I thought this thread would be a good guideline on what to teach our babies and at what age. I am worried that Haley (9 months) is not learning enough because she does not go to a formatted daycare. I have never done this before so I don't know what skills they are supposed to learn at certain ages.

Some examples are:
putting shapes in the correct slots
putting the rings on the pole


I try to read to her as much as possible and have floor playtime with her a couple of times of day. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough to help her learn.

What is your learning routine? Do you have a formatted teaching plan?

I don't see any particular benefit to having specifics of what to teach at a particular time - I simply follow Caroline's interest. When she started asking what things were, I made a point to mention what color they were too; hence she learned colors. When she wanted to know what the pieces in her alphabet puzzle were, I told her; hence she learned the entire alphabet by the time she was 18 months old. Due to the cicadas inhabiting our area, she wants to know about bugs, so we got some books out of the library.

I do what Anne does... if Aiden shows interest, then I will reinforce it. Certain toys are favored over others. He likes musical instruments, and his bead rollercoaster. I also give him the opportunity to let his curiousity take over. He really enjoys pulling the toilet paper off the roll and throwing things into the tub. :lol:
We don't have a structured schedule, per say... but we do get out once a day for new stimulus. This can be playing in the children's room at the Library, going to Gymboree, or eating lunch at McDonald's while Aiden watches all teh children. Another thing we do is when I go to the fabric store, I let him touch the different fabrics (and I wash his hands prior). Just anything that is new and different. I figure that he will learn as time goes on, and from the daycare center we interviewed (when I needed a medical break), what we do is not all that different from them. When they are older they do more structured activities, but for now, they just let them play.

Mandy

They learn so much just by playing and exploring their environment. The only things I do that might help them learn are to read to them as much as possible and talk to them a lot throughout the day. I'm not terribly worried about structured learning yet. They're going to go through 13 years of school. That's plenty of structured learning in my book.

I'll consider preschool eventually just so they learn social skills.

I'm not terribly worried about structured learning yet. They're going to go through 13 years of school. That's plenty of structured learning in my book.

I'll consider preschool eventually just so they learn social skills.
You have a very good point there.

I really don't want to have a structured learning routine but I just want to know if I'm doing enough with her. She is 9 1/2 months old and she still does not crawl or pull herself up or roll. She refuses to hold her own bottle or sippy cup. She will not pick up cherrios and put them in her mouth, she just swipes them all on the floor with her hand. This just worries me and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to help her learn.

You have a very good point there.

I really don't want to have a structured learning routine but I just want to know if I'm doing enough with her. She is 9 1/2 months old and she still does not crawl or pull herself up or roll. She refuses to hold her own bottle or sippy cup. She will not pick up cherrios and put them in her mouth, she just swipes them all on the floor with her hand. This just worries me and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to help her learn.
Just keep giving her opportunities. Maybe try putting some toys she likes near her on the floor to encourage her to move toward them. Keep offering finger foods and sippy cup while she's in her high chair. I think when they are babies it's mostly our job to provide a safe environment for baby to explore.

Maybe she would be more interested in shredded cheese or chunks of banana or something instead of cheerios. My Sean is 16 months old and still won't eat cheerios. I thought he must be the only kid in the world who wouldn't eat cheerios.

Hey Lisa, I'm sure that you're doing a great job with Haley! I do pretty much the same as the others. I just follow Anna. I think it's nice to be able to go for a walk and let her toddle along and stop to touch the grass, pick up some rocks or look at the creek. We don't set any land speed records (maybe for the slowest :lol: ) but I think it's nice to let her explore at her own pace.

As far as 'teaching' things, I'll just tell her the name of objects, or what their colour or shape are when she picks them up. You asked about the shape sorter and rock a stack. I know they say 6+M, but it really just means they will have fun banging the rings together for a while. Anna started putting the circles in the shape sorter at about a year. The stars were a few months later, and at 16 months, she's still hit or miss with the squares and triangles. She started stacking the rock-a-stack a few months ago, but it was just last week that she realised that they have a specific order. I can't remember when Anna started to feed herself finger foods, but I babysit a 9 month old, and he can't really feed himself cheerios yet.

I wouldn't be concerned about Haley not crawling or pulling up yet, but if she's not rolling yet, you might want to mention it to your Dr. the next time you're there. Does she get around any other way? Does she 'scooch' around at all?

Like Jen said, just give her lots of opportunities, encouragement and praise. She'll get there!

I don't see any particular benefit to having specifics of what to teach at a particular time - I simply follow Caroline's interest. When she started asking what things were, I made a point to mention what color they were too; hence she learned colors. When she wanted to know what the pieces in her alphabet puzzle were, I told her; hence she learned the entire alphabet by the time she was 18 months old. Due to the cicadas inhabiting our area, she wants to know about bugs, so we got some books out of the library.This is what we do too. I guess we did buy the toys to teach the stuff, but then we let Janelle take the lead. She had bathtub sticky foam letters and that's how she learned to recognize the alphabet (she was also around 18 months) she liked playing with water bottle caps in the bath tub so we would count them as we stacked them, lined them up, or threw them in the water and thats how she learned to count. She has balls in every colour imaginable (my mom bought her a ball pit...but I don't like it so she just has the balls...I'm a mean mom) and that's how she is learning colours...

I work full-time, but I just wanted to tell you not to worry! At my son's daycare center, under 1 they don't really have much structure at all. An art project once in a while, sensory activities (painting, touching fabrics, etc. . .) but mostly unstructured everything. I can't remember when they introduced a sippy cup -- I think around 10 months, but they don't push it --they just have it on the table for kids to experiment with if they want to use it.

When he was 1, he moved to the toddler room, where they begin learning how to eat with a spoon and learning how to wash hands and throw things in the garbage. Still, so much of it all is free play -- reading, playing with toys, singing songs, exploring the environment, naming things. The kids in his room are all at different levels of everything -- it's so child specific. My son is amazing physically, and barely normal verbally (recognize letters? Not even close, and he is 20 months!) Some kids are the exact opposite.

Just keep talking and reading to your son, letting him play and explore, and giving him chances to soak in his environment. That's how they learn at this age.

Lisa, my twins developed at different times. My daughter started doing things first, then my son followed about 3 -4 weeks later. They both just turned 10 months old. My son is finally attempting to crawl without dragging himself around on his belly.

We don't have structured playtime. They have their play area with all their toys. I sit with them and play with them a few times a day. When they pick up a green block, I'll say "Look, you have the green block," and just random things like that.

When I taught them how to eat finger foods, we had a few set backs, but they do really well with that now. It just took some consistency on my part, and a lot of patience! We're trying sippy cups for one meal a day. Some days are good, others not so good, but I'm not worried about it. I know that they will get it at some point.

They've recently shown interest in grabbing the spoon when I feed them, so I've tried giving them each a spoon while I feed them so they can "feed" themselves. I don't do this at every meal, but just when they express an interest by grabbing the spoon, etc.

I know you're concerned about Haley. It sounds like you're a loving, attentive mommy. I would probably discuss this more with your doctor to alleviate your concerns. As for some things you might do, try more tummy time. I did a lot of that with Jonathan and Jenna. Then I would physically encourage them to roll over for a few minutes. I also helped them stand up from a sitting position and they really loved that. Don't worry. I'm sure that Haley will do all these things in her own time. :)