Interview with Nilah Curtis

Question: Why have you written the stories in Our Baby's Moment Series?

Nilah: First, I believe that parents and childcare staff deserve having their job made easier. My teacher Magda Gerber said that children "have all the time and all the energy" that adults will never have. The educaring and other concepts behind parents' actions in the story show how to even the scales a bit. I want to demonstrate Dr. Pikler's concepts of educaring through the events in the stories and the accompanying notes. These powerful, simple ways of modelling what we want children to do and learn are available in other formats, but most carers are not aware of them, and do not have time to find them or read them.

Part of the parents' "job" is supporting children's school progress. (One family of four children said that homework is their toughest issue) . Blakeslee, in 1997 stated that "[Children] whose parents read to them had a stronger grasp of conceptual possibilities of language and were better problem solvers…in elementary school."

Secondly, "The television babysitter" of today complicates parents' and teachers' jobs of tomorrow. Many individuals in today's society are concerned about the effect on the child's brain of prolonged computer/television viewing. It's a difficult area to research, especially long term, so we don't even know the scope of that effect. In this project, I aimed to address this concern first and foremost by creating stories about things babies can relate to-moments in their everyday lives-for the purpose of encouraging contact with the written page. Books can eventually be a great babysitter too, and enhance the brain's function, rather than diminish it.

Thirdly, in the overall scheme of parent-child relations, it is the closeness of the relationship, which gives parents the greatest leverage. I want to encourage the body, eye, and voice contact, which nurture the child-carer attachment. The trust and increased blood flow from this is critical for overall development and gentle guidance. In this project, carers can accomplish several tasks while doing what most child development experts consider standard practice: read to Baby at least five minutes daily, from birth. Mary Diamond, in Magic Trees of the Mind, suggests reading to the unborn child fifteen minutes daily from the seventh month.

Fourthly, besides relationship, adults' greatest advantage CAN BE our ability to communicate. I want to open the possibilities of communicating with babies who are not hearing impaired but cannot yet form words, through sign language, and honest, non-blaming use of feeling words.

Fifthly, I want to support parents in using one of our greatest free resources: libraries. Parents can save thousands of dollars if their children can get excited about going to the library. Quiet oases of patient helpers, computer access and free books, libraries offer children a world of 1,000 worlds in one stop. Children see their peers interacting with books and having fun.
Story times offer models of reading aloud and chats with friends in usually air-conditioned comfort, with toileting facilities nearby. How family friendly can you get? Librarians know that they are competing with fast food giants, toy stores and video games, and they take their jobs very seriously.

Question: Why have you not used bright, colourful illustrations? Everyone knows these are more attractive than black & white!

Nilah: Yes, colours are more attractive-after babies are two months old! This is why I encourage using crayons (starting with red, which is the first colour perceived in eye development) to brighten the illustrations after two months of age. This "colouring book" aspect of the project will personalise and "warm" the book forever for this baby and for the person who does it. The book actually grows with the baby as additional colour appears! Poster paints are another option…for the adult who wants colour kept within the lines1

Interestingly, as an "e-book," many more printers produce copy in black and white, than colour. Downloading the book at home or in an undeveloped country where colour printers do not abound, is thus much easier.

Carers are encouraged to paste bright pictures on the cover, perhaps even a photo of this baby and/or others who will experience it. There are no limits to how bright the book can be "pasted into" after three months of age.

Question: Do you really think a baby less than two months old can follow a story, or even really look at black & white illustrations?

Nilah: No. But please recall the other purposes of the project. The newborn loves to hear mum's voice, feel her warmth and chest vibrations, and smell her. She (or Daddy or sibling or other carer) does not have to read to Baby to provide these, but while reading, both the habit of reading and attachment is developing in the reader.

