Read Honig (2007) and Pica (2010) I suggest completing this handout as you read
Honig(2007)PDPica(2010)
Watch the video Infants: Physical Development (Learning Seed, 2010) which is located in the BMCC library Kanopy video database (these instructions or this video explains how to access the video). I suggest completing this handout as you watch the video.
Review this Power Point
Answer the questions below:
Your best friend found a great new walker for her baby! She asks your opinion on the walker. Answer the question below, including (watch this video for information on how to cite) specific information from the readings and video to support your answer:
- Should she purchase the walker? Why?
- What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Answer the questions below:
Your best friend found a great new walker for her baby! She asks your opinion on the walker. Answer the question below, including (watch this video for information on how to cite) specific information from the readings and video to support your answer:
* Should she purchase the walker? Why?
* What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Answer: Baby walkers can affect development and language development as well as Motor skills. Baby walkers hinder or in severe cases, prevent the child from crawling and keep the child in an upright position which interferes with the natural brain development of the child. Children can learn to process things on their own just like reading article Honig “Babies do not have to be “taught” to move” (pg 1)
Answer: Always encourage the increasing coordination of physical movements as the infant reaches, grabs, and transfers things from one hand to the other. Allow the infant to explore freely on a clean, safe floor. Encourage creeping and crawling. Support the infant in an upright position to encourage balance and strength development. Provide a play environment that encourages lots of time and space for energetic and noisy play. Stretch out body parts.
Janate — Thanks for your comment. Walkers, playpens, etc. prevent motor development, which impacts brain development. An environment that encourages exploration and movement is crucial to physical development. I wonder, how do the video and Pica (2010) reading connect to your comment? How can infant teachers encourage creeping and crawling?
1) I don’t believe a walker is necessary, Walkers prohibits the infant to actually move their body around the way they want. It keeps the infant upright and hinders them from reaching near local objects. It restricts their need to twist and move their body around. “Babies do not have to be ‘taught’ to move. An inborn need to use muscles while growing impels a baby to move” ( Honig 2007).
2) Activities and practices that infant teachers can do to support baby’s physical development is displaying toys all around the room where if one catches an infants eye, they would try and crawl and reach for the object.
Tamaia — Thanks for your comment. Walkers do inhibit movement. Babies know how to move from the day they are born — their ability to move is innate. Having an environment that facilitates exploration and movement promotes physical development. I wonder, how does the video and Pica (2010) reading from this assignment connect to your comment?
Should she purchase the walker? Why?
Yes she should purchase the walker, because its a good way for the child to explore and learn how to move their legs. In the article it lets you know that movement for an infant is just as important as a toddler moving.
What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Play with them, crawl with them follow their movements. Allow them to be free.
Cindy — Thanks for your comment. Creating an environment that facilitates movement and exploration supports physical development. In the activities that infant teachers should do to support babies’ physical development you mention ” allowing them to be free”, but then you say the family should buy the walker. I wonder, is the walker allowing the baby to be free? How does the video, Honig (2007) and Pica (2010) reading in this assignment connect to your comment and the question?
1) Should she purchase the walker? Why?
Answer: Yes, i think that she should by a walker because it helps the baby explore the world around them and help start with the process of walking. ” ………physical movement plays a vital role in the creation of nerve cell network that are actually the core of learning …….” Pica (2010)
2) What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Answer: infant teachers show allow infants to be free, crawl around, play with them, blow bubbles, let them stretch their bodies and more.
Lacoya — Thanks for your comment. There is a strong connection between movement and brain development. When infant teachers create environments that encourage movement and exploration, that facilitates a baby’s physical development. In your response, you mention that infant teacher should “allow the babies to be free, crawl around,….let them stretch their bodies…”; I wonder, how does that connect to using a walker? What else does Pica (2010), Honig (2007) and the video in this assignment say that connects to your comment and the question posed?
Your best friend found a great new walker for her baby! She asks your opinion on the walker. Answer the question below, including (watch this video for information on how to cite) specific information from the readings and video to support your answer:
Should she purchase the walker? Why?
What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
1) I feel like walkers help babies get a feel of walking even when they aren’t fully ready to. I have six nephews and all of them had a walker and they all started walking before 9months. In the articles they explained that physical movement plays an important role in their cell development that helps with their learning.
2) I believe infant teachers should allow them to explore around the classrooms, move around as much they can.
Tamaris — Thanks for your comment. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with your nephews too. Creating an environment where babies can move and explore promotes physical development. When children are in a walker, I wonder, do they have that same freedom to move and explore? In wat other ways do Pica (2010), Honig (2007) and the video in this assignment connect to your comment and the question?
