BabyGym Institute International

Our founder, Dr Melodie de Jager, and our colleagues at the Mind Moves Institute are doing amazing work in Russia.

What a fun photo!

Follow the link if you want to learn more about the various programmes that fall under the umbrella of the Mind Moves Institute.

https://www.mindmoves.co.za

Melodie and Russian interpretor Anastasia. Together they’ve put the principles of the information processing theory to the test: input - processing - output.

Melodie received INPUT and transmitted it to Annastasia in English, who PROCESSED and converted input to Russian as verbal OUTPUT.

Constant feedback loops between themselves and the academic audience taxed their concentration and resulted in a scientifically sound and interactive presentation.

Melodie’s work was received with enthusiasm and invitations to offer workshops in Uzbekistan, Siberia, Ukraine, Belaruz, Kazakhstan and other Russian speaking countries are streaming in.

Dr Melodie de Jager

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

Over the last 27 weeks, we shared a milestone once a week on a Wednesday. From birth to 3 years we walked the developmental path to shed light on the staggering number of skills reached in the first 3 years of life.

And so, we post our 27th post today, the last in this series. We trust that you have enjoyed the journey with us and have found the content valuable.
..................................................................

POTTY TRAINING

Potty training is like learning anything new - first, the senses need to find out what is going on (a funny feeling near my tummy), then the brain has to give meaning to the feeling (I need to wee) and then different muscles need to act – either the muscles that hold onto and close the exit, or the muscles that open the exit and let go. Learning to open and close the exit muscles take roughly the same time as learning to open and close the hands.

SIGNS THAT A TODDLER IS GETTING READY TO POTTY TRAIN

- The toddler has had numerous visits to the toilet when the parent needed the loo and knows where to go and what to do.
- The toddler has learned ‘toilet words’ like: ‘I’m making a wee; I’m making a poo’. Remember, these are learnt by imitation.
- The toddler shows signs of awareness – squirms, pulls a face, looks at you as if to say: I want to do ‘something’.
- Gross motor development is in place: The toddler can sit upright, without any support, for at least three minutes, walks independently and can pull clothing down and up again.
- Emotional development is in progress: The toddler shows a growing need for independence and says: ‘ME do!’ often.
- Bowel movement is regular and can be anticipated.
- Most importantly – it is summertime!

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find and Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Nature's Way
© Heidi Campbell

Upon a nice mid-spring day,
Let's take a look at Nature's way.
Breathe the scent of nice fresh air,
Feel the breeze within your hair.

The grass will poke between your toes,
Smell the flowers with your nose.
Clouds form shapes within the skies,
And light will glisten from your eyes.

Hear the buzzing of the bees,
Climb the tallest willow trees.
Look across the meadow way,
And you shall see a young deer play.

Pick the daisies as they grow,
Watch a gentle cold stream flow.
Know the sounds of water splash,
Catch its glimmer in a flash.

When altogether all seems sound,
Lay yourself upon the ground.
Take a moment to inhale,
And listen to Nature tell her tale...

https://babygym.co.za/

VEL-OP-VELKONTAK OP RSG

Dankie vir die waardevolle lugtyd wat aan hierdie belangrike onderwerp geskenk is. Drie wonderlike onderhoude later groet Cozette en Eloise soos ou vriendinne.

Eloise Cupido was 'n fantastiese gespreksgenoot en opreg geïntriseerd in die onderwerp. Wat 'n voorreg en lekkerte om saam met haar in die ateljee te kuier.

Klik gerus op die skakels hieronder om weer te luister:

Deel 1
https://omny.fm/shows/intussen/vel-tot-vel-kontak-vir-babas-deel-1

Deel 2
https://omny.fm/shows/intussen/vel-tot-vel-kontak-vir-babas-deel-2

Deel 3
https://omny.fm/shows/intussen/vel-tot-vel-kontak-vir-babas-deel-3

RSG 100-104 FM

VEL-OP-VELKONTAK OP RSG

Môreoggend kuier Cozette Laubser saam met Eloise Cupido in RSG se ateljee. Hulle gaan gesels oor die wondere van vel-op-velkontak.