This is one of the reasons for beginning the experience of reading together before birth: It provides a consistent base of sound, which Baby will welcome after birth. I refer you for more information to Nicola Morgan, nmorgan@childliteracy.com, and www.childliteracy.com/babies.html.
Nicola suggests three kinds of books: "1) …bold picture books to help with focusing and identification, 2) books with poems, songs or stories which YOU like reading 3) books that are safe in the cot (check safety labels carefully).
This series falls in the first category.

Eventually, Baby will hear and understand the words to the song, "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Imagine the imprinting of such a truth from hearing the melody in earliest days! ["After misfortune, we pick ourselves up and start over."]
This alone could save parents hours, if not years, of angst.

Question: What other role does being read to play in the life of an unborn child, or even one less than 3 months old?

Nilah: Besides bonding and acquiring the "Reading Habit," brain development and an opportunity for daily life rhythm/routine may be enhanced. Also, Baby learns a method of self-calming, if his/her cues are respected.

Question: How can reading to a young baby affect later success in school?

Nilah: Broussard & Cornes' research showed that during the first 18 months of life, we develop patterns for learning and relating to the world. When reading is done early, it has a better chance of taking a place in everyday life, which includes school. Note that even when computers are used extensively, reading is required for their use.

By supporting the development of pre-reading skills, i.e.: attending to the spoken word, listening, holding a book and identifying it later as a "book," holding the book right side up, turning pages, being able to relate to pictures in the book, requesting a specific book, etc., learning to read is much easier. One teacher reported that as many as 30 % of students are not ready to learn to read when they start school.

This puts them behind their classmates who are more ready to learn to read, and they rarely catch up with the remaining 70% of the class. In the US, the cost of this behindedness exceeds every other budget item (except the war). It robs the entire class of precious teacher time.

Question: Why not wait to read to a baby until a she/he can talk and understand what he hears when he is read to?

Nilah: First, of course, we do not actually know when Baby can understand what is being read. How would we know when to begin? A psychiatrist friend who was about to be a father said to me some time ago, "I can't wait until he's about three, when we can talk together." He was forgetting that familiar words, used often, enhance the development of vocabulary, even though the child's speech muscles cannot yet form the words. "Book," if he hears it, will be one of those words Baby can learn…plus many of the words in the book!

It is impossible to prove that reading, if the child is positioned "inside of " or on the lap during the reading, enhances bonding. The connection is obvious as long as the child's cues are followed. For example, talking to the unborn child or during positive touch, has been shown to support bonding. Reading is another way of talking. The more securely bonded child does better at school.

*There is no guarantee that children who are read to as babies will find reading easy, or love reading. They tend to do better in school when they have been read to, however.

Reading can be a way of communicating joy, if the voice is a familiar and enthusiastic one. Joy is an innate reaction if the material is read in rhythm when the baby is less than two months old (which is why the last three books is the series are rhythmised.")

Now we realise that sign language is not only for the hearing impaired, and that babies can learn simple sign language. Like "baby talk," it may not resemble the speech of a six year-old, but it does communicate. Reading is an excellent situation for these word signs to be learned.

I referred earlier to "Life rhythm." It is also a non-verbal communication, which says to Baby, "I want you to be able to anticipate what is going to happen next, so you can prepare for it, and relax in the trust of that knowing." The earlier such a daily rhythm can begin, the easier life will be for everyone. If reading occurs at a regular time every day, it will contribute to this. If we're shopping and find ourselves waiting, etc. we can read at other times, too, and this does not replace the regular time. I try to carry small books to give away for those "waiting" emergencies, because waiting is not something children can or should understand.

Learning and respecting Baby's cues are two "talking" skills new parents must learn. If Baby cues (becomes fidgety, or gets fussy) to stop reading, closing the book tells Baby "I got your message!" This simple action builds trust. To add, "We can read another time," does not undo your action. It merely confirms, "I understand that this is how you feel now." Always observe. Just like adults, interest in one book can change quickly!

It is important to choose reading times when Baby is not distressed by hunger, etc. We all operate best in response to our dominant need. Often reading helps when boredom or tiredness welcomes the calming effect of your voice and present presence. (Ever been absent when present?)

When WE are tired, reading can save us from trying to think of what to say, too!* Often it seems it's precisely at these times when our child needs and wants us most, perhaps because he can FEEL and fear our desire to have "distance" when we are tired and want a break. I was shocked when I learned that until adolescence, children fear being abandoned. From the child's perspective, our "I need a break!" times could be seen as perhaps a good time for us to abandon!

*If we can enjoy the child's pleasure of reading the same story seven times!

Question: Do doctors encourage reading to babies?

Nilah: Actually, since 1980, pediatricians have been distributing books (after demonstrating how to read to babies) through the Reach Out & Read Program in 2100 sites in Puerto Rico, Israel, Italy, and all fifty of the United States. As
a result, Bostonia reports "Researchers have found that RO&R expedites language acquisition in young children and has a significant effect on parents' attitudes about reading to their kids. In one study of low-income Hispanic families, parents who received books and counseling in the office of a paedia- trician, are ten times more likely to read aloud to their children than parents who did not. "We tell parents that it's not about teaching their one- or two-year-olds about the alphabet, Zuckerman. says. "When children share books with someone they love, they learn to love books. When you're a child raised with books on your parent's lap, reading becomes more than mechanical; it's connected in very deep ways to other motivation that all children get from their parents' interest in them, let alone the stimulation of books, the new words, the focused attention between a mother and child, the enjoyment, and the physical comfort." (In Bostonia, Summer 2004, p. 16.)

Question: It has been said that storytelling is better than story reading. Do you agree?

Nilah: Yes and no. Yes, Storytelling has the advantage that it can be done anywhere, without the aid of an object you may not have with you. Yes, it can be more personal, if it is told carefully (and it must be!) This is why we encourage the reader, in "Other ways to usee the Story," to tell their own story, based on the pictures. Yet storytelling is a skill-a fairly simple skill-but nonetheless one that should be learned before doing it. Why? Because, as I have observed, the untrained storyteller can get distracted by her own needs, and end the story negatively.
[The formula I learned and use is 1) Ask about or select the child's favourite animal 2) With a baby of this animal as the hero, Start the story describing how the baby animal is happy, 3) Create a problem, 4) Resolve the problem happily, showing positive values.]
Reading a story has at least two big advantages: 1) You can count on a child's book giving the right message (unlike television). 2) As you read it, you are modelling a way of self-calming.

A.N. Shore's research tells us that, in the first three years of life, "the right brain guides children's expression of emotion, and the quality of the adult-child interactions then guides the development of the child's right brain." Shore calls this a kind of "reciprocal dance." Thus, during the conversations, which I encourage during reading, we have the opportunity to calmly explain how a being can make a difficult situation come out well while we model a way of self-regulation.

I've included Cushla's Books in the recommended reading because three year-old Cushla, a child with many challenges, reads to one of her dollies who Cushla sees as in need of nurturing. A child will make up stories, but may not have the maturity (judgement or knowledge) to make them turn out right, and can sometimes scare herself.

Mem Fox states that a book should not be written to teach a lesson. In this Series, Baby hears only about her "moments." The reader may hear a lesson, or read about it in the Notes, if she or he is open to it.

Question: What is the greatest strength of this project?

Nilah: It's hard to say, but I'd have to guess that it is the topic of the stories, the demonstration of using tasks of daily care to teach self care, which is a gift from educaring. More than anything else, early reading must have meaning, according to the National Association of the Young Child. Obviously, the tasks of daily care have a great deal of meaning for Baby, as they form the foundation of their daily rhythm. There will be plenty of anecdotes, which can be shared during the reading, which strengthen the meaning still more. ("Remember the spaghetti we had last night that got in your hair? You had a new hairdo then, too, didn't you?") There exist endless possibilities to actually recycle the intimacy of those moments!