CONGRATULATIONS! We at Babyscapes, Inc. congratulate you on your choice of Babyscapes™ Infant Stimulation Videos. You've taken an important step toward providing your child with the type of "Infant Stimulation" that he/she needs for maximum growth and development. This "guide" is the result of extensive secondary research into the exciting arena of "Infant Stimulation". (See references at the back of this booklet for a sampling of this research and for recommended follow-up reading.) WHAT IS INFANT STIMULATION?... HOW TO USE BABYSCAPES™ INFANT STIMULATION VIDEO ABOUT BABYSCAPES™ WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF BABY'S SMART START™ VIDEO? FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) BABY'S SMART START™ AND INFANT STIMULATION REFERENCES WHAT IS INFANT STIMULATION?... Because proper stimulation provided during the first 12 months of life has more impact on the child's brain growth and development than at any other time in his life, it is imperative to maximize both the amount of stimulation and the kinds and quality of stimulation that your child receives. This insures a strong foundation for future learning. Infant stimulation includes a consistent schedule of stimulating experiences that foster growth and learning. These experiences are maximized when provided through an INTERACTIVE AND LOVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD. Infant stimulation impacts the following developmental dimensions: Physical Growth, Motor Development, Touch, Sight, Taste, Perceptual Development, Smell, Sound, Cognitive Development, Language Development, Social and Emotional Development. HOW TO USE BABYSCAPES™ INFANT STIMULATION VIDEO It's as easy as 1-2-3: Start by reading this "guide". It contains important information about the maximum utilization of BABYSCAPESTM and "Infant Stimulation" in general. Place the video in your VCR and select PLAY. With your child in an upright, seated position in your lap, interact with him as he watches the video. This interaction may take a variety of forms. From simply holding him snugly as he watches, to pointing out images on the screen, or simply talking to him about what he is seeing. ABOUT BABYSCAPES™ BABYSCAPES™ is committed to the maximum development of children's intelligences. We say "intelligences" because it has been recently established by Howard Gardner1 and others that human beings have as many as eight intelligences: 1. Logical/Mathematical 5. Musical/Rhythmic 2. Verbal/Linguistic 6. Interpersonal 3. Body/Kinesthetic 7. Intrapersonal 4. Visual/Spatial 8. Naturalistic In regard to your infant's stimulation, while it may appear that one or more of these "intelligences" are best developed after the period of infancy, the fact is that each and every one of these intelligence domains is either directly or indirectly impacted by the stimulation and interaction you provide for your infant in the crucial first year. Baby's Smart Start™ is designed to positively impact the development of one or more of these "intelligences" and is intended for babies from approximately 3 months of age and beyond. While infant stimulation builds brain growth which contributes to each of the intelligences, Baby's Smart Start™ is specifically designed to positively impact the following intelligences: Visual/Spatial, Logical/Mathematical, Musical/Rhythmic and Interpersonal. WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF BABY'S SMART START™ VIDEO? Among the variety of tools, toys and devices that could be a part of an "infant stimulation program", BABYSCAPES™ is uniquely designed to accomplish the following objectives: To Facilitate Parent-Child Bonding. BABY'S SMART START™ is designed for parent and child to view together. Properly utilized, i.e., holding baby close and sharing this special time with him, it can result in increased bonding between you and your baby. Research has clearly shown that parent/child bonding is critical for not only the emotional security and development of the child, but that this bonding leads to more effective brain development. PARENT/CHILD BONDING IS THE KEY INGREDIENT of a successful infant stimulation program. To Increase Attention Span. BABY'S SMART START™, due to its researched design is intended to increase your baby's ability to pay attention by entertaining him with high contrast images and soothing classical music. To Provide Multi-Sensory Learning. While baby is enjoying the video on Mom or Dad's lap, language interaction and other senses — such as touch — are involved in helping to stimulate the baby. BABY'S SMART START™ is designed to promote multi-sensory development primarily through images and music. Distinct from a regular mobile that hangs above baby's crib or playpen, BABY'S SMART START™ has the advantage of adding constantly changing visual patterns while at the same time providing sound/music stimulation. VISUAL: Although your infant sees quite well at birth, viewing distances improve substantially in the first several months. By the age of three months, your baby will be seeing objects at a distance of ten feet. There has been a great deal of research that proves the effectiveness of black and white designs (i.e,. stripes, circles and other shapes), in capturing and holding the attention of infants. Colors that provide high contrast, movement and ever-changing shapes maximize attention. BABY'S SMART START™ utilizes the best of these design principles along with an addition of the color red and images not possible with a traditional hanging mobile, namely appearing and disappearing shapes, shapes that change in size and orientation, and unique movements. AUDITORY: In the first two months after birth, your baby is extremely sensitive to your vocal pitch as well as vocal tone. Monotone sounds are boring to an infant while musical variation and voice fluctuation are stimulating. In terms of loudness or intensity of sound, studies have shown