The best head start in life for babies is parental interaction, not spurious educational tools or toys

Research firm Technavio says the educational toys market amounts to about US$4 billion in the US – about a sixth of sales overall. If that applied worldwide, we are talking about global sales worth US$15 billion. The Scientific American says the global market for education apps for kids aged 0-4 is US$2.8 billion, and that the average 18-month-old kid already “owns” seven DVDs.

“Mental stimulation for young children is like vitamins,” says Barbara Sarnecka at the University of California, Irvine, who studies language and maths acquisition: “Enough is important, but more is not better.”

At the University of California, San Diego, David Barner notes that although US toddlers are intensely trained to count, they are quickly passed in maths skills by children in places such as Asia.

Note that in the widely respected global Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests in academic achievement, Singapore kids regularly head the rankings, with five other Asian economies – Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China – all in the top 10.

This would of course imply that Amy Chua and her famous and controversial 2011 book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, has something going for her. 

The research also shows a high price paid for ignoring social and physical accomplishments.  A study by Hong Kong’s Institute of Family Education found in 2016 that almost half of the parents with primary schoolchildren said they spend less than 7 hours a week on family time.  And here, for most educators and child development experts, is the crux. As Dimitri Christakis at the University of Washington, who heads a children’s centre at Seattle Children’s Hospital, notes: “No matter how interactive a game or show seems to be, it is not as beneficial as a live human being. The key for nutritious play is another human who interacts with you in a normal way.”

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