A typical day with my 8 month-old daughter

[hypatia]

Hi All
I recently wrote down a few of the things I do during the day with my daughter.
When I joined this forum and my daughter was younger, I had no idea (other than reading & maths) what to do with her.
I've now read all of Doman's books, and am also using tips from my mother, and the fellow members of this forum!

7am. Ready to start the day! Feed in mum's arms, quiet time, lots of cuddles.
Nappy change: Baby is completely awake now, 1 set of words (5 words only) and 1 set of EK (5 or 6 words)
Play time by herself on the floor until 8 am.

8am. Solids in high chair, watching a Bao Bei (Mandarin DVD method), 10 mn max. (I do not like her to watch too much TV)
Play time by herself.

9am. Sleep
10am. Nappy change with EK and words again.
With me in the bedroom while I do some chores, with French or Mandarin tapes (songs), or classical music in the background.

11am. Bottle, and off to the park so she can play and crawl on the grass, with a lot of standing up on me and the pram :-)

12am, back for lunch at home. I usually use this time to do a lot of sign language (AUSlan) (more food? it's good! where is mom? where is your food? it's hot/cold, more water etc...)
I play some French nursery rhymes on the computer, using youtube.

After her second nap, awake around 2pm, we'll have some quiet time and lie down to look at some art books or children book. If I have to do some more cooking/cleaning etc. I carry her around as much as possible to show her (tell her) what I am doing.
When I do carry her, I do a few of Doman's exercises such as carrying her on my shoulders (I forgot how this is called), having her upside down, or lifting her while she grabs my thumbs.

After 3pm, she goes to the park to see other kids. I usually just let her be and crawl everywhere, grab other kids' toys, day dream etc.

Dinner 5.30ish with a 'Where is' 'game'. (Where is your foot? HERE! Where is Dad? Here etc.)

In the bath tub, I do a different set of EK and words and try to teach her body part (Now I'm washing your toes..)- really not sure that she listens to me as she is having so much fun with her toys and splashing..

It is then very quiet (massage, cuddles etc.) until bed time at 7pm.

----

I try to take my daughter out of the flat at least 2 hours a day. This is her time to discover, smell, look, touch and she does not hear much of me then.
If it rains, I still take her out but we'll go to the shops or the library.

On average she will see the same set of EK and words twice a day, and see another set of EK and words once, during bath time. I change all the words & EK at once, after she's seen them 12-13 times.
 
There is absolutely no teaching if she is having a very bad day, when she is teething or sick. I will sing and talk to her quietly, but I won't show cards, and no television.

For those of you who have (or had :-) a baby under 12 months, you are welcome to add suggestions to my list.

[Taruni]

Hi,

You are lucky to have so much time to spend with your kid.

Me as an working mom I don't get much time ....

Have a nice time ...

[hypatia]

Hi Taruni

I do work 2 days a week, so I'm extra motivated to do as much as possible when I am with her.
If that is possible, could you ask the person(s) looking after your baby to sing/read/show words while they are with him/her?
My partner looks after my baby and while he does not do any EK/words, I know he teaches her things like the colours, body parts, to count etc.
I know that some mums film themselves showing bits and the babysitter can play the tape to the baby.

[Joha]

hypatia,

Thank you for sharing your day! Everything you do it great. We are waiting for the winner to go away so we can go outside and explore. There are not shops or book stores where I live    so sometimes we go to the library and try to go to as many play groups as I can, but that is about it.

Where did you get your EK flash cards from? Are you following the 10 bits of information?

[Jamuna]

Thanks for sharing

[Joha]

One more question... where did you get your mandarin songs from? Tx!

[purplefungi]

I love that you guys get to go outside so much. What great fun! I love hearing about other people's schedules! It is very enlightening!

[zoe22]

wow! you're so organized, I'm sure you and your Lo have a great day. Even though I'm on maternity leave, I still find it hard following a routine like that. I'm really inspired to get organized, it's really great! Well done

[purplefungi]

wow! you're so organized, I'm sure you and your Lo have a great day. Even though I'm on maternity leave, I still find it hard following a routine like that. I'm really inspired to get organized, it's really great! Well done

Woo-hoo congratulations on baby!

[zoe22]

thanks prplefungi (by d way, interesting name!) i kind of always read ur posts cos i think our babies are probably days or weeks apart. min'll be 4 months on the 20th. so i kind of feel i have someone at my same level

[hypatia]

Hi,
Thank you all for your nice comments!

Joha: I'm doing the EK cards myself. I print them from the Classical Mummy (the address is somewhere on this forum, I can't remember it right now) and laminate them (I purchased a cheap A3 laminating machine on eBay, and order laminating pouches by bulk)

The CD my daughter listens to is Mandy And Pandy Say Ni Hao (Book And CD Set)
(you can see it at: http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/product.php?productid=20247)
It's OK, not great, It does not last long at all and she'll soon be bored of it, so I'll have to find more material.

[purplefungi]

thanks prplefungi (by d way, interesting name!) i kind of always read ur posts cos i think our babies are probably days or weeks apart. min'll be 4 months on the 20th. so i kind of feel i have someone at my same level

I can't believe how fast they are growing. Time is flying by it seems! It's awesome to get to see another baby's development!

You're so lucky that you get to be on maternity leave. I had to go back so early.

"purplefungi" is my first screen name that I used when I was thirteen and first using the Internet. I liked the color purple, and I had just got back from camp where there was a lot of fungi. I'm also "purplefungi" on www.pregnancy.org on the December 2008 birthboard.

[hypatia]

Hi All

I'd like to teach my daughter a bit more about body parts and colours, which songs/activities do you use with young babies to do this?

I would also LOVE to read the typical day of older (or younger) children, to see how you organize your day. Thanks!

[bettylondon]

Well done for being so organised! 

My boy is 10 months now and because he was quite a difficult baby to look after (mainly a poor sleeper and highly active), in my sleep deprived state all the early learning research I did during pregnancy went out the window and I was just on survival mode. Now that he is much better in terms of sleep and not crying so much, I am motivated to teach him more things. I am a full time mum so no more excuses! 

I did however manage to always take him out, to the shops, book store or library if weather is bad or to the park if weather is good. Also to playgroups as he really enjoys them.

However, when we go to the library or bookshop he tends to be in "exploration mode" and not the slightest bit interested in reading, so that is pretty disruptive for others e.g. he will craw up and grab people's legs where they are trying to read or take everything off the shelves... When we are home I read 5 or more books to him everyday, often in one go (although admittedly I have to keep the narrative very brief and turn the pages super fast or else he loses interest) and he enjoys it so I guess it must be the excitment of being out that distracts him. So maybe I should leave the library and book store for now and wait until he is a bit older?

[hypatia]

Hi Betty
My daughter is the same. Whenever a book is in front of her she'll either try to close it or grab it or eat it. Very hard to read a story to her. I know she is still young and it is normal.
She can focus a little bit more on the TV with her educational DVDs but I don't let her watch it too more (no more than 10 mn in a sitting, no more than twice a day)
As far as flashcards, some weeks (like this week) she'll turn her head and start looking away and just ignore me, so I just put them away.
Today I pulled out a map and pointed to one or two countries... she wasn't interested whatsoever! :-)

When I bring her to the library, she loves crawling up and down the aisles. If she pull books out, I let her do it and quickly put them back in place when she is done!

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