Object permanence box (week 37 & 38)

There is so much movement these days. Even after having prepared the whole house for an crawling infant nothing ever seems enough. Fatima is mostly found in corners of the rooms looking for I Don't know what. But this doesn't bother me a lot. I know she needs her space to grow. A little adjustments here and there are fine and so natural. Preparing a house for infant isn't that difficult. trust me! You just need to take a round of your house and follow these simple tips:
1. Make note of all the materials you want to keep in her reach and the materials you want a keep away.
2. Fix place of all your 'Don't touch' materials in upper most cabinets, wardrobe, high tables or in cupboards. These materials can be: your mobile phones, laptops, iron, medicines, any expensive or dangerous stuff. This will avoid most of the running, snatching and havoc.
3. Place all the materials you want her to explore, in her reach. These can be her toys, learning materials, cushions, her blanket, any save furniture she can pull up and stand against, healthy and non messy snack (separately on a table) and other save home equipment.
4. Hide your dustbins and slippers.
5. Arrange some space on floor: Infants need space for movement. Small or big just arrange some tidy area where your child can crawl, move and play. This area must be uninterrupted or least interrupted.
6. Pay particular attention to corners: keep them neat and tidy.
7. Keep your wash room child save or better lock it up each time not in use.

This kind of arrangement will allow you to help your child enjoy her need for movement and will also reduce the number of times you need to stop her or say no, creating a positive environment.
Once you are done with all this, relax and see your child content and happy.
This week Fatima was introduced with Object permanence box. This is not the regular Montessori box. One of my uncles made it for Fatima. He used a very thick foam board to make it. And then he covered it with non toxic cello tape.

If you want to make it on your own, you can use eaither foam board, empty shoe box, or a desk. Below are the pictures for reference:

When introduced, she watched the demo carefully and soon got busy with it. At first I really doubted: can she do this? after the demo I saw her moving the ball slowly between her fingers and top of the box, finally put it through the hole. Even though she doesn't pick this material very often, expecting her to do so in near future.

Talking to your infant.....language

What do you want to talk about with your child? Trust me there is so much....
Often when we talk to our child we end up commenting, judging, scolding and telling them what not to do. But do we really have the talk like talk with our child? think again! I guess you have no for an answer. Let's explore some thing about language and infants. Now if that sounds crazy to you i must stress that these little ones are really sensitive to language...its just their response which is different. Each time you say something to an infant you feel as if your words are going in some void. They never seem to grasp anything.
When taking to infants its particularly important that you first make an eye contact with the child. Infants have so much around them to concentrate on, plus they understand very little of the verbal language, its the non-verbal language with which they mostly understand your point. Begin your talk with first attracting them towards you...simply call out there name in a different pitched voice. Now when they look at you make direct eye contact and start your talk. When your child is listing to you, she pays attention to your body language, movement of lips and gestures more than the words...of course. Keeping mild and clam tone, relevant and peaceful gestures will help your child calm down and listen carefully. In addition, never use bad or baby words to make your child understand something. Always be gentle and soothing, repetition is one of the key points you would never want to forget.
Now, coming to what the talk should be about? The talk can be describing what you are doing now like: Mommy is changing the diaper or Mommy is massaging your leg, foot, toe....You can also talk about what others are doing, like, dad is reading newspaper or brother eating a snack. Do not intent to teach vocabulary to an infant rather just describe as to what is going on. Next talk about her! tell her that she is doing well these days, she is growing and learning different things or she is wearing a nice dress. Then you can talk about your day, your plans and anything general. Infants like to get attention from their parents. They get fussy or disturbed if everyone is busy, paying no attention to them, even if all of their physical needs are met. They need someone to talk, someone to attend them. Giving at least half hour each day of this undisturbed and individual attention will calm down even the most fussy infant. During this half hour apart from all talking described above, try reading a short story, a short poem/ song, recite any religious verses or prayers or play a small game (look for infant games here). Before introducing new ones, repeating the same story, song, prayer and game for a period of 2-3 weeks is a good idea.
Recently, when I met a Montessori teacher and asked her why is that my daughter cries so much when I am trying to put her to bed. After she turned three months old, we have set her sleep routine and all was fine till she turned 7 months old and now she doesn't go to bed easily. On hearing this the Montessori teacher gave a simple solution: talk to her. We did the same. Since that day she doesn't make any fuss for going to bed unless she is unwell.
An half hour talk will save your whole day!

Crawling Masha Allah! (week 35 and 36)

The much awaited act of crawling has begun.
In my last post, I mentioned Fatima was on her way to crawling and now she crawls! No its not that simple. Allow me to narrate you her crawling story....
Three weeks back, when Fatima was scooting backwards in commando position hoping she would reach her toys which were lying exactly in front of her, she was only getting more away from them. As she moved away she yelled and shouted, getting frustrated. I dint knew what to do and was only left with encouraging her and telling her that she will soon know how to crawl and that she must keep practicing. This scooting backwards lasted for a good two and half weeks.
In the middle of all this we had to travel with a family who had a crawling infant. The two days spent in the journey made everything so obvious. Fatima saw this little girl crawling in front of her....what a good lesson! First time she saw this infant crawling in front of her she paused to see carefully as to what is going on.
When we returned back home she was no more moving backwards, she used to pause on all fours moving in neither direction. Two days latter she crawled for the first time to reach up to her little cousin's bracelet.
At first there were little baby crawling steps. She used to move slowly and carefully. Now she crawls everywhere and with so much confidence.
If you are looking for ways to encourage your baby to crawl, My recommendation is this: Its time to visit a family with a crawling infant. No other lesson would be more promising. Babies tend to learn as they see things happening around. Show your baby a real crawling infant (not a video of course) and that will be all.
I have to go catch her up....