Be a role model.
You are your child's first and best teacher. Your child watches and imitates everything you do. Be a positive role model for your child.
You are your child's first and best teacher. Your infant learns from
watching you, how you interact with her and other people, and the way
you go about your daily tasks.
Your relationship with your child is her first and most significant, and
it will create the basis for the relationships she will make with others
in the future. By giving your baby lots of positive attention, reading
to her, teaching her healthy habits, and treating her with care and love,
she will learn to value herself, form positive relationships with other
people, and develop healthy habits. But modeling this behavior in your
own life is equally important. Take time to read for yourself, and your
child will notice. Spend lots of time in front of the television or computer,
and your child will learn to do the same. Pay attention to the words you
use and how you speak. Even as an infant, your child is influenced tremendously
by what you say. Talk to you child about what you are doing, why you are
doing it, and how you feel. This teaches your child to process and understand
actions, and to learn about emotions. As your infant grows, your influence
on her will become more apparent.
Developmental milestones
- Talk to your child lots, even if she is too young to understand you yet. Explain your actions out loud as you do them, whether it's changing a diaper or taking out the trash. Your child loves the sound of your voice. The words and the tone stimulate her thinking skills, and soon she will be able to process what you are saying.
- By 12 months, your baby will try to copy what she sees others doing. From the tone of your voice, to the foods you eat, to how you brush your teeth, your baby will try to imitate everything you do.
- If you take care of yourself, your child will learn to do the same. If your child learns the importance of healthy food, physical activity, and taking time to sleep and relax at an early age, she is more likely to continue these habits into adulthood.
- Taking your baby to child care can be stressful! Feeling comfortable with the setting and trusting the child care providers to be positive role models for your child will help decrease the stress. For more information about child care options, see Safe Away from Home.
For more information see Safe Away from Home, Building Empathy and Sympathy, Healthy Meal Times and Snack Choices, and Let's Go Parents!
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Be a role model.
Your toddler pays attention to everything you do and say, and she learns by imitating your words and your actions. Be a positive role model for your child. By modeling healthy habits, positive relationships, and by providing a safe environment that encourages learning and exploration, your child will learn how important these things are. Habits she forms at an early age are more likely to stick with her as she gets older.
Developmental milestones
- Your toddler wants to do everything you do, from the foods you eat, to the chores you do around the house, to the way you treat yourself. Your toddler learns by imitating you. If you find yourself raising your voice or yelling a lot, your child will start to do the same. If you say "please" and "thank you," your child will learn to say them, too.
- If you take care of yourself, your child will learn to do the same. If your child learns the importance of healthy food, physical activity, and taking time to sleep and relax at an early age, she is more likely to continue these habits into adulthood.
- Be active! Active parents are more likely to raise active children. This includes physical activity, but it also includes being active in the community. Volunteer, and your child will learn the importance of giving back. Get involved, and your child will learn about the many opportunities that exist and how to become a part of them. Explore your community and your world, and your child will learn to do the same.
- Read. Not only read to your child, but read for yourself, whether it's the newspaper, a book, or a magazine. Talk about the things you read-from world events to a mystery novel. Talking to your child about what you read teaches her about events, piques her curiosity, and shows her how she can learn about the world.
- If your child is in child care, make sure that you feel comfortable
with the setting and the practices of the child care providers. They
should be positive role models for your child, too. For more information
on child care options, see Safe
Away from Home.
For more information see Safe Away from Home, Building Empathy and Sympathy, Healthy Meal Times and Snack Choices, and Let's Go Parents!
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Be a role model.
Your child is learning lots every day, from new words to new emotions. Although she may be spending more time away from you, at preschool, daycare, or friends' houses, you are still your child's first and best teacher. What she learns at home and from you forms the basis for how she interacts with other people and the way she views the world. You influence your child in uncountable ways. By modeling healthy habits and positive relationships, you encourage your child to do the same.
Developmental Milestones
- Now that your child is becoming more independent and doing things without help, it's important to continue modeling healthy habits. By keeping yourself healthy-from eating vegetables to brushing your teeth-your child will learn to do the same.
- Your child is learning about emotions and how to respond to happiness, anger, frustration, and sadness. Talk to your child about emotions, how to name them, and how they make us feel. Most importantly, model appropriate emotional responses yourself. If you are quick to lose your temper or raise your voice, your child will learn to do the same.
- Speak well of others and their actions, and how they make you feel. If a friend goes out of her way to do something nice, talk about it with your child. Or, if you feel frustrated by a situation, discuss that with your child, too, and how you are going to handle it.
- Your child will be asking "why?" lots. Take the time to explain why you do the things you do, from making a grocery list to folding the laundry. This stimulates your child's thinking skills and teaches her about actions, consequences, and sequences of events. Even chores, such as sweeping the kitchen, present an opportunity for your child to learn. Why do you hold the broom the way you do? In what order do you sweep the room? How do you get under the kitchen table? How do you hold the dustpan? Let your child help out, too, and she will learn even faster.
- Be careful what you say and how you say it! Your child imitates everything she hears. This goes not only for the words you use, but how to talk to different people. The language you use is different when you are talking to a friend on the phone and when you are talking to a teller at the bank. Your child picks up on these differences by watching and listening.
For more information see Safe Away from Home, Building Empathy and Sympathy, Healthy Meal Times and Snack Choices, and Let's Go Parents!
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