The precautions to take when using Super Start are derived from the requirement that it should not be permitted to detract from a child's development in other areas. That goal will be accomplished if Super Start is made to be just one other element in the child's environment and not forced upon the child. The child must have the power to decide whether or not to pay attention to it. With that in mind, please consider the following to be the most important rules of operation:

• Do not attempt to use Super Start as an electronic flash-card system.
• Delay Super Start until the baby is at least 3 months old.
• Blend Super Start in with the rest of the environment.
• Limit Super Start to teaching small, rote-memory bits of information.
• Do not try to make Super Start a genius-maker. It doesn't even come close.
• Don't pressure, don't push -- do pay attention, listen, watch and tune in.
• Do not try to use Super Start to teach a child to read.
• And Finally, The Most Import Ingredient

Dr. Thomas Armstrong says of flash-cards that "Parents should be warned that these methods may actually confuse infants or create stress that can block, not promote, new learning." He also says that flash-cards can produce what appears to be learning, but is actually a type of conditioning.

When properly used, Super Start is missing the feed-back necessary to produce operant conditioning (see a definition of operant conditioning from Ask Jeeves). Without the feedback, it is rendered just another stimulus among many in the environment. Nothing should be forced. There should no coaxing, coaching or any other form of feedback. Since infants learn best in the context of a warm, loving lap, it would be beneficial to let the baby sit on one while watching Super Start. Please do not, however, talk about what is happening on the screen or coming from the speaker unless the baby leads with obvious, enthusiastic interest. It would help to have favorite toys and a bottle and blanket handy so there will be things to do in times of boredom. The owner of the lap can read a book silently or help with play as needed. If the baby isn't in the mood for a lap, a crib, swing, etc. will do, as long as plenty of things are available to provide choices other than Super Start. Always provide plenty to play with.

What we perceive as play is much more than that. It is one of a baby's main jobs. A baby grows both physically and mentally through play, since learning about the world is greatly enhanced through the playful touching and moving of objects. It provides important stimulation to help in the growth of the mind. J. Ronald Lally, Ed.D, describes the role of play very eloquently when he says, "In watching infants during the first three years of life, we see them gather knowledge of the physical properties of objects as they mouth, bang, and shake toys. We see them cluster these objects into crude functional groups and categorize them as to how they might use them. We see them develop an understanding of who they can trust and rely on for getting needs met. We see them become aware of what the rules of the road are in getting along with others as, for example, their tug on another child's toy is rebuffed. And, we see them build motor skills and language skills as they use their bodies as tools for exploring and communicating with the world around them. This is their play. Yet, each of these activities reflects learning." It's OK for Super Start to be there to provide rote-memory information. Just don't let it interfere. Let the baby do what the Creator has designed in. There can be no wiser choice.

Where Babies Come From (wait -- it's worth it)

Visual capability is not in place for as much as 3 months. On page 165 of Dr. Richard M. Restak's book, THE INFANT MIND, he says that "Infants can't look until the 'hardware' and 'software' are in place. This occurs between the age of one and three months. At one month the infant hasn't much in the way of visual interest and doesn't look toward anything. But between one and two months there is no doubt that the infant can see." Too much stimulation can actually put very young infants asleep because the biological systems which help determine what might seem to us to be a more appropriate response are not yet in place. Newborns have significant growing up to do before they are ready for significant levels of stimulation. In some respects their perception of the world has little relationship to the way we see it. (see THE WORLD OF THE NEWBORN, Maurer and Maurer) The gestation period and the first 3 months can be used to record the vocal descriptions of the images. The recording process, along with simply having Super Start around, will also help uneducated parents get a better understanding of some of the fundamental, rote-memory information we all need, which can't help but benefit the child as well as the parent. Parents who might otherwise feel helpless to help their own child will almost surely get a boost in self-confidence with the realization that, maybe for the first time, they really are. Just seeing that happen is worth the time and effort to teach a parent how to use Super Start.

It is important to keep Super Start far enough in the background to allow the child to select whatever might be of interest at the moment. Don't let Super Start dominate. It should be subordinate to the child's choices. Observe how the baby divides attention among various parts of the environment before Super Start enters the picture (with the observer staying in the background to remain out of consideration). That attention division should be about the same after Super Start is turned on, with a little time given Super Start. In other words, if the baby is just as likely to be arguing with the local fuzzy creature about world politics, inquiring with the mobile as to the rather damp weather in the lower regions, examining whoever's toes those belong to, trying to shake the beans out of the rattle or looking at the Super Start screen and listening to that cool mom person talk about what's there, then things are probably in pretty good shape.