that a baby's brain responds to soft and pleasant sounds, not loud or shrill sounds. Successful research has also been conducted on the impact of classical music on infants — even before birth. Indications are that babies prefer this type of music over other types and are both soothed by it and interested in it as measured by increased attention. The music with your BABY'S SMART START™ Video has been particularly chosen for maximum effectiveness in this regard. MUSIC: The classical pieces that are an integral part of each segment of BABY'S SMART START™ have been carefully selected for both their soothing and stimulating qualities. Some experts say that it is the music of the three "B's" that are best suited for infant stimulation work — the music of Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach. To Maximize Early Stimulation Human infants are quite helpless and dependent at birth. Whatever stimulation is provided, therefore, is the result of primarily parental actions. By watching BABY'S SMART START™ beginning at approximately three months of age, this form of visual/audio stimulation can be an important part of your infant's development. To Enhance Active Self-Stimulation Research shows that stimulation breeds stimulation, that is through early stimulation activities, babies naturally increase their desire for more stimulation and more actively initiate self-stimulation. Sessions with Mom, Dad and BABY'S SMART START™ promote this type of stimulatory interest and activity. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) There are a variety of questions you should know the answers to in order to maximize the effectiveness of the impact BABY'S SMART START™ can have on your baby: Q: At what age do I introduce the video? A: Given the nature of a baby's attentionand orienting skills in the first months of life, your baby should be able to watch most effectively beginning at around 3 months of age. Q: Is there any age limit to it's use? A: No, children of all ages enjoy and benefit from it. Even adults enjoy the soothing classical music as a change of pace from the simple melodies of nursery rhymes. Q: What is the best time of day to have my baby engage with BABY'S SMART START™? A: Anytime - as long as: Your baby is in a state of alert inactivity Your baby is not distracted by his own body movements or is distressed. As a parent, you're in tune with your baby's moods. Over time, you will learn which periods of the day your baby is most ready to pay attention. Q: What body position is the best position for viewing the video? A: Your child's position, while interacting with you and BABY'S SMART START™, makes a difference on how much he benefits. Hold your child securely and closely to you in an upright seated position in your lap facing the television. (If your child is reclining too much it may decrease his ability to pay attention.) Q: How close to the television screen should my baby be? A: At three months of age, your baby will be able to interact with BABY'S SMART START™ at a distance of ten feet or less. A baby's vision is constantly changing from birth on. Research indicates that your baby sees quite well at birth, however, the cells of the eyes are not yet capable of adjusting for varying distances. Some research indicates that at birth a baby can only focus well at a distance of 10 to 13 inches. By 10 days objects can be seen with clarity as far away as 20 inches. By three months of age, your baby can see objects clearly at a distance of around ten feet. This is approximately the age that it is recommended to allow your infant to begin interacting with you and BABY'S SMART START™. Q: How do I know if my baby is paying attention to the video? A: When truly focusing or paying attention, your baby will: Turn his head toward the TV Sucking rate slows down Abdomen relaxes May reach out toward the TV Q: How long should I interact with my baby and the video? A: The recommendation is to begin with an initial session. As a parent you will have a keen sense of your baby's moods while watching and listening to the video. There are six different songs with varying speeds of motion and rhythm. Your baby may like "Flip-Flop" which is relatively slow, but he may not be ready for "Dancing Balls" because it is faster. Once you determine which song(s) your baby enjoys simply replay the songs your baby likes. As your baby matures, he may change in his preferences. By daily repetition, your baby's viewing time will likely increase. This promotes increased attention span. The first rule of any infant stimulation session or activity is sensitivity to your baby's unique and ever-changing moods, attention and activity levels. BABY'S SMART START™ AND INFANT STIMULATION INFANT STIMULATION BACKGROUND.... In order to use your BABY'S SMART START™ for the maximum benefit of your child, it is very important that you be aware of the following background information about infant stimulation and how to maximize it for the most effective impact on your child. BEFORE BIRTH Brain development, and therefore infant stimulation, naturally occurs throughout the pre-natal period of baby's development in the womb. As early as the third week after conception, the baby's head is distinguishable along with primitive circulatory and skeletal systems. Early learning, as early as two months of age, has been documented through baby's interaction with his environment, i.e., response to sounds, movements, even preference for certain positions. By the 70th day, brain cells begin communicating with each other — forming synapses as a result of the stimulation they are receiving in the uterus. By the fifth month, all the brain cells ever to be developed are in place (as many as a hundred billion). No new brain cells are created after this point; from this time on it is a question of maximizing the development of the cells that are present. By this fifth month, the fetus can see, hear