Kom kuier saam!

Donderdag, 29 Augustus om 10:30

RSG 100-104 FM

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

BODY MATHS

Count the toddler's body parts: one nose, one head, one mouth, one tummy, but two eyes and two ears, two hands and two feet, and so forth.

Count your body parts and show the toddler they match in number.

MATHS DEVELOPS OVER TIME:
a 1-year-old should grasp the concept 1
a 2-year-old should grasp the concept 2
a 3-year-old should grasp the concept 3.

Maths at this age would always involve counting concrete objects like toy animals, fruit, cups etc.

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

BABYGYM CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you for your valuable feedback!

https://babygym.co.za/babygym-classes-6/

Ja né, passop 😆

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

LEARNING THE NAMES OF FIRST SHAPES
We have been moving through age-appropriate skills for the last 25 weeks. We are now nearing skills that are applicable to toddlers between 2-3 years of age.

Shapes are abstract concepts and will need a lot of repetition before a toddler will be able to name them with confidence:

Take it slowly, a toddler has four years to learn all the shapes.

For now, focus on the circle and the square.

- Use circles that are all the same colour but differ in sizes and thickness.
- Ask the toddler to find shapes that look the same and put them in piles.
- Name the shapes; mix them up and ask the toddler to find all the red circles.
- Ask the toddler to pass a blue circle to you.
- Show the toddler a circle and ask them what shape it is.
- Develop consistency – find a flower that looks like a circle.

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

VEL-OP-VELKONTAK OP RSG

Môreoggend kuier Cozette Laubser saam met Eloise Cupido in RSG se ateljee. Hulle gaan gesels oor die wondere van vel-op-velkontak.

Kom kuier saam!

Donderdag, 22 Augustus om 10:30
RSG 100-104 FM

THE SKIN IS POROUS

"The skin is the largest sensory organ and since it is porous, it absorbs whatever is put on it. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health looked into how contaminated water enters the body. While most might assume it is by drinking the water, the study found that 64% of the total contaminant dosage was absorbed through the skin. Studies also indicate that the face is several times more porous than broad body surfaces and the underarms and ge****ls absorb 100% of substances contacting them. Studies also show that 100% of products that are fragranced are absorbed.

What we use on our babies’ skins ends up inside their bodies. It is important to take the time to learn about the ingredients in baby products and how these ingredients affect overall health and wellness."

This is an excerpt from "Newborn Brain Essentials":
https://babygym.co.za/product/newborn-brain-essentials-coming-september-2024/

VEL-OP-VELKONTAK OP RSG

Môreoggend kuier Cozette Laubser saam met Eloise Cupido in RSG se ateljee. Hulle gaan gesels oor die wondere van vel-op-velkontak.

Kom kuier saam!

Donderdag, 15 Augustus om 10:30
RSG 100-104 FM

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

LEARNING THE NAMES OF PRIMARY COLOURS

Colours are abstract concepts and need a lot of repetition before your toddler will be able to identify the colours with confidence.

- Name colours
- Match objects of the same colour and shade
- Ask the toddler to pass you a red block, toy, etc.
- As the toddler's vocabulary develops, ask them to name the colour of the object they pass to you.

Remember, receptive language comes before expressive language. Your toddler will need to see the colour and hear the name of the colour for many months before they will start to say the name of the colour.

PRIMARY COLOURS ARE THE FOCUS
Take it slowly − the toddler has four more years to learn all the colours, so focus on the primary colours: red, blue, yellow and only add green if they consistently identify the other three correctly.

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

BREINBEGINSELS VIR PASGEBORE BABAS

In September-maand verwelkom ons 'n spik-splinternuwe boek in ons midde. Is dit nie opwindend nie?

"Hierdie boek bied aha-oomblikke en praktiese oorwegings vir die verwagtende paartjie. Breinontwikkeling is nou verbind met
liggaamsontwikkeling en hierdie gids maak dit maklik om te verstaan hoe dit werk.