I would tell my bestfriend not to buy the walker. A walker is really not that necessary to be honest. Infants needs the ability to move around freely. Using a walker can make them lazy and/or feel very limited when exploring motor skills. They need to be able to crawl, stand and fall to learn the concept of “walking”. As a teacher, I will support physical development by letting infant explore and experience freely. One has to always observe and watch the children as they grow. The best thing to do is to let them learn on their own as they explore their abilities and strengths.
Grace — Thanks for your comment. Allowing babies to explore and move in their environment promotes their motor development. Babies learn their abilities and the limits of their abilities by practicing new skills — and falling. Allowing them time and space to practice physical skills — and fall — is important for their physical development and brain development. I wonder, how does your comment and the question connect to the video and Pica (2010) and Honig (2007) readings?
Your best friend found a great new walker for her baby! She asks your opinion on the walker. Answer the question below, including (watch this video for information on how to cite) specific information from the readings and video to support your answer:
Should she purchase the walker? Why?
I would suggest that if she purchase the walker let it be for free time when she isn’t able to attend to her baby and use it for the baby to explore. I would definitely suggest that if believes it can help the baby walk I would inform her better ways to assist the baby on how to walk. Babies depend on us to learn how to walk or control their bodies movement (Honig, pg. 21)
What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Activities and practice that infant teachers can do to support baby’s physical development is by first providing a safe environment to avoid a baby from being injured. I would leave babies on rugs and have them explore. I know this is a good technique for development because it provides independence.
What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Eunice — Thanks for your comment. You connected the materials from this assignment to your response. I wonder, what does Pica’s (2010)say about containerizing babies?
• Should she purchase the walker? Why?
I would advise my best friend to purchase the walker for her baby because of all the great benefits it can have on a infants development. Early movement experiences are important to neural stimulation needed for healthy brain development, connection to the brain, and their learning (Pica 2010). Babis are meant to constantly be moving for their motor and cognitive development and a walker is a great device to purchase to encourage this.
• What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
The more mobile and active the baby is the more the baby is able to get a perspective on themselves and others around them. So the walking shouldn’t be just done at home but in classrooms too. Some things infant teachers can do to support baby’s physical development are activities such as Pat-a-cake, Splish-Splash, and other forms of opportunities that encourage them to stay moving.
“learning to move and moving to learn”(Pica 2010)
Xitlaly — Thanks for your comment. You connected the readings from this assignment to your response. I wonder, what does Pica (2010) say about containerizing babies?
Your best friend found a great new walker for her baby! She asks your opinion on the walker. Answer the question below, including (watch this video for information on how to cite) specific information from the readings and video to support your answer:
1)Should she purchase the walker? Why?
I would let my best friend know that I do not agree on her purchasing the walker because 1: I do not believe is safe because the child may fall back and have a great injury. 2: I would let my best friend know that her child has more to gain on the floor and letting her child explore then being in a walker. In both readings Pica and Honig discuss the importance of movement. Movement for infants is super important because they are learning what their bodies are able to do in certain situation. According to Honig ‘s article Baby Moves! she states “Young children, even tiny babies are born to move they wiggle, they stretch, they squirm” (Honing 1). In other words Honig is letting us know that babies need to move, wiggle , stretch and squirm on the floor and not when they are in a walker. What will happen if your child is in the walker and because they are naturally required to move he stretches and falls back this will have serious injury. Pica also in her piece states the following ” Because babies are meant to move, being confined may have serious consequences for their motor and cognitive development” (Pica 1). A child’s cognitive development will suffer because when a child is able to explore using their senses they gain knowledge on what is safe and the world around them. This will only happen when you let the child explore with your active supervision in making sure that the areas that are being explored are safe for the child. Pica also stated “The more mobile he becomes, the more he increases his knowledge about himself and the people and things around him, acquiring information through his tactile, muscular, body awareness, and vestibular senses ” (Pica 1). A baby needs to be themselves and explore the different textures in the living room from the rug to the cold wooden kitchen floor. In both readings both authors let us know that we as parents and caregivers must let our children explore in environment that is totally safe with appropriate toys and materials for children to experiment with.
2)What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support baby’s physical development?
Infants teachers can provide safe environment that is safe from chocking hazards when doing activities that help fine and motor skills (Physical Development 10:27). Infants teachers can also support children’s physical development by making sure a child nutrition and emotional are stable by making sure comforting a child when needed making sure a child is being introduced to solid food one at a time.
Patty — Thanks for your comment. You thoughtfully connected the readings from this assignment to your response. The walker would “containerize” the baby, according to Pica (2010), which as you point out would limit cognitive development. Babies learn from sensorimotor exploration — which is input from their senses (sensori) and moving their bodies around in their environments to explore (motor).