taste, feel, and experience movement. Around the eighth month, baby's brain has doubled in weight representing a significant degree of maturation and development of brain cells. Through research with babies who have been born prematurely, it has been shown that by seven months after conception preemies are able to look at black and white patterns, pay attention to certain kinds of music, move in response to touch, and show displeasure with certain kinds of sour tastes and offensive odors. The clear implication is that babies in utero, at seven months (two months before birth) have these same capabilities and sensitivities. Based on the aforementioned information, it should be clear that stimulating your baby and enhancing his brain and therefore his intellect does not have to wait until birth. Hundreds of research projects have been conducted on pre-natal stimulation and its effects and there is proof positive of the opportunity for stimulation at this pre-birth stage of development. Just to cite one example, parents who frequently talked to their unborn babies and played tapes of their voices repeating soothing phrases, noticed that after birth their newborns were responsive to their voices, even turning their heads to focus on where their parent's voices were coming from. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE....... The first year of your baby's life is more critical for his brain's growth and development than at any other period throughout his life. In fact, this first year is characterized by many researchers as a "brain spurt" period of development. At birth the baby is in a high sensory state of preparedness — ready to learn. There is a unique window of opportunity that occurs during the first two hours after your baby's birth. For these two hours, your baby will maintain an alertness longer than he will for the next two months. The clear implication of this is that these two hours represent a unique opportunity for emotional bonding primarily with mother. It's no accident that newborns can focus clearly only at a range of about 13 inches — the distance between them at their mothers breast and their mother's face. At birth there are also a set of pre-programmed behaviors organized to guarantee survival directly after birth: rooting, sucking, swallowing, sneezing, coughing, blinking and muscle withdrawal. At birth baby's brain has reached 25% of its adult size. By six months, 50% of brain growth has occurred. By 1 year the brain has reached 70% of its adult weight. This is why experts in the field say that PROPER STIMULATION PROVIDED DURING THIS FIRST 12 MONTHS OF LIFE HAS MORE IMPACT ON THE BRAIN'S DEVELOPMENT THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME IN YOUR CHILD'S FUTURE. Until recently, parents were unaware of these facts. Audio and Visual stimulation in the first year is extremely important to infant development. Studies have shown that soothing music — especially classical music — is integral in developing brains because the same part of the brain that processes music also processes language and math. Showing BABY'S SMART START to developing babies introduces them to an extremely positive force — that of classical music — at a time when their brain is growing at an unbelievable rate. Combine the benefits of the music chosen for BABY'S SMART START with the high contrast black, white and red images and you have an incredible tool with which to stimulate your baby's brain development both visually and audibly. KEY PRINCIPLES OF INFANT STIMULATION... Dr. Susan Ludington-Hoe, in her book, How to Have a Smarter Baby6, outlines ten principles for infant stimulation: Your child's environment has the strongest impact on his brain during the growth spurt period (birth to 1 year). It is said that babies, perhaps more than any other time in their life have a biologically driven need to learn during this first year. By your child's environment it is meant everything within reach of his senses, i.e., his crib, his room, his playpen, objects, sounds, tastes, smells, and most importantly his mother then his father, siblings, and intimate family and friends. Interaction is more valuable than observation. Simply having your baby observe passively provides little learning — for example, placing your baby in a crib with a colorful mobile hanging over him. Babies learn best when they are fully interacting with their environment. The strongest form of this interaction is when you are holding, playing with and loving your child. This principle implies that your baby alone in his infant seat seeing a stuffed bear, for example, or even touching it, is an inferior form of stimulation to you holding up the stuffed bear and perhaps dancing it around, using it as a puppet, speaking through it, tickling your baby with it, and so forth. Curiosity: Stimulation begets stimulation. The more stimulation that a baby receives, the more he tends to want it. Stimulation that occurs between parent and child also contributes to the child seeking out more stimulation on his own. If a curious, learning adult is the goal, then stimulation in infancy lays a foundational lifestyle of curiosity and stimulation seeking. Baby's attentiveness is vital to successful stimulation. Unlike most adults, babies may not be able to pay attention upon demand; they are much more susceptible to distractions and whatever might be going on with them physically and emotionally. When conditions are right, that is when baby is not over stimulated or tired or fussy or hungry, or otherwise distracted, he can be attentive — and it is this attentiveness that is necessary for a "stimulation session" with Mom or Dad to be effective. Attention spans: newborns may only be able to "pay attention" for brief periods in the beginning, i.e., as little as 4 seconds. As your stimulation program progresses and as the days go by, your baby's attention span will increase, i.e., to 