But first, it's important to start from this premise:
If intelligence is the ability to learn, then babies are born geniuses!
While a baby's brain has the potential to learn just about anything, parents have an important role to play in determining just how much - and how easily - their baby learns.
Here, we discuss the key issues to bear in mind when teaching your baby.
 | A unique window of opportunity: 5 months' gestation to 5 years of age |
The younger the brain, the more malleable it is - that's why young children are like sponges. A baby's brain builds itself by forming connections in response to the stimulation it receives. The fetus begins responding to sound during month five in the womb, when her sense of hearing becomes fully developed. This means that learning begins before birth.
After birth, the baby's brain continues wiring itself in response to the child's experiences of the world. Learning is faster and more effortless than it will ever be again. Acquiring our native language from birth guarantees that we will master that language, regardless of how linguistically gifted we turn out to be as adults. It's all about harnessing the power of a baby's brain. Likewise, anyone can master the skills of reading, math or music, so long as they begin learning at a young enough age.
 | Babies LOVE to learn! |
A baby's brain is hardwired for learning, making babies the most avid students in the world. What's more, babies and small children carry none of the baggage that comes from being sent to school and being subjected to quizzes, tests and examinations. For babies, learning is pure enjoyment.
 | Teaching should never be forced |
Regular practice is important, but not to the point of forcing. Above all, your child should enjoy the learning process. Hold lessons only when he is receptive, and end them before he loses interest.
 | Play is ESSENTIAL |
Babies and children need time to explore the world around them, pick up objects and examine them, and get to grips with the laws of nature. Your baby should spend the majority of her waking hours engaged in hands-on play.
 | Relax and have FUN |
Avoid focusing on having your child achieve specific knowledge goals. Treat lesson time instead as an opportunity for strengthening the parent-child bond. Teaching your baby should never become a source of stress for either one of you. If you feel this is happening, reevaluate your approach or trim down the lesson program as necessary.
Why Teach Your Baby Early?
The period from birth to age eight - and especially, from birth to age three - is a critical time in baby brain development.
This is because the first years of life lay the neurological foundation for intellectual growth into adolescence and adulthood.
From the moment of conception, the neurons (nerve cells) of the brain multiply faster than any other cells in a baby's body.
The rapid pace of baby brain development continues into early childhood: at birth, the brain weighs 25 percent of its adult weight; by age one, 50 percent; by age two, 75 percent; and by age three, 90 percent.
The brain of an adult has over 100 billion neurons, the majority of which were formed during the first five months in the womb! Recent research suggests that new neurons can be created throughout life - but probably only in sufficient numbers to replace those that have died.
Each of the brain's neurons is connected to roughly 5,000 others. In general, the more dendrites (branches between neurons) and synapses (connections between neurons) the brain has, the greater its processing power. More pathways mean information can travel in a number of ways, opening the door to faster and more complex thinking.
This is true in the adult, but not in the infant. Your baby's brain actually has more synapses than yours - but only because it hasn't passed an important developmental stage, known as pruning, in which the brain deletes unneeded neural connections in the interests of organization and efficiency.
"Use it or lose it"
In a now-classic experiment, kittens blindfolded for several months after birth were left unable to see properly once the blindfolds were removed. Their brains had not had the opportunity to develop the neural pathways needed to process visual information. Likewise, babies with cataracts must have them removed within the first few months of life or suffer permanent visual impairment.
Nothing is more disastrous for baby brain development than a dearth of stimulation.
Likewise, a surfeit of appropriate stimulation will produce better-than-average neural circuitry.
In one study, rat pups were placed in one of two environments - an "enriched" one filled with toys and obstacles, or an "impoverished," empty one. After 80 days, the rats that had been stimulated were found to have brains with a heavier cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that controls memory and perception), larger neurons, and more intricate dendritic networks.
The same principle applies to baby brain development in humans. Scientists have discovered, for instance, that certain areas of the brain are larger and more developed in children who play musical instruments than in those who do not. These include the cerebellum, which processes rhythm and timing, and the corpus callosum, which acts as the conduit for communication between the brain's left and right hemispheres - vital for musicians coordinating their right and left hands.
Giving kids a Head Start
Education initiatives such as the US's Head Start and Early Head Start are producing measurable cognitive and emotional benefits in children - benefits that can last into middle and even high school. Some of the Head Start programs, which focus on helping disadvantaged children, have produced boosts in IQ equivalent to eight IQ points. In general, the younger intervention is staged, the more significant and long-lived the effects. Full-day Head Start programs for infants have been shown to produce IQ gains lasting into adolescence.
The question is: why limit such programs to disadvantaged children?
Waiting until school to begin providing consistent intellectual stimulation to a child is no disaster. But in doing so, we miss a unique opportunity to enhance baby brain development.
Since reading is one of the most important skills a child will ever learn, we would encourage parents to begin teaching their baby to read from the age of 4 months, or as early as possible.
Children who develop their language skills - and particularly, the ability to read - before starting school have higher self-esteem than their peers. These children are also more likely to enjoy school-based learning, as they have been equipped with the right basic tools early in life.
For more on teaching your baby to read, go to http://www.brillkids.com/ra.php?BKAFF62325
See videos of babies reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FARvP390CE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSKjwA4FaJI
