The explorer baby and his cognitive development
In simple language, cognition means the act of acquiring knowledge, the faculty or ability to learn. Stimulate the cognitive development express to help thinking, sharpen memory, perceive emotions ... Our cognitive area it means everything we are in terms of thoughts, memories, perceptions, emotions, knowledge and language.
The baby will take steps within its development. For example, reflexes will increasingly be more conscious and voluntary than instinctive. And this is not just a neurobiological process; It is much more: it is wanting to know and adapt to the environment. All the exercises that we perform with the baby in this stage will be, in the end, cognitive and perceptive acts. However, we can highlight some more directly related to the act of thinking.
The investigating baby has 3 months to live
From the third month of life, the baby already shows great interest in investigating and exploring the environment, He attends when he is offered help to do something he can not, such as taking a toy out of reach. It also tests your motor skills that allow you to better manage your environment and begins to classify your perceptions. It is an important stage in their development because at the end of the second trimester the acquired independence allows them to greatly expand their experiences thanks to their cognitive development.
The explorer baby: when he is 12 months old
Your motor possibilities, at the end of the first year, open you new exploration fields, it is difficult for him to be still, he wants to touch everything he sees or catches his attention. The possibilities of manipulating objects lead you to have them longer in your hands to know them before putting them in your mouth. He has a good memory and is surprised when a toy disappears while he was driving it, he tries to look for it and sometimes shows his anger at not finding it or not reaching it if it has been lost in a place of difficult access. Remember where are certain objects that attract your attention and when you have the opportunity go directly for them.
He is able to observe and attend carefully what he is interested in, spending a lot of time on it. He shows curiosity in knowing new things, he likes to be taught and to help him carry out activities. He realizes when they imitate him and feels satisfied repeating the actions; he is pleased imitating. It is a good time to teach you new things, since it shows good disposition for learning.
There is a growing awareness that children have unsuspected development potential at birth. And to take advantage of it we must offer them all the opportunities we can to make it manifest. We parents must be especially alert to provide them, offering a rich and stimulating environment, an environment of safety and affection, if we perform exercises with him ... we will get him to acquire many more skills, while stimulating the baby's senses.
The plasticity of the baby's brain in the early stages
We can all learn anything at any time if we put effort and will. However, it is never as easy as in the early stages of life thanks to the plasticity of the brain. The first childhood stage is characterized by an important brain growth: new connections are established and important changes in the ramifications and prolongations of the neurons.
Some parents still consider the infant stage as the least important of all. They do not respond to the motivation to learn that their children show, since they may think that there is a lot of knowledge that they will acquire later, when starting the Primary. However, it is convenient to highlight the importance of early childhood because there is the basis to ensure the success of future learning and how to prevent possible difficulties.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
More information in the book The child's abilities. Regidor, Ricardo. Ed. Word
