by Maryann Whitfield
I Remember
A closet with an abundance of shoes
my little daughter just learning
to walk
and to talk
She slips one foot into a shoe.
She slips the other foot into a shoe.
“Ooes” she squeals with delight.
“Shoes!” My enthusiastic reply.
her love of dress up
her love of talking
begin to bloom
Each day this wee one
emerges from my closet
wearing shoes
carrying a purse
with a story to tell.
“Go store. Nannas”
“Oh, we’re going to the store
to buy bananas,”I suggest.
“Go store buy nannas,” she nodded.
And so it goes.
Dress up time
paired with
learning to talk!
How perfect it is.
The time of
learning to talk.
Parents: A Child’s First Teacher
From the time our child is born they are immersed in a stream of language. The flow of conversation surrounding them must fascinate babies because soon they want to participate in the conversations. They coo, babble, and smile. As parents we become our child’s first teacher. We lovingly respond to their attempts to talk. We engage them in lively conversations as if this tiny human understands every word that we say to them and as if we understand every word they say. They soon know words have meaning.
Early in their life our very young child gives ‘talking’ a go, fearlessly uttering less than perfect attempts at words and little sentences. Delighted we accept this ‘talk’ with pride. Through our conversations and interactions we create the conditions for them to learn to talk. It’s all so beautifully natural! You see “All children are made for learning.”
