Sunday, December 7, 2008

Seniors: Ch. 6- Dear Parenting...


Purple Class:
As we did in class before, pretend you are a write for Parenting magazine. Below are 3 questions asked by parents that relate to Chapter 6 topics. Choose ONE of the questions and write a response. Be both creative and informative in your response. Create your own pen name relating to the issue discussed. You may work with a partner

Value: 10 points

How to respond:
Click on the comments link for your class color. Type your response into the box. Your response should be at least 18 lines in length. To submit your response, click the name/url option and type your first names and last initials. You do not put anything in the url box.



Options:

1.) Dear Parenting,
I often wonder when my newborn baby, Owen, can see. Can he see me at all? Does he notice moving objects? Do you think he can recognize my face? A baby’s vision, or lack there of, is a topic that intrigues me as a parent. Also, can you please explain the progression of Owen’s visual abilities?

Sincerely,
An eye opening experience


2.) Dear Parenting,
What should I expect over the course of my baby’s first year in her locomotive development? What will Madison’s significant milestones be, and when will they occur? In your opinion, which milestone has the most impact on changing my baby’s role with her environment?

Sincerely,
Come on baby, do the locomotion


3.) Dear Parenting,
Several times, I have heard the expression, “Your baby’s brain is plastic.” What exactly does that mean? I think it has something to do with the development of the brain. Also, what do you think about videos like Baby Einstein, Baby Bach, and Baby Mozart? Do you think they help stimulate an infant’s brain development? Can they make my baby smarter?

Sincerely,
Paper or Plastic?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Eye Opener,
Peek-a-boo! Of course he can see you! An infant is able to recognize outlines. Your face is unique to your little baby Owen's pea like eyes. His eyes are small and weak, but his images will improve slightly everyday. The more he sees you, the more he knows you. Everyone has their own outline to him, like shapes and colors. Give him different shaped objects, each a different color, to stimulate his sight. By the time Owen is about four months old, he will be able to distinguish between many colors such as, red, green, blue and yellow. This is a sign of his vision getting stronger and it becoming easier for him to see details in your face. Don't worry, he will always be able to distinguish between you and strangers.

Yours Truly,
Peek-a-boo, He sees you.

Anonymous said...

Dear an opening eye experience,
Vision is the least mature of the babies five senses. The vision of your baby after birth is 20/600. Distance does not matter for your baby because they have very unclear vision and no depth perception. The only thing the baby can make out is shapes, shadows and outlines. In the first couple of months your babies ability to follow moving objects and color perception begin to develop. By about two months babies can tell red from green. And by about three months they can distinguish blue. Babies tend to prefer patterns over plain stimuli and curved lines over straight and something with a central focus. By four to five months binocular vision develops meaning that both eyes can focus on one vision. By seven to ten months babies eyesight is like an adult and they can react to emotional expressions. I wish you luck with Owen.
Sincerly, hope Owen doesn't need glasses in the future

Anonymous said...

Dear an eye opening experience,

Vision is the least mature of the senses at birth. Your baby will not have complete vision until about 6 months of age. The average baby is born with 20/600 visual acuity, so basically the first time your baby looks at you, it will be a big blur. Its not just far objects that the baby can't see, it's equally unclear at all distances. Babies tend to try to track moving objects and scan for things that appear interesting. The binocular vision of the baby will not develop until 4 to 5 months of age; this means that both eyes can focus on one image. Newborns are sensitive to certain colors. At 2 months of age, babies may not be able to differentiate between the colors red and green; and at 3 months, the baby will be able to clearly see the color blue. Before 2 months of age, babies are unable to distinguish a static image of the human face from other equally complex patterns. At 3 months, the baby will be able to make distinctions among the features of different faces or photos. Most babies prefer patterns to plain stimuli. As the baby ages, it will begin to prefer more complex stimuli. Babies also tend to prefer curved lines to straight lines, and also prefer patterns with a central focus.

Sincerely,
20/20 vision

Anonymous said...

#3.
Dear Paper or Plastic,

Your baby's brain is not exactly recyclable. The word you are looking for is plasticity. This means that your baby's brain is molded by experience. Stimulation through interaction can create connections in your baby's brain to stabilize the "wiring". Early infancy is a precious time for your baby. Make the most of it because if you don't use it then the baby will lose it. As for the videos, in moderation is best. Too much can delay language development and cause shorter attention spans. Some professionals say that no one under 2 years old should watch TV. Do not feel like you can't use them but face to face interactions are the best!

