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Understanding Your Baby: A Week-By-Week Development & Activity Guide For Playing With Your Baby From Birth to 12 Months
If you've ever wished for a step-by-step guide to supporting your baby's development...
Distilled, research-based developmental information paired with simple activities to play with your baby on a week-by-week basis, guiding you and your baby through the first year of life.
There's no such thing as a "how-to-parent" guide - but this book comes close... a rare gem that helps parents feel informed. Learn how to "think outside the box" when it comes to play - the information and activities in "Understanding Your Baby" break down developmental concepts and offer simple, quick play activities to help parents and caregivers feel that they're "winning" at parenthood!
In this age of parenting, we feel enormous pressure (both societal and self-imposed) to “get it right” when it comes to raising young children, and each of us has felt, at one point or another, that we’re “doing it wrong.” Pediatric speech-language pathologist, parent educator, and mother of two young children, Ayelet Marinovich, is the creator of the early parenting resources at Strength In Words. She believes that parenthood is easier when we have resources we trust.
"Put yourself in Marinovich's hands and you can relax, knowing that you are building a natural, meaningful way of being with your baby."
--Tracy Cutchlow, author of "Zero to 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science"
We all want to do everything we can to support our babies, and, ultimately, to raise good human beings. There’s a way to find joy in the mayhem, and it’s a mixture of science of art. When we feel empowered with knowledge about how our babies develop (and how we can support that development), we feel more confident as parents and caregivers, and we’re able to connect in more ways with our babies.
Understanding Your Baby offers an infant enrichment curriculum for parents and caregivers of infants, with 52 bite-sized "modules" of palatable, research-based developmental information and simple, enriching activities to support your baby's development in the areas of cognitive, communicative, motor, and social/emotional development. Week by week, learn along with your growing, changing baby!
YOU'LL
+ All about what your baby is likely to be working on in the areas of cognitive, communicative, motor/sensory, and social/emotional development
+ Simple, practical ways to support those areas of development - using nothing more than repurposed common household objects to create play materials and musical, early literacy and sensory experiences
+ How to maximize your time with your infant - whether you work out of the house full-time or home is your work
+ The developmental basis for simple activities you may already be doing - helping to reaffirm what you already know and do innately, and helping to boost your likelihood to keep doing them!
PRAISE FOR "UNDERSTANDING YOUR "
"Some of my favorite activities were the little ways of making our 'all-the-time activities' more stimulating - it encouraged what was coming naturally for me, and helped me make a more conscientious effort. There were certain things that maybe I was doing already, but then I became more deliberate about doing them because I realized there was a benefit to it!" - Dr. Anna Loeb, M.D., mother
"Even though this is my second time moving through the baby months, I am learning all the time from this curriculum and as a result, finding infancy less daunting and more enjoyable this time around – if only we had access to it when Marco was little! This book answer my early development questions before I have asked them and is a great source of reassurance. Ayelet distills the complex science behind how our babies develop in a wonderfully accessible way, and offers practical ideas and games to play to help families along their developmental journey.” - Alexandra Nicoletti, mother
Distilled, research-based developmental information paired with simple activities to play with your baby on a week-by-week basis, guiding you and your baby through the first year of life.
There's no such thing as a "how-to-parent" guide - but this book comes close... a rare gem that helps parents feel informed. Learn how to "think outside the box" when it comes to play - the information and activities in "Understanding Your Baby" break down developmental concepts and offer simple, quick play activities to help parents and caregivers feel that they're "winning" at parenthood!
In this age of parenting, we feel enormous pressure (both societal and self-imposed) to “get it right” when it comes to raising young children, and each of us has felt, at one point or another, that we’re “doing it wrong.” Pediatric speech-language pathologist, parent educator, and mother of two young children, Ayelet Marinovich, is the creator of the early parenting resources at Strength In Words. She believes that parenthood is easier when we have resources we trust.
"Put yourself in Marinovich's hands and you can relax, knowing that you are building a natural, meaningful way of being with your baby."
--Tracy Cutchlow, author of "Zero to 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science"
We all want to do everything we can to support our babies, and, ultimately, to raise good human beings. There’s a way to find joy in the mayhem, and it’s a mixture of science of art. When we feel empowered with knowledge about how our babies develop (and how we can support that development), we feel more confident as parents and caregivers, and we’re able to connect in more ways with our babies.
Understanding Your Baby offers an infant enrichment curriculum for parents and caregivers of infants, with 52 bite-sized "modules" of palatable, research-based developmental information and simple, enriching activities to support your baby's development in the areas of cognitive, communicative, motor, and social/emotional development. Week by week, learn along with your growing, changing baby!
YOU'LL
+ All about what your baby is likely to be working on in the areas of cognitive, communicative, motor/sensory, and social/emotional development
+ Simple, practical ways to support those areas of development - using nothing more than repurposed common household objects to create play materials and musical, early literacy and sensory experiences
+ How to maximize your time with your infant - whether you work out of the house full-time or home is your work
+ The developmental basis for simple activities you may already be doing - helping to reaffirm what you already know and do innately, and helping to boost your likelihood to keep doing them!
