6 Weeks Old: Our Early Learning Activities This Week

Aria looking at her stage 3 visual stimulation cards

November 2-8, 2014

Age: 6 weeks old
Curriculum: early learning / infant stimulation program outlined in How Smart is Your Baby by Glenn Doman.

Development: What her developmental profile currently looks like:



Activities used to further develop and strengthen each area of development (based on How Smart is Your Baby):


Number icons tell which stage each activity is for

Summary of our week:


Big brother (age 9) showing Aria the number "three" quantity card

We officially started a full-blown stage 3 sensory program this week.

For visual development that meant six of these fun new flash cards each day to look at:


Aria with day 1's visual flash cards

Each day includes two quantity (number) cards (the white dots on black backgrounds), two facial expression cards, and two outline cards with bold, colorful details (shapes, objects, animals, etc)


Aria really enjoyed her visual stimulation cards when they were flashed somewhat quickly (about 1.5 - 2 seconds per card)

Now, last week I did introduce Aria to a few of these cards, and she did seem to enjoy them. However, she would only look at the card for a few seconds, then grow tired of it and turn her head away.

This week, instead of just showing her a card or two to see what she thought, I showed her the entire group of six cards per day (they changed daily) in somewhat quick succession.

When I do this she really enjoys it! Her face lights up, she moves her hands around, and is fascinated at the cards while I go through the deck two or three times.

Finding the light on the wall in a dark room

We also did the spotting a light flashlight game a few nights (I shine a penlight on various locations throughout the room and she locates where I shine it).

 She continues to enjoy her checkerboard patterns on the ceiling, walls, and in her crawling track.

 
Recognizing the sound of the running water and calming down because she knows what comes next, a sign that she has developed an "appreciation of meaningful sound" (that is, knowing what a sound means)

This week we started the "sound of the day" activities. Basically, I play a sound effect on my phone and tell her what sound it is she's hearing. For our first week we did "kitchen sounds" which was composed of:

• metal pot
• glass cup
• water running
• knife chopping
• food sizzling
• teapot whistling
• scissors cutting

All obtained from freesound.org. Our classical music piece this week was Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) Act 3: Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner, which I played during naps and through the night.

 
Sensory activity

We started the stage 3 sensory activities this week, which involved very light tickling (with either my finger tips or a baby brush) and also massaging. I name her body parts while I touch them. She seemed to enjoy this activity a lot, unlike her older brother who hated massages! I try to do this at each diaper change.

 
She loves to talk

 Our language program has been so much fun lately! Mainly because she is talking back so much. I love listening to all of her little coo's. Her favorite sound to say is "hi", which is just heart-melting. "Ooh", "ahh", "oh", and "hey" are also frequent sounds she makes.

 
In her crawling track

Aria got a lot of time in her track this week in short bursts. She continues to have the problem of getting wedged up against the wall and then getting frustrated, like this:
 
"Stuck" up against the side

One thing I changed this week was that I moved her crawling track next to the bed instead of on it:
 
Her crawling track is now next to the bed instead of on it

Originally I thought the crawling track was too long to fit on the floor next to our bed, but it actually does fit if one end is up on the "seat" area that sticks out from the nightstand. On the opposite end, the track is resting on a sturdy plastic file box. This is really a perfect arrangement now because:

• Our feet no longer hang off the bed when we sleep (her track was previously at the head of the bed)
• The track is actually at a very slight incline now, and we can make the incline steeper if we choose, making it easier for her to crawl

Aria having tummy time on the couch

This week I also intentionally offered her some tummy time on a pliable, non-enclosed space (our couch) to give her the opportunity to move around without the help of the sides of the track. It was actually funny because when I first laid her down, she just looked around and didn't really try to crawl at all. To the contrary, the second I put her in her crawling track she starts pushing and kicking with her little toes to try and move. It was like she knows that her track is for moving. She did however eventually start attempting to move, but ended up more "rotating" than getting any forward motion.

 
Enjoying tummy time

She was happy though!


Movement in sleep

I've also noticed that she has been moving a lot more in her sleep. Doman says that babies move the most in their sleep, but I thought it was strange because even when my other babies occasionally slept on their stomach, they didn't seem to move at all. However, Aria seems to get a lot of movement in her sleep lately. I don't really notice it while it is happening (I am usually sitting right next to her while she naps), but it just seems like she falls asleep one way and wakes up another!

 
Aria using the grasp reflex to hang from my thumbs

Strong baby! Aria hangs from my thumbs for a second or two using her grasp reflex. She only enjoys this in very short bursts. If I try to do it twice she whines.



 Resources used this week: