Article: Learning through fun

Learning Through Fun

"You are worried about seeing (your baby) spend his early years in doing nothing. ... Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again."

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Emile"

People often say (whether they believe it or not) that children are lucky because they are always at leisure. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. "Children, especially infants and babies, are among the busiest creatures on earth. What are they busy doing? Learning," according to Winifred Conkling, author of "Smart-Wiring Your Baby's Brain: What You Can Do to Stimulate Your Child During the Critical First Three Years."

From birth to 12 months, a baby's brain grows to 60 or 70 percent of its adult weight, and he learns an astonishing array of skills: physical, mental, social and emotional. Though children have been acquiring these skills in various settings since time immemorial, more and more modern parents are taking advantage of professionals who, themselves, rely on the extensive information gathered through the study of child development.

taken from article in Home & Lifestyle of The Signal Newspaper - Friday August 17, 2007

http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=50150&format=html