PRAISE FOR "UNDERSTANDING YOUR "
"Some of my favorite activities were the little ways of making our 'all-the-time activities' more stimulating - it encouraged what was coming naturally for me, and helped me make a more conscientious effort. There were certain things that maybe I was doing already, but then I became more deliberate about doing them because I realized there was a benefit to it!" - Dr. Anna Loeb, M.D., mother
"Even though this is my second time moving through the baby months, I am learning all the time from this curriculum and as a result, finding infancy less daunting and more enjoyable this time around – if only we had access to it when Marco was little! This book answer my early development questions before I have asked them and is a great source of reassurance. Ayelet distills the complex science behind how our babies develop in a wonderfully accessible way, and offers practical ideas and games to play to help families along their developmental journey.” - Alexandra Nicoletti, mother
133 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2018
57 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 27, 2022
Fantastic resource! Love that this book goes week by week. Each entry includes a little info on a relevant developmental topic and lots of application examples that are easy to integrate into what you’re already doing and don’t take lots of time, prep, or buying things. We found this little book so helpful!
October 25, 2019
A very practical book for busy parents. It gives ideas for appropriate developmental activities in each week between the birth and one year. Activities are designed to develop different skills: cognitive, emotional, large motor, core muscles, etc. They don't need any expensive toys: often just a box of tissues, a used paper roll, or a couple of pillows. The book is divided into very short sections that you can read while the baby is napping. A couple of cons: it often reads like an advertisement for the author's podcast and it's usually unclear what research each advice is based on.
January 8, 2020
A practical, accessible, no-nonsense guide to understanding and connecting with your baby from a pediatric speech-language pathologist.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY is a MUST read for any new parent--or even a seasoned one! I love Ayelet Marinovich, M.A., CCC-SLP's down-to-earth, no-frills approach to connecting with your baby, how to maximize your time and efforts, and she does it all in an efficient, easily digested form. Parents are busy. They don't have time (or energy) to read large research-heavy books on child development. And even if they do, chances are, they're too distracted (or exhausted) to absorb the information.
Here, Marinovich distills the research-based developmental information in bite-sized chunks, making it easy to breeze through a section while nursing, over a quick bite of breakfast, or while your baby naps. Seriously, it can be a 5-10 minute read each day, and I would caution parents of reading it cover to cover. Wait. Take those precious weeks with your child one day--one week--at a time.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY is structured in three month intervals, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months. Within in those sections, each month is divided into weeks of age. Ayelet breaks down what your baby is learning and experiencing (for example, week 1 is all about senses and moods). She then provides simple suggestions on things you can do to enhance your relationship with your baby. That's it! Each week and month is different in terms of cognitive, communicative, motor/sensory, and social/emotional development.
But what I especially love about Ayelet's approach is that it's practical and gentle. And doesn't require fancy gadgets or toys or anything but you, the caregiver, and perhaps some everyday household objects like containers or pillows, blankets, empty toilet paper or paper towel tubes, and the like. It might involve getting outside and exploring nature with your child, music, singing, making sounds, and exploring language. Again, complex things are happening [developmentally] with simple methods in a natural environment.
And when your baby is a toddler, Ayelet is there for the next step: UNDERSTANDING YOUR TODDLER.
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com | Always with a Book.
Special thanks to the author for this review copy. All thoughts are my own.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY is a MUST read for any new parent--or even a seasoned one! I love Ayelet Marinovich, M.A., CCC-SLP's down-to-earth, no-frills approach to connecting with your baby, how to maximize your time and efforts, and she does it all in an efficient, easily digested form. Parents are busy. They don't have time (or energy) to read large research-heavy books on child development. And even if they do, chances are, they're too distracted (or exhausted) to absorb the information.
Here, Marinovich distills the research-based developmental information in bite-sized chunks, making it easy to breeze through a section while nursing, over a quick bite of breakfast, or while your baby naps. Seriously, it can be a 5-10 minute read each day, and I would caution parents of reading it cover to cover. Wait. Take those precious weeks with your child one day--one week--at a time.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY is structured in three month intervals, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months. Within in those sections, each month is divided into weeks of age. Ayelet breaks down what your baby is learning and experiencing (for example, week 1 is all about senses and moods). She then provides simple suggestions on things you can do to enhance your relationship with your baby. That's it! Each week and month is different in terms of cognitive, communicative, motor/sensory, and social/emotional development.
But what I especially love about Ayelet's approach is that it's practical and gentle. And doesn't require fancy gadgets or toys or anything but you, the caregiver, and perhaps some everyday household objects like containers or pillows, blankets, empty toilet paper or paper towel tubes, and the like. It might involve getting outside and exploring nature with your child, music, singing, making sounds, and exploring language. Again, complex things are happening [developmentally] with simple methods in a natural environment.
And when your baby is a toddler, Ayelet is there for the next step: UNDERSTANDING YOUR TODDLER.
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com | Always with a Book.
Special thanks to the author for this review copy. All thoughts are my own.
September 16, 2019
Great resource that was easy to read and understand so I could easily walk away each week with new information and be ready to observe and implement activities with my infant.
Great resource that was easy to read and understand so I could easily walk away each week with new information and be ready to observe and implement activities with my infant.
Great resource that was easy to read and understand so I could easily walk away each week with new information and be ready to observe and implement activities with my infant.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews