Yes, I think my daughter gets more out of listening to conversations between family and friends, including story-swapping. Singing and music also seem huge. Her favourite books are ones that can be sung.
I agree -- my 5yo loves made-up stories more than anything, and my feeling is that oral storytelling is more nurturing than reading from a book. Given our human history and that this is something significant that we've largely lost, it's an area that interests me.
Possibly gut health, certainly possible but in my experience as a parent and from years of working with kids here is my take. Children's (generalized of course - exceptions exist) language improves faster with use, Toddlers with lots of exposure to conversations with adults (not talking over them tho) is huge. The next most important is those interactions with other children/adults while cultivating curiosity and imagination. Small children instinctively want to share with you what they are thinking/ doing and they need language for that. The more curiosity and imagination they have the faster the language will develop. Simply put I think children that have something to say will learn to say it sooner and more eloquently. Children that only need language to convey immediate needs/wants will use it less, not as quickly and with no need for an expansive vocabulary.
Yes, I think socialization and talking to and in front of kids is the biggest factor! My daughter had small leaps in language development with group vacations.
There you go, mystery solved😉 they say ultra processed foods are now 70% of what is in grocery stores so there is no doubt that it's not at all good for people so gut health has to be a factor. I don't know much about it all works sadly. So many rabbit holes, so little time!
Gut health definitely is ... there's lots of kids with language delays nowadays, and I don't think lack of exposure to language can be the only explanation. Especially since there's lots of parents reporting on social media that they read multiple books to their kids per day and the kids still aren't picking up language (I guess unless that's the only thing they're doing, but I doubt it). Lots of parents reporting that they changed their child's diet and the kid began to catch up to peers (plus other health and behavioural improvements).
I've noticed this trend on Instagram, following a handful of health accounts and researching some of the autism stuff (etc) on there. For books, I'd start with Robert Lustig and "Metabolical".
I found this newsletter part fascinating! The idea that probiotic yogurts could boost a child's language development is mind-blowing. It's amazing how something as simple as yogurt can have such a significant impact on a child's brain. 🧠🥣 Excellent work, stellar writing!
Question, apologies if it was answered somewhere and I missed it. Is probiotic yogurt different than regular yogurt? Is it a more powerful punch so to speak? My kids love yogurt, even plane goat yogurt which I'm thankful for cause it is sour lol. but is it a quantity of the bacteria that is the difference or....?
Related, we've also done a prebiotic powder mixed into stuff which to my understanding is basically a food source for bacteria which can he helpful after diarrhea or vomiting.
These were probiotics that come in yogurt form! So yes, way more "punch" than regular yogurt (my kid's been eating high fat plain yogurt for ages, but doesn't like Greek yogurt that much, unfortunately). I think I noticed a difference because her diet might have been a bit low in pre and probiotic foods. She eats plain yogurt, kombucha, and bananas almost daily, and occasionally pickles, miso, kefir, cooked spinach, but talking to other parents I get the impression we were dropping the ball here a little and a lot of people do more.
P.S. I agree that reading isn't it, it's the storytelling if anything that matters.
Yes, I think my daughter gets more out of listening to conversations between family and friends, including story-swapping. Singing and music also seem huge. Her favourite books are ones that can be sung.
I agree -- my 5yo loves made-up stories more than anything, and my feeling is that oral storytelling is more nurturing than reading from a book. Given our human history and that this is something significant that we've largely lost, it's an area that interests me.
Possibly gut health, certainly possible but in my experience as a parent and from years of working with kids here is my take. Children's (generalized of course - exceptions exist) language improves faster with use, Toddlers with lots of exposure to conversations with adults (not talking over them tho) is huge. The next most important is those interactions with other children/adults while cultivating curiosity and imagination. Small children instinctively want to share with you what they are thinking/ doing and they need language for that. The more curiosity and imagination they have the faster the language will develop. Simply put I think children that have something to say will learn to say it sooner and more eloquently. Children that only need language to convey immediate needs/wants will use it less, not as quickly and with no need for an expansive vocabulary.
Yes, I think socialization and talking to and in front of kids is the biggest factor! My daughter had small leaps in language development with group vacations.
There you go, mystery solved😉 they say ultra processed foods are now 70% of what is in grocery stores so there is no doubt that it's not at all good for people so gut health has to be a factor. I don't know much about it all works sadly. So many rabbit holes, so little time!
Gut health definitely is ... there's lots of kids with language delays nowadays, and I don't think lack of exposure to language can be the only explanation. Especially since there's lots of parents reporting on social media that they read multiple books to their kids per day and the kids still aren't picking up language (I guess unless that's the only thing they're doing, but I doubt it). Lots of parents reporting that they changed their child's diet and the kid began to catch up to peers (plus other health and behavioural improvements).
Can you recommend some good reading in the topic.?
I've noticed this trend on Instagram, following a handful of health accounts and researching some of the autism stuff (etc) on there. For books, I'd start with Robert Lustig and "Metabolical".
Thx!
I found this newsletter part fascinating! The idea that probiotic yogurts could boost a child's language development is mind-blowing. It's amazing how something as simple as yogurt can have such a significant impact on a child's brain. 🧠🥣 Excellent work, stellar writing!
Question, apologies if it was answered somewhere and I missed it. Is probiotic yogurt different than regular yogurt? Is it a more powerful punch so to speak? My kids love yogurt, even plane goat yogurt which I'm thankful for cause it is sour lol. but is it a quantity of the bacteria that is the difference or....?
Related, we've also done a prebiotic powder mixed into stuff which to my understanding is basically a food source for bacteria which can he helpful after diarrhea or vomiting.
These were probiotics that come in yogurt form! So yes, way more "punch" than regular yogurt (my kid's been eating high fat plain yogurt for ages, but doesn't like Greek yogurt that much, unfortunately). I think I noticed a difference because her diet might have been a bit low in pre and probiotic foods. She eats plain yogurt, kombucha, and bananas almost daily, and occasionally pickles, miso, kefir, cooked spinach, but talking to other parents I get the impression we were dropping the ball here a little and a lot of people do more.