Is your baby reaching educational milestones?

This is a question I ask myself a lot, and I think just about every other parent can relate.

There’s SO much information out there on your baby’s educational development and the milestones they should be reaching at specific ages, it’s kind of overwhelming...

And although I know some general “rules of thumb” (i.e. baby should speak at least one word by one year of age), I haven’t come across many sources that not only show you how to help your baby reach these milestones, but do it all with household resources - until now.

Lisa and I recently discovered My Smart Child, which is a book series and online resource (the My Smart Infant 0-6 months book can be purchased here), providing educational strategies for parents to use with their little ones, so they can flourish later on in school and in life.

What makes this book different from the others is that it’s an awesome guide for busy moms who have limited time and resources at their disposal to educate their children.

I had the pleasure of doing a phone consultation with the My Smart Child author and Early Childhood Specialist, Bonnie Rosenstein, a certified elementary teacher with a master’s degree in education and more than twenty years’ experience.

Even though her current book is for babies 0-6 months, she can schedule virtual consultations for parents of infants and children up to age 5! Bonnie also has toddler and elementary-level My Smart Child editions in the works to be published soon!

Bonnie is a momma of two, so she knows the struggles of trying to teach your child amidst a chaotic day of work, schedules, and managing a household.

She had some great tips for me on how to develop Molly’s education either at home or on the go, like pointing to and naming objects we interact with, using real words versus baby talk, and reading at least one book a day.

I recently went on a trip with my family and took a page from Bonnie’s book (literally!) on continuing her education wherever we might be! Here’s what we did:

S is for SAND

Or Surf, or Seaweed, or Sunshine… The list goes on!

This was a great learning opportunity for Molly, so I had her watch me draw the letter S in the sand and pointed to several S-words around us in clear, slow language.

She even tried to mimic me! S is a hard word for an 11-month old, but I love that she tried and was engaging in the learning activity.

ABC

I’ll be honest, I don’t recite the ABC’s with Molly nearly enough. I feel like it’s one of those “boring” songs that she never seems to pay attention to.

But Bonnie really emphasized the importance of reading and visualizing the words, so I recited “A-B-C” over and over and pointed to each letter, and Molly was actually interested!

I’m making it my daily mission to sing at least 3 songs to her a day, one of them being the ABC’s!‍

‍

Counting

I did not get a picture of this one because the stairs were very steep, but as we were leaving the beach, I made sure to count each step with Molly (there were 38, to be exact!).

It was quite the workout, and I was completely out of breath when we got to the top of the landing, but I could tell Molly was listening to me, and she learned the word, “up”!

It was such a pleasure speaking with Bonnie! The tips she gave me are pretty straightforward, but could be a total game-changer for how I approach Molly’s education.

If you’re a mama looking to make a big impact on your baby’s education with a minimal amount of time, then My Smart Child is an excellent resource! Feel free to contact Bonnie here to schedule a personal consultation about your child(ren).

Bonnie was also kind enough to partner with us to do a giveaway of her services, which include one FREE copy of her My Smart Infant book for babies 0-6 months AND a 30-minute virtual consultation!

Make sure you’re following The Daughter Diaries on Instagram so you can be in-the-know when we announce the giveaway date and time and by subscribing below!

Lisa will be reading Bonnie’s book, “My Smart Infant,” and talking about it next month! Stay tuned...