What Super Start potentially does is simple and straight-forward in expression: Provide a child with the smallest bits of rote-memory knowledge as early as possible in order to establish elemental frames of reference so real education can begin. It's the doors that might open that can provide the imagination with sometimes unreasonable expectations. But growth involves more than knowledge, and babies need more than simple mental stimulation to realize full potential. That's why the context of learning is often more important than the material. Only a loving caregiver can provide beneficial context. Use Super Start to provide simple, rote-memory information, similar to that presented by its built-in images, but no more, and keep it in the background where it belongs. Only love belongs at the very front.

A three-year-old knowing the numbers and the alphabet is well within in the range of reasonable possibility. The research says a perfectly normal child is capable of much more. Knowing phonetic keywords, some math tables and the states and their capitals is just as possible for a normal child. What must be avoided is the pressure that is brought on by obsessive parenting. It's one thing to have Super Start in the room so the baby can choose to occasionaly look at it. It's quite another to try to force-feed.

From Debra Rosenberg's and Larry Reinstein's article on page 34 of the special Spring/Summer 1997 issue of NEWSWEEK: "Can you stimulate your child into becoming another Einstein? Not likely. All of this obsessive parenting is based on the notion that a baby properly stimulated will develop faster, learn languages or music better and all in all be a smarter kid. The key phrase here is 'properly stimulated,' which is not the same as expensively stimulated or the worse fate, overstimulated." Also, from Gail Rosenblum in an article for Sesame Street Parents, "When parents hear about the importance of stimulation, they may wonder whether they should be making special efforts to encourage their baby's intellectual growth. In other words, will more stimulation result in an even smarter baby? Most experts believe that it doesn't help to pressure babies and young children to learn. In fact, says Dr. Diamond [Ph.D., developmental neuropsychologist and visiting faculty member at MIT] pressure can turn learning into a source of anxiety. Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience at Yale University School of Medicine, adds, 'Young minds can absorb information efficiently, but the child must be ready for it.'Parents must be careful not to frustrate a child by pushing him to perform tasks that are beyond his level. 'And don't be concerned about how well a young child performs a task,' Dr. Goldman-Rakic adds. 'There's no question that he will master it over time.'" And from page 29 of RETHINKING THE BRAIN: "Since neuroscientists now confirm that children are primed for learning in the first few years, parents and other caregivers may feel compelled to expose their babies to a steady flow of information and intellectual stimulation. Should expectant parents recite the multiplication table to their unborn toddlers to memorize many facts and figures? The answer is: measures like these are unnecessary. Children learn in the context of important relationships. The best way to help very young children grow into curious, confident, able learners is to give them warm, consistent care so that they can form secure attachments to those who care for them. Paying attention to an infant's moods, knowing when he needs comfort rather than stimulation (or vice versa), mimicking a baby's trills and 'beebeebees,' or following a toddler's lead as she invents a new version of peekaboo these interactions are all part of responsive care, and do far more to boost later learning than, say, flash cards or tapes of the ABCs."

Intelligent, educated parents who can be with their children naturally pass on what they know, and most parents love their children and want the best for them. Some people can't be with their children enough because of job restrictions however, and a few simply don't know what or how to give to their children. It's hard if both parents are working, even if they do possess the knowledge, and it's impossible to pass on knowledge not possessed.

Super Start exists to help provide the basic rote-memory information that all children need. It's not there to produce geniuses, and pressuring a child is as far from its intent as a person can get. It exists to reduce pressure by helping to level the playing field by imparting the information a child needs to become a member of the learning community. A child who is not able to enter that community for a lack of knowledge suffers a brutal penalty at the hands of other students and the system. Super Start can help, but should be kept in its place.

The baby should be able to elect to pay attention to it or any other part of the environment at will. It's the baby's choice, and should never be anything else. Don't turn up the volume too loud or get the monitor too close (and NEVER suspend it over the crib!). Don't try to force-feed. Super Start should be only a small part of the process. It's only intended as a tool to help kids obtain rote-memory information. The idea is to produce an almost constant but gentle input of sound and visual stimulation with a great deal of variety, but not to over-stimulate.

There are clues to over-stimulation. Watch for signs of habituation. That's when the baby gets so much of one kind of input that it's no longer interesting (boredom). Variety helps here. Also look for overexcitment and crankiness. Lay off a while if either happens, and re-check to make sure Super Start is in the background where it belongs. And don't forget playing and loving. They are infinitely more important than the multiplication tables!!

Again, from Gail Rosenblum, "The key is to support a baby's natural development through challenging, age-appropriate activities. Experts suggest that in your child's first year of life, you introduce her to objects of different weights, textures, and materials, for example, and show her colors both indoors and outdoors. Because babies tune in quickly to sounds and rhythms, read poetry to your baby and have her listen to all kinds of music. Give her a pan and a spoon and let her make her own music. Because babies do so much learning by imitation, play imitation games with your baby (like wiggling your fingers or making sounds and encouraging her to watch and do what you're doing)."

