Do you know from the time your child is born until kindergarten, exactly what your baby will have learned? Do you know your baby is smarter than you? Your baby will have mastered how to walk, talk, eat alone, master toileting, make friends and will be able to ask questions and deduct answers.

In fact, children between the ages of zero-to-three learn more than in any other age bracket through daily interactions. This research was published in "The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains and How Children Learn" (William Morrow, 1999). It was co-written by Alison Gopnik, a leading cognitive psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley; Andrew Meltzoff, a pioneer in infant psychology at the University of Washington, and Patricia K. Kuhl, a well-known figure on language development.

One of the first things your baby will learn is to get your attention. To get your attention either because he's hungry, has a soiled diaper or is tired -- your baby will cry.

"Roxanne will scream if she hurts herself. When she's tired she'll whine. She has a happy reaction when her mother enters the room," said Dennis, dad of eight-month-old Roxanne. "But when I get home from work - Roxanne is all ready to play. She won't let me look and anything else, she wants me all to herself."

In the process of learning this, your baby is learning about human emotion. Your baby will know how to act to make you laugh and get your approval, and will discover things that get you mad just by observing your reaction.

"Just by making eye contact, Justin knows if he can continue what he's doing," said Caroline, mother of two-year-old Justin. "He will touch things I won't allow him to. I know that he knows he's not to touch them. He's trying to see if I changed my mind."

The way a three-year-old child sees information, registers it and learns from it, she is learning twice as fast as an adult will. Ever heard the expression, "Children soak up information like a sponge"? Many children under three are exposed to a second language and never tell themselves they can't do it. They learn it by seeing, doing and trying.

The best way to enhance your baby's learning or give extra stimulation is simply by spending more time with your child. If you are working outside the home, make sure your child is in a high-quality child-care setting.

"Don't waste time or money on special "programs" or flash cards or Mozart tapes (unless you just like listening to Mozart). At best those things are going to be useless, " said Gopnik. "The ideal situation for toddlers and infants would be to have several attentive caring adults (and older children) who play with the baby regularly in a rich physical environment."

During the time you spend with the baby, play, talk, exchange and be attentive to your child. Use all occasions as they are presented. If your baby's in the mood to dance, then join in and dance with your baby. If she's playing peek-a-boo, engage in a game of peek-a-boo. Be spontaneous and get down on the floor and interact with your child. Your child will learn in situations where play isn't present.

"I love it when after supper Alex cuddles up with me when I'm reading my paper," said Danny, father of twenty-seven month old Alex. "He pretends to read and he can stay on my lap for a good twenty minutes. I enjoy that and I'm sure he does too."

They'll learn by watching other children, or other adult caregivers in their daily activities.

"The kind of play we're talking about isn't a separate activity that has to be somehow scheduled into a babies day, but happens naturally as adults and babies are together," said Gopnik. "That's why it's impossible to say that x amount of a particular activity is necessary."

Babies are learning when they're throwing their toys out of their beds. They're learning when they take a bath and they're learning when they get into your pots and pan cabinet. It all may seem insignificant but the baby is learning about noise, life, and their environment. They are discovering their own possibilities.

An important part of the research was found that babies who were deprived of the adult interaction made the children worse. Babies need the adult -- baby interaction. When the baby didn't get the right quality care the baby's knowledge suffered. Gopnik is worried that children aged zero-to-three may not be getting enough quality interactions to developed its mental and emotional level they should normally be at when entering kindergarten. "One fifth of children from birth-to-three grow up in poverty. We provide public support for every other kind of education and learning, but we provide zero support for the kind of learning that happens in the first three years of life," said Gopnik. "The kind that comes from having adults get to spend time with babies they care about, even though there is more learning going on then than at any other time."

Gopnik, Meltzoff, and Kuhl demand the government take action by developing programs to allow parents to spend more time with their babies such as flex or part time and working from home. They also demand better subsidies for parents that their children are in daycare. Better wages and recognition for early childhood educators also would result in fewer turnovers in the field.

There are many factors that contribute to a baby's development. The first three years are important -- let's make it an issue for everyone.

At Play with Your Baby

• Interact with your baby often and in a variety of ways.
• Show interest in what your baby is interested in.
• Let your try and experiment many things.
• Set up different learning opportunities for your baby for example: pots and pans, a basket of clean laundry, empty boxes.
• Establish firm limits and be consistent with behavior you find unacceptable.
• Show your child your love and your pride in your baby.

This article was also published at Babiestoday.com in the iParenting.com family. © Marie-Helen Goyetche 1999. suite101