bus sounds, that it can go fast or slow, that you have to pay to ride on the bus etc. etc.

A child can learn that a dog is a dog by having a flashcard waved in front of their face; or they can watch a dog chase a ball, they can listen to a dog bark, they can pat and touch a dog.

Admitedly children in HK aren't going to be able to learn about a giraffe or a lion (and many other things) by going out and experiencing one. But in that case, a good book or a soft toy is a much better experience than a flashcard which can't be heard, or touched, or smellt!

Flashcards are for much older children- and can be used creatively, for example, using several flashcards to piece together a story- but not for babies!