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From Syllables to Sentences
How Toddlers Learn Language
By Teri Brown
According to Dr. Rider, it's all about the synapses. A synapse is a connection between two nerve cells. The more synapses there are, the more brain cells communicate with each other. One thing parents can do to stimulate language development is to read to their baby. Reading to babies causes the creation of more synapses in their brains.
"All types of stimuli for babies' brains are not equal," Dr. Rider says. "Putting a baby in front of Sesame Street on TV or even a Baby Einstein video is not equal to sitting and reading a book to them. What really gets those synapses grooving is the personal interaction between the baby and adult. It can be just talking or singing, or playing with a toy. Reading seems to be an especially good way to stimulate the brain, because there are so many kinds of stimulus at once, the visual image of the pictures in the book, the sound of the reader's voice and the feeling of being held."
It's important to remember that children learn at different ages – no matter how they learn to speak.
Nikki Knoll from Miami, Fla., says her daughter nearly drove her crazy when learning to speak. She would say a word, such as "cake," over and over again. One time in a grocery store a woman asked her daughter about the cake and startd talking about what cake was and what it was used for. Knoll's daughter caught on immediately and said, "Happy birthday, yeah!" Knoll realized that her daughter was just trying to acquire vocabulary, but lacked the ability to ask questions.
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