[littlest birds]

I got the "Rainbow Fairy Book" by Lang, and really like it. It is a fairly concise "greatest hits" collection from all the color fairy books. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"><br><br>
I am so glad storytelling was mentioned. I appreciate it so much, and do hope to get into it more myself. I tend to have a poor memory for stories, songs, etc. though I know this can be overcome.<br><br>
Sometimes I do improvise while reading change the way a story is told. The book then can be more of a source for memory cues, while I can be more directly responsive to the listeners and engage them more directly. It is kind of nice to tell a story in what feels like your own personal style and using a word choice that feels totally natural to yourself. Book addict that I am, I actually just bought a "storyteller's start-up book" that has some great ideas I want to play with.<br><br>
I know that Waldorf educators often favor storytelling over book-reading because it is a more direct connection between teller and audience. This idea seems to have some merit.

 

[oceanbaby]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>LeftField</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I agree with your first sentence, but disagree with the whining toddler = unmet needs theory. I think most toddlers whine at some point. And I know this is unusual, but my oldest didn't speak until he was 22 months old even though he was extensively read to and spoken to. He used to say, "dah" and point to things and also make grunting noises. OTOH, he could point out a wide variety of pictures and letters in books long before then, but his expressive speech had not developed yet. If you speak to your child and read extensively to him/her, it would not necessarily create early speech. Girls often have much earlier expressive speech than boys. So I don't agree with that part of what you're saying.</div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
Yep, to both of your points. Some kids are sometimes going to whine. Ds1 is not a "whiner" but he has been known to whine on occasion, and it has nothing to do with not getting my attention. That statement really did make me giggle.<br><br>
I am also on child number two that has no "words" at 2yo. Their expressive speech was/is exactly as you describe with your son. And not only do I read to them a lot (ds1 liked it more at this young age than ds2 currently does), but I am one of those crazy moms yapping to their baby as we wander through the grocery store. My dad used to make fun of me for talking to my babies as if they could understand me. (Of course, he also blamed me for them not talking, saying that it was because I gave them too much attention so they never had to ask for anything.<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">: )

 

[LeftField]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>annettemarie</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Oh, I agree. I only commented because the original post that I quoted included babies as small people who needed to be spoken to as if they were adults. Babies are hard-wired to respond to high-pitched motherese.</div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
I spoke to my babies like adults, but I also included some of that high-pitched cute talk that you reference. I used to sing a lot of silly songs to them in a high-pitched voice. I used to sing one called, "cupcake lips" to ds2 (don't ask, it just fell out of my brain) that went something like, "Mama has a funny boy, funny boy, funny boy. Mama has a funny boy, cupcake lips!" *giggles* His little eyes would light up and really focus on me when I sang that song to him. When I had them on my lap to nurse, I'd often talk in the high-pitched voice with extra-lovey or cutesy words. But in regular life, I'd speak to them like regular people. So, I think both are good. It just seems like many people only stick to the cutesy stuff and bypass the regular conversation.

 

[LeftField]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Jennifer3141</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">That really is pretty terrible!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"></div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
Yeah, heaven forbid you have to keep stopping and explaining things to the child! Honestly, when dh read Winnie the Pooh to ds1 in utero, he had to stop and explain a few vocabularly words to me. He's British and has an instant visual on things like "gorse bush" and "spinney". Maybe he should have been annoyed and stopped reading the book! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad">