In response to: Baby DVDs may slow early language acquisition (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?date=11/13/2007%209:00:12%20AM) and 'Baby genius' DVDs delay language skills (http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/baby-genius-dvds-delay-language-skills/2007/10/17/1192300839626.html)
As it turns out, all those hours of staring at a television screen of swirling shapes and classical music, although distracting for baby and giving a break to mommy, are not actually increasing the child's inteligence. At least not on a language level. Infact, a study from the University of Washington says just the opposite, that babies that for each extra hour per day of brain-boosting programming under names like "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" reduced the word recognition test scores by 17 points in infants between 8 and 16 months. This effect ballances out by age 24 months, when 'Baby Einstein' catches up with 'Sponge Bob', 'Sesame Street', and 'Oprah', none of which showed negative impact on language development.
The only kids who demonstrated a noted positive difference on the tests were those who were read to by parents once a day.
This says a lot about language development in toddlers. That, surprisingly enough, children need to be exposed to language to learn it. A child obviously can't pick up a language without hearing it. But this doesn't explain how those children showing a gap in language abilities at 16 months are caught up by 24 months. (Any ideas?)
Due to the social nature language, those children who are read to out perform thos who have learned from TV. Those children in contact with parents as they read them a book receive other cues to use to help understand the meaning of new words, and possible side conversation of the book providing another context for the text, not to mention probably being in a happier emotional state better for learning.
The idea of baby genius tapes is the result of a game of scientifically-innacurate telephone coming from "the Mozart Effect". In 1993 "Nature" published a study conducted at UC Irvine showing ADULTS did better on spatial reasoning tests after hearing Mozart. (http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/elementary/default.aspx?article=classicalmusic) Through press buzz on the story, and public connecting 2 and 2, from this it is obvious that Mozart makes babies smarter.
Since Mozart must make babies smarter, it only makes sense that a DVD around the composer's work would be twice as effective by adding a visual component. Ta-dah! Baby DVD's are a $100 million industry.
In short, read to your kids, don't let a TV do it for you.
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3 comments:
I think the reason that babies catch up after 24 months because they're equally expose to the outside world. Before that they are normally "kept" in their houses for protection (or something else). So, the social interaction between babies and people around them may help them catch up their fellow babies.
Great idea!
I guess parents have to let them out of their bubbles of colorful shapes and soft melodies that are the Baby DVD's
Nice post and great comment
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