- Ms. Rachel is one of the most popular channels on YouTube
for babies and young children.
Some of her videos have over 100 million views,
which is absolutely amazing.
Some of the benefits
mentioned in the description of these videos
are promoting brain growth and development,
promoting language development, and teaching parents
and caregivers the best ways to play, interact,
and promote learning throughout the day.
But can babies and toddlers learn how to talk
from watching these videos?
Let's dive in to what the research says.
Firstly, research shows that babies and toddlers
under the age of two, learn language best
from interacting directly with people.
This is because during these interactions, as adults,
we adjust the words we use, our eye gaze,
our use of gestures and social signals,
in response to what our babies and toddlers say and do.
It's the back and forth interaction between an infant
and a caregiver which promotes language development.
And unfortunately, babies and toddlers
do not get that level of engagement
or interaction from watching a screen.
This was demonstrated in a study
which was completed in 2010,
where the researchers examined how many new words
12 to 18-month-old children actually learned
from watching a popular DVD several times a week
for four weeks at home.
So they divided the participants into four groups.
In the first group,
the children did not actually watch the DVD at all.
Instead, their parents were actually given the list
of the 25 target words from the DVD,
and they were instructed to use those words
in their everyday interactions with their child.
In the second group, the parents were actually instructed
to watch the DVD with their child
in whatever way they would typically do so.
And in the third group, the children watched the DVD
without the parent being present.
And in the fourth group,
the child actually received no intervention at all.
The findings from this study
showed that the children in that first group
where the parents actually modeled the 25 target words
during those everyday activities, learned the most words.
And what was really interesting
is that the children who watched the DVD
with the parents sitting beside them did not do any better
than the children who watched the DVD by themselves,
or the children who were actually in the controlled group,
and had no intervention.
These results indicate
that children under the age of 18 months
learn relatively little from infant media.
Now, these results are really not that surprising,
given children under the age of 18 months
simply do not have the cognitive ability
to relate what they see on the screen
to what they see in real life.
And because of this, it makes it really difficult for them
to learn how to talk by simply watching a screen.
So to illustrate this difficulty
that a child under two experiences,
we're just going to watch a small snippet from Ms. Rachel.
Now, in this video,
Ms. Rachel is trying to teach the word Mama,
and she does that by repeating the word Mama five times
while different photos of moms and babies appear
in the corner of the screen.
Now, for that child to understand, and use the word Mama,
they need to know a few things.
Firstly, they need to know
that all the women in these photos who look very different
are all Mamas.
They also need to know that a Mama is a parent of a child.
And then, to use that word correctly in their world,
they need to know that their Mama, who looks very different
to all the Mamas that were on the screen,
is called a Mama because she is his or her parent.
So as you can see, this is an extremely difficult concept
for a baby or a young toddler to grasp,
particularly as it isn't until around 18 months
that their brain is able to understand that the images
or symbols on a screen are representative of things
or people that they see, and interact with in real life.
Now, after the age of two, things change a little.
Children at this age
begin to understand the symbolic nature of images and photos
and can transfer this knowledge from the screen,
so the 2D image, to their real life.
But for this to happen, research indicates
that three important factors need to occur.
Firstly, the content of the show or app
needs to be specifically designed for their age-group,
and educational.
Ideally,
the content should reflect the child's everyday experiences,
as these are actually more relatable for that child.
And the content shown should also be paced and logical,
as it makes it easier for the child to follow.
Secondly, the content needs to be interactive,
and actually encourage the child's participation.
So studies have actually shown that media content
where the onscreen characters speak directly to the child
and then pause to encourage that child
to either respond with a gesture or a word,
can encourage expressive language production and vocabulary.
So an example of a good show back in my day
was "Dora the Explorer," where she would talk on screen,
and then pause and wait for you to respond.
And the third key feature,
which is actually the most important,
is that the caregiver
should actually be watching the program with the child
while talking to them about what they're watching.
So for example, you might ask questions about the show,
you may label items on the screen,
or you may actually talk about the storyline.
When you do these things, you're helping the child
actually make a connection
between what they see on the screen, and their real world,
and this can help to facilitate their learning of language.
When these three factors are considered,
the potential negative effects of screen use
are actually mitigated, and there is a positive effect
on the child's language development.
Now, while we are on the topic of language development,
if you want to know what to expect
in regards to your child's communication skills
from one to four years of age,
make sure you get the free PDF
by clicking the link in the description box below.
It's also important to note
that to further mitigate the potential negative effects
of screen use on a child's development,
the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommend that for children two to five years of age,
screen time is actually limited to one hour per day.
Now, getting your toddler to stop watching a screen
can be extremely challenging,
and tantrums are extremely common.
So make sure you watch this video next
to learn the easiest way to help your little one
transition from a screen to another activity
without having a tantrum.
And if you've liked this video,
make sure you hit that like button,
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