"The most important strategy for encouraging early learning is simple. 'Nurture your child's unlimited curiosity about the world around her,' Dr. Diamond [Ph.D., developmental neuropsychologist and visiting faculty member at MIT] suggests, 'and a sense that learning is fun.' Remember that education is a process and that your role as your child's most involved teacher is a lifelong one. Children learn by example; if a child sees you having a wonderful time using your mind, she will be sure to get excited about all kinds of learning, too."

Put Super Start even farther in the background when the child is no longer a baby. It's time for toys and exploring. See page 39 of Dr. Jane Healy's book, YOUR CHILD'S GROWING MIND and some of the resources on the Internet Resorces Page for some ideas on play. Super Start can be part of that play when the child is a little older. That's not to say older kids won't benefit from having Super Start around. It can help keep fresh the information it provided earlier. Just keep it well in the background.

And as Dr. Healy says on pages 31 and 32 of YOUR CHILD'S GROWING MIND, "incidentally, there is good evidence that reading books to the baby will do far more to develop a love of reading than packs of flash cards, especially if reading is associated with a loving lap and a parent's enjoyment." Please don't try to use Super Start to teach children to read. Do that by picking them up, putting them in your lap and reading to them. Professor Janellen Huttenlocher's research shows that there are substantial differences in vocabulary for children based on the amount of talking their mothers did to them -- the more talking the more vocabulary. A Bridget Murray article in the American Psychological Association Monitor states, in part, that "In fact, the degree to which parents talk with their preschool-ers is a strong determinant of children's academic success later on, the research suggests. While parental influence on children's cognitive development is nothing new to psychologists, many haven't realized just how critical a role parents play in children's school readiness."

Also please keep in mind that this project involves working with children. That means that these are much more than mere VIPs; they are our children and therefore our MIPs -- our Most Important People. Priorities are important and love is at the top. As a man named Paul said to some people in a town called Corinth almost 2000 years ago, there is nothing more powerful or important than love (see 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 ). It's still true. No mere hardware or software can come close to the benefit of picking up, holding and loving a baby. Research has shown that it actually enhances a child's ability to learn. Babies deprived of it can suffer the opposite and not recover. Attempt no substitute for love. Search as you will, you will never find it.

Second to love is reading. Read to a child every spare moment. If they want the same thing over and over, read the same thing over and over. There is a reason. To find it, see page 174 of THE INFANT MIND.

See the web sites Zero To Three about important developmental milestones, many of which go far beyond Super Start's ability to even approach, I Am Your Child for key issues, facts on the brain, questions parents might have, and stages of growth, including development of the brain and how it is influenced by such things as soothing talk and gentle physical interaction. Then see Parent And Teacher Attributes That Promote Partnership to get an idea of how crucially important a parent's involvement is to a child's development, Ten Things Every Child Needs about the 10 essential needs that should be met, starting from birth, in order to dramatically improve a child's ability to learn, and the National Network for Child Care for things to do to help an infant learn. And there are some great ideas from Laurie Miller , Program Director Human Development Laboratory School, Toddler Center University of Massachusetts at Amherst who says, in part, "Hold, rock, and sing to young babies. Take them outside on nice days. Explain what you are doing throughout the day when you change or feed them. Let young babies lie on a big piece of paper and hear the crunching noise when they move. Play different kinds of music on the radio. Hang bright toys for babies to see and hear. Hang aluminum pie plates on a string. Let a breeze blow them, or move them with your hand. Give them soft toys - a stuffed animal or a clean sock - to hold and feel. At their eye level, hang up big pictures of people and animals on the wall. Have a clean space for babies to crawl. Put bright toys near babies to reach out for or move toward. Put a big cardboard box on the floor so babies can crawl inside and play. Put cushions on the floor so babies can bounce and roll on them." (Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Miller, L. (1991). *Play activities for children birth to nine years*. (Family Day Care Facts series). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.) All of the above can help show what can be done to help a baby grow, with or without Super Start.

Super Start can help bring out the full potential of the design by providing the rote-memory knowlege that is so important for a child to have, but that some parents are unable to provide. By doing so, it can help give a child much more confidence when it's time to begin learning what we all must know in this society.

Most of all though, remember what Paul said. Pick up, hold and love your baby. He was right when he said that love is the most important thing there is. The battle will be half won if people are taught to pick up, hold, love and read to their children. The three most important things that can be given them are love, love and love .

All that remains is to put together a system. That will be covered next.

These are our children So love them and lift them Up in our arms Where they belong © 1997 jr