2 minutes or more then for longer periods. Emphasize repetition rather than habituation. Babies (and children of all ages) thrive on the repetition of satisfying events. In fact, repetition is a primary way in which they learn. Rituals such as tucking in your baby every night with a lullaby or reading to him each night after dinner promotes learning — both emotional and cognitive. Regarding the repetition of certain stimuli such as sessions looking at black and white stimuli, be aware that once your baby has in a sense "mastered" a given stimulus it has been "habituated" or learned and is likely to become boring. At this point, it is time to move on to another stimulus. This is why there are varying degrees of complexity and speed from song to song in the BABY'S SMART START™ video. Your baby's position makes a difference in how much he learns. Your baby's position both in his crib or playpen and in your arms is important to his stimulation. Change the position of his crib in his room once a month or so until approximately 8 or 9 months of age. Also, alternate his head position form one end of the crib to the other. This will give him different orientations to his room for maximum stimulation. (At around 8 months, the routine of having his crib in only one position may be more important for his emotional security). During stimulation sessions when you are holding your baby in your arms, it is important to hold him in an upright, sitting position. Understanding baby's lateralization patterns will help him develop. For reasons that science has yet to be able to explain, babies up to three months of age are more sensitive to stimuli that are brought into their awareness from their right side than their left (regardless of developing right or left-handedness.) It appears that the right side more efficiently processes information to the brain. For this reason, make sure that you first introduce stimuli to your baby from his right side and then from his left. Provide warmth: Babies sense how you feel. Your baby is perhaps more sensitive to your moods than you think. It is important that you communicate your love and warmth toward your child when you are with him. Hold him close so that he can feel secure and feel your warmth and experience your scent and soothing touch. Homeostasis: Use infant stimulation to arouse and quiesce. When your baby is alert and ready to pay attention, this is not the time to rock him gently to sleep; this is the time to stimulate. When he is tired or over stimulated, this is not the time to insist on his paying attention; this is the time to provide a different kind of soothing activity such as holding him and rocking him while humming to him. Homeostasis means all systems are in balance. Be appropriate to your baby's physical, emotional, and mental state and provide the kind of stimulaiton that achieves maximum homeostasis. Practice the 3 R's of infant stimulation: Rhythm, Reciprocity, and Reinforcement. Rhythm refers to the fact that your baby goes through a progression of reactions when paying attention to any stimulus. He will first be aroused by it and orient himself physically to it, then will pay attention to it. Then his own excitement may cause so much bodily activity that he is distracted, then he will disconnect from the stimulus and finally will need some time to calm down enough to start this rhythmic cycle over again with the next stimulus. Reciprocity refers to your sensitivity to your baby's states and rhythm as he moves through stimulating experiences. Should he become agitated, for example, it's time to put him over your shoulder and pat him gently. Should he be bored, it may be time for a change of venue to another room or go outside. Reciprocity simply means appropriately responding to and even (as you learn your baby's patterns) anticipating his moods and behaviors. Reinforcement refers to your positive reactions to your baby. When you stroke him or say something positive to him after he makes a sound or smiles or reaches out to touch a stimulus, you are providing positive reinforcement which encourages your baby to do more of that behavior. NOTE: Please keep in mind that the visual stimulation and learning that the BABY'S SMART START™ Video provides is only one of the dimensions of a complete infant stimulation program. Its use, along with other stimulation tools and activities, ideally are part of a comprehensive stimulation program for your baby that includes a dedicated period of time for stimulation on a daily basis. REFERENCES: Gardner, Howard, Frames of Mind, Basic Books, 1985. Goleman, Daniel, Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, 1995. Greenough, W.T., Black and Wallace, Experience and Brain Development, Child Development 58, 1987, pp. 555-67. Hart, Leslie, Human Brain and Human Learning, Books for Educators, 1983. Healy, Jane M., Endangered Minds, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990. Ludington-Hoe, Susan, How to Have a Smarter Baby, Bantam Books, New York, 1990. Pearce, Joseph Chilton, Evolution's End,Harper, San Francisco, 1992. Pearce, Joseph Chilton, Magical Child Matures, Dutton, New York, 1985. Sternberg, Robert, The Triarchic Mind, Viking Press, New York, 1988. Please Note: The creators, producers and distributors of this program disclaim any liability for loss in connection with the use, display, or viewing of this program. The creators, producers and distributors make no warranties express or implied concerning this program including (but not limited to) implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the creators, producers, or distributors of this program be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any use of this program. © 1996 Babyscapes™ Copyright 2007 Babyscapes, Inc.  All rights reserved. P.O. Box 370238  Las Vegas, NV  89137-0238 Phone: (702) 869-2978  Fax: (702) 363-9473 Toll Free: (888) 441- 5437  info@babyscapes.com