Sincerely,
Brain Builders

Anonymous said...

Dear Pen-name stealer,

Your babies first year in locomotive development is the most crucial, and dangerous if not properly supervised. It's first significant milestone will be rolling over, because you'll have to start watching it more closely, especially if you're changing him on a table. It's next milestone will be crawling. This will allow your child a sense of independence and can start exploring on it's own. However, now you will need to watch it closely at all times, especially if it likes cat food. Cruising is it's next big step, because now it can stand up and see the world around from a whole different perspective. It helps teach them balance and brings them one step closer to their ultimate goal of walking. Walking is the next and final locomotive milestone. They may be able to walk, but they're by no means done developing. At first they could still fall or trip easily, so you will still have to monitor them closely. They are very top-heavy, and while it looks funny watching them run around like they do, they could injure themselves if they get too out of reach. I hope this helps in any way, and that your child has a safe experience in learning how to get around.

Sincerely,
Everybody's doing a brand new dance now

Anonymous said...

Paper or Plastic,

The expression that your baby's brain is plastic refers to the term "plasticity"- meaning that the brain is molded through experiences. Your baby is born with many limitations, and the only way to expand them is for the baby to experience instances first-hand. The more they experience, the more independent they become. Interacting with the environment allows their brains to expand and develop. The videos such as Baby Einstein, Baby Bach, and Baby Mozart are examples of brain stimulation, and claim to make your child more intelligent. However, there are many opposing ideas about these videos. Some are said to be too organized or intense for the baby, or even a grown adult for that matter, to catch onto. Even though these videos may make some impact on your child's developing brain, the every day experiences that they go through, such as learning to crawl or walk, are what they will benefit from the most. Your child's brain is in fact "plastic", and will expand more and more with every experience.

Sincerely,
or Plastic.

Anonymous said...

Dear an eye opening experience,
Vision is the least mature of all senses at the time of birth. Owen, like all babies, can see equally unclear at all distances, and cannot tell the difference of distance of near or far. Over the first three months he will develop his color perception. Initially he will prefer color and by the second month he will be able to distinguish red from green and then one month later blue. He will prefer patterned over plain stimuli and curved lines over straight lines. As he gets older he will prefer more complex stimuli. Owen will be unable to see the outline of your face until about two months of age. However, babies enjoy looking at human faces because of the central focus. At three months own will be able to distinguish your face from other faces. Lastly, at the age of seven to ten months he will be able to identify and react to emotional expressions.
Seeing you shortly,
Parenting Magazine

Anonymous said...

Dear eye for an eye,

First off your child may be blind but if not of course he can see. Vision however is the least mature of all the senses and is limited 20/600. Your child's sight will take time to develop but until it does he will see unclearly at all distances. Your child can track moving objects but once again the image will be blurry to them. They also will also be looking around scanning for something interesting such as bright colors and curved lines. Owen can recognize your face because he can distinguish different outlines and he prefers complex patterns and a center focus. Infants prefer the human face but before 2 months they cant distinguish it from other static images. At 3 months he will be able to recognize different facial features. Lastly at 7-10 months Owen will be able to react to emotional expressions.

Sincerly,
I can see clearly

Anonymous said...

Dear An eye opening experience,
Believe it or not Owen can see you, but not so clearly right now! His visual acuity as a newborn is limited to about 20/600, as opposed to our ideal visual acuity is 20/20. If you are in Owens face, or across the room, he sees equally unclearly at all distances keeping him from knowing the difference between near and far. He is able to tell who his parents are due to the curve of your face. A baby prefers curved lines over straight helping them to differentiate between their parents and strangers. Owen is always on the look out for moving objects and at the age of 2 months prefers the color red over green and at 3 months can see blue. Watch what you are doing, because Owen is watching!
Sincerely,
I see you!

Anonymous said...

Dear, Come on Baby, Do the locomotion,
In the first years of development, you"ll see your baby gain more control of her head, hands, and locomotive skills. Your baby will also experience many milestones in her first year in life. Major milestones in your baby's first year include:rolling over between 3-5 months, grasping rattle 3-4 months, sitting without support 6-7 months, standing while holding on 7-8.5 months, grasping with thumb and finger 8-10 months, standing alone well 12-14 months, walking well 12-15 months, and jumping in place will not occur until about 2 years. Your baby's biggest milestone in her first year of life is crawling. She will have what is called a "setting event" which is where the baby's relationship with her environment changes. She will now be more independant and get a better view of her surroundings. She will be able to tell near form far and enhance self-confidance. Dont worry about your baby's developmentof locomotive skills. She'll be just fine.
Sincerely, Move move shake shake now drop.

