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CBC MARKETPLACE:
YOUR FINANCES » EDUCATIONAL TOYS
Bringing up Brainy: A look at
the educational toy market
Reporter: Erica Johnson |
Broadcast: January 16, 2005
More
and more of us are asking: 'Am I doing enough?' |
Raising baby... My daughter, Zoe, is
10 months old.
Like every parent, I’m trying to bring
her up as best I can.
I thought I was doing
okay until I saw books like these:
How to Raise a
Brighter Child, How
to Maximize Your Child's Learning Ability, Your
Child Can Think Like A Genius…
A genius? Does chewing a cardboard
box (one of Zoe’s favourite pastimes) help?
I admit
I didn’t
play classical musical to Zoe in utero. I worry she may already
be lagging behind in brain development.
| In
1980, psychology professor Anthony DeCasper conducted
a study that found a newborn prefers a story read to
it twice a day in the womb (his research used The
Cat in the Hat) to a new story introduced soon after
birth. |
But am I hindering
her potential of brainy greatness by denying her access to
the wealth of “edu-toy” products available?
I know I’m not alone here. Fess up, all
you parents. More than any generation before us, we feel
the pressure to nurture our baby's intellectual growth.
We now know
a baby’s brain is like a sponge -- it soaks in information--
so more and more of us are asking: ‘Am I doing enough?’
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