Breinbeginsels vir Pasgebore Babas vier die enorme belangrikheid van swangerskap, geboorte en die baba se eerste ses weke, aangesien dit die mees sensitiewe tyd is om ‘n kind se fundamentele gesondheid en breinontwikkeling te begin vorm.

Dié boek bied jou ‘n kans om julle lewe as ‘n nuwe gesin kreatief te begin – verwonderd, ingelig en voorbereid."

Loer binne!

https://babygym.co.za/product/newborn-brain-essentials-coming-september-2024

NEWBORN BRAIN ESSENTIALS

In September we welcome a brand new book baby into the BabyGym family, how exciting!

"This book offers aha-moments and practical considerations for the expectant couple. Brain development is intricately linked with body
development and this guide makes it easy to grasp the link.

Newborn Brain Essentials celebrates the immense importance of pregnancy, birth and the baby’s first six weeks, as this is the most sensitive time to shape a child’s fundamental health and brain development. This book offers you a chance to creatively start your life as a new family – awe-inspired, informed and prepared."

Take a peek inside!

https://babygym.co.za/product/newborn-brain-essentials-coming-september-2024/

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

SORTING
Sorting is the ability to match and group items according to kind or class. It requires more than seeing, it requires understanding what you are looking at.

Sorting starts with objects and, years later, figures, letters and words, and is the foundation for spelling, writing, reading and doing sums.

A child who is nearing the more formal school years will learn how to group objects with the same characteristics into categories, e.g.:

- Cows, pigs, chickens and geese are all.... farm animals
- Trucks, cars, airplanes and motorbikes are all... modes of transport
- On the water a feather... floats, while a stone will... sink

When sorting becomes more complicated, such as: “Which animals are born as babies and which hatch from an egg?”, it has to be learned. This kind of sorting is called classification.

Threading and stacking supports visual perception - the way in which the brain makes sense of what the eyes see. When a toddler or child sorts, threads or stacks it also connects the eyes and hands to work well together in readiness for writing and reading in later years.

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

BABYGYM INSTRUCTOR OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to
Nita Coetzee in Windhoek!
BabaGim Met Nita Windhoek

We would also like to honour two more Instructors, Lelani in Potchefstroom and Lyn in Pietermaritzburg for their amazing busybody work in July!
BabyGym Potchefstroom - met Lelani BabyGym with Lyn Wade, Pietermaritzburg

"Allow your passion to become your purpose and it will one day become your profession." ~ Unknown

https://babygym.co.za/

What an amazing group to spend a Saturday with. Thank you for all the questions and comments, it was wonderful!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The life of an Olympian is demanding, but throw parenthood into the mix and it becomes a Herculean task.

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 features an on-site nursery, the first of its kind, aimed at providing an opportunity to spend more quality time with their children during the Olympics.

This Olympic Village nursery, spearheaded by the American track star Allyson Felix, will support supermums like Clarisse Agbegnenou, Naomi Osaka and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in balancing their podium dreams with parenthood as they tackle the tatami, court and track.

IOC Athlete Commissioner Felix said: "I just knew how difficult it was to compete at the top level after I had my daughter and some practical things were really hard. And so when I joined the Athletes Commission of the IOC, I really wanted to be that voice for athlete moms and just take away one less thing for them to worry about in the pressure of competition. I think it really tells women that you can choose motherhood and also be at the top of your game and not have to miss a beat."

📝Information from the official Olympics website🏅

📷 Image from Washington Post featuring Olympian, runner, and mother Elle St Pierre 🏃🏼‍♀️

A healthy baby will emerge from the womb with 100 billion neurons, nearly twice as many as adults, in a brain that’s half the size. This is a phenomenal place from which to start life, a magnificent reservoir of potential.

https://babygym.co.za/

Utterly delightful! 🥰

So special! ❤️

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

KISSES
Exactly when baby will offer you the first kiss depends a lot on his primary role model. If you kiss baby often, and baby enjoys the experience, baby is likely to start imitating your kisses from about the age of 5 months. But it will only be by the age of 16 to 18 months that a toddler will come to you to offer you a kiss spontaneously.

de Jager, M (2017)
Play Learn Grow
https://babygym.co.za/product/play-learn-grow-birth-to-3/

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

FRIENDS OF BABYGYM | CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

"This has been by far the most informative learning session I have had with the most passionate facilitator. I loved the "Friends of BabyGym" training and would highly recommend it!" ~ AMBER-LEIGH, JOHANNESBURG

Learn more here:
https://babygym.co.za/babygym-classes-6/ #1692001345615-0b528ecf-a736

Well done Instructor, Lynette!
BabyGym at Lynette

COMMUNICATION OR MANIPULATION?

“I work with many families who believe that they need to teach their newborns to do things that work against the biology of survival brain circuits. For example, many parents believe they need to teach babies to lie alone in a bassinet in order to “create independence”, or to teach babies to stop crying by ignoring their cries. Wanting to be close and held is what your baby’s survival biology needs in order to be regulated. Separation from caregivers is a threat to a baby’s survival and activates their brain circuitry to cry or cling.

Compared to the warm, soothing, and dynamic presence of a parent where all body systems are regulated, the bassinet or sitting alone is a static quiet lonely unregulated place – and many infants don’t like it at all, and will signal their stress by vocalising every time. You can’t train a baby’s survival system to stop having needs and cueing for relationship.”

DR GREER KIRSHENBAUM

What an amazing developmental date for you and your baby 🤗

M A S T E R I N G M I L E S T O N E S

BALL SKILLS
Playing with a ball seems effortless and fun, but when a toddler lacks fundamental gross motor skills, ball skills can be very tricky to master. Kicking, throwing and catching are some of the most essential ball skills toddlers can playfully develop before the age of two.

BALL SKILLS FOLLOW NATURALLY WHEN THE DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES PRECEDING THIS PHASE, ARE IN PLACE:
- Proprioception and body awareness
- Muscle tone
- Postural control
- Balance
- Eye-hand coordination
- Eye-foot coordination.

Kicking
Kicking follows after walking. Once a toddler is a strong walker, the toddler is ready to kick a ball. This happens around 14 - 15 months. After months of practice, a toddler will be ready to run towards a ball and kick it in their stride. This is roughly around 18 months. After yet more practice, a toddler will be able to kick a moving ball and participate in more active ball games. Even if he masters this skill, he will continue to perfect it! Soon, the toddler will be able to kick a ball towards a specific direction. This usually happens at 2 and a half years old.

Throwing and Catching
Throwing usually comes before catching. A baby usually starts to throw around the one-year mark and after many months of developing coordination of the arms, legs and eyes, catching follows. Many toddlers are only able to catch a ball while standing and maintaining their balance, between 18 months and three years.

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you:
https://babygym.co.za/instructor_list/

W E L C O M E C A R O L !

BabyGym welcomes a new Instructor in Umhlanga, KZN.

Carol Martin

"As a mom, I now truly understand, not only the want but the need to do as much as possible for your children. BabyGym helps guide moms down this very important road of early, whole brain development. Join me, and together we can build a firm foundation for your little one, helping you seamlessly incorporate the Babygym programme to create a lifestyle of physical, emotional and intellectual development. Week by week we will educate you, taking away the guesswork, and ensuring you know that you are doing enough to give your precious bundle the brightest future."

Classes are presented on Mondays and Wednesdays.

+27820802421
[email protected]
33 Ronan Road, Umhlanga

https://babygym.co.za/profile/872/

W E L C O M E T R A C E Y !

BabyGym welcomes a new Instructor in Craighall Park, Johannesburg.

Tracey Lovell

“Nothing in nature lives for itself. Rivers don’t drink their own water. Trees don’t eat their own fruit. The sun doesn’t shine for itself. Living for each other is nature’s rule.” - Unknown. I like to be of service to mothers by sharing my passion and knowledge for baby brain development, during a time when it is needed the most. By stimulating your baby's senses and strengthening their muscles, we can build an even better brain.

Classes are presented on Tuesdays.

+27823605299
[email protected]
Craighall Park

https://babygym.co.za/profile/871/