Anonymous said...

Dear "Come on baby, do the Locomotion,"

Baby Madison will be developing many exciting locomotive skills. She will first be able to roll over at about three months. Then she will be able sit without your loving support, you better have the camera ready. She will only be able to sit up by herself for only a few seconds before she falls backwards onto the pillows like humpty dumpty. At about six to ten months, little madison will be crawling around the house as if she were trying to escape. She may look back to see if you are going to come after her. Before you know it, madison will be standing and cruising along the edges of the furniture holding on for dear life. You might consider getting some "baby bumpers" to protect her from hitting the sharp edges of the tables and chairs. Not far from now, Madison will be twelve months and walking around like there's no tomorrow. Being able to walk will be the biggest milestone in both of your lives! As soon as Madison walks she's no longer and infant she's a toddler! If you have anymore questions write me back soon!

Sincerely,
"Welcome to Toddlerville!"

Anonymous said...

Dear Come on Baby do the locomotion,
Over your baby's first year there will be many milestones that you should look for. In your baby's first year the little tree sprout will grow approximately 10 inches and gain three times her original birth weight. Even at birth your baby will show signs of development such as: mouthing, rooting,grasping, and the crowd favorite, crying. After three months your baby will begin to roll over deliberately rather than accidentally, so dont leave little Madison unattended at the baby changing table. The average baby can sit without support after about six months, so don't be nervous if Madison isn't playing twister just yet. Between seven and nine months Madison will begin one of the most important milestones in her entire baby life; crawling. Crawling will change your baby's interaction with the enviornment by allowing Madison to no longer be a prisoner of her own two limp wrinkly legs. Crawling gives your baby a new view of the world and will help develop depth and haptic perception. Madison will begin "cruising" at about seven to nine months, so get ready to whip out your baby leash. Pincer grasping will begin at about eight to ten months, which will be followed by standing alone(12-14mo), and then of course walking(12-15), and playing Twister.

Love,
Let's twist again like we did last summer.

Anonymous said...

I often wonder when my newborn baby, Owen, can see. Can he see me at all? Does he notice moving objects? Do you think he can recognize my face? A baby’s vision, or lack there of, is a topic that intrigues me as a parent. Also, can you please explain the progression of Owen’s visual abilities?

Dear An Eye Opening Experience,
Nice to see you! Too bad your baby can't. Owen will eventually be able to see you because vision is the last on the senses to fully develop. Newborns' visual activity is limited to 20/600. They see equally unclearly at all distances and cannot tell near from far. Eventhough Owen can't see well yet, he prefers colors and curved lines because it helps him identify your face. So, though he can't fully see your face he can recognize that you are his mother. Newborns try to track moving objects and scan for something interesting. At birth, babies prefer to see colors. At two months newborns can distinguish between red and green. At three months they can distinguish the color blue. At 4 to 5 months develop binocular vision, the use of both eyes to focus, allowing perception depth and distance. Also, the older the baby gets the more complex of a stimuli they prefer. Owen's vision will become more and more acute during the first year, reaching the 20/20 level by about 6 months of age.
Sincerely,
Eat your Carrots

Anonymous said...

Dear An Eye Opening Experience,

Yes, Owen can see you. Vision is the least developed sense at birth. He isn't able to see your face clearly but he can recognize the shape and outline. His ability to follow moving objects will develop rapidly in the first few months as will his color perception. By about two months, Owen will be able to tell red from green; by about three months, he will be able to distinguish blue. Once he reaches four months he will be able discriminate among red, green, blue, and yellow. But like adults, they usually prefer red and blue. Owen's vision will also become more acute during his first year. By about six months he will reach twenty twenty vision. At about four or five months Owen's binocular vision,the use of both eyes to focus, should develop. This will allow him to have perception of both depth and distance. Good luck with Owen's first year!

Sincerely,
A Helpful Vision from Above.

Anonymous said...

Dear An eye opening experience,
Fortunately, Owen cannot see your face, only mere shadows and outlines. Vision is that least developed sense at birth. An infant is born with a vision of about 20/600, which will improve to 20/20 within six months. The eyes of newborns are much smaller than mine or yours, and the structure is not fully developed. Within a few months, Owen will be able to follow moving objects and distinguish colors. By about two months he will be able to determine red from green. Within three months he will distinguish blue and at four months he will know the difference between red, green, blue, and yellow.

Sincerely,
Eye’ll Be Watching You