December 2004 Issue
Best Baby Classes
"Parent-Infant programs are a fun way to bond with your little one, boost her brainpower, and meet other new moms."

Baby Music - Moms sing with their babies, play instruments, and dance. Music classes help with language and rhythm, and they can build children's motor skills and vocabulary.

Water Babies - Water classes teach parents how to play safely with babies, 6 months and up, in a pool. Children learn water entry, face-down bubble blowing, front kicking, back floating, and underwater exploration.

Infant Massage - It shows you exactly how and where to apply pressure and how to read your baby's cues to guide the massage. Massage can calm your child and help him sleep better, and it has also been proven to help preemies gain weight.

Sign Language - Hearing parents and babies, 6 months and up, learn to sigh through songs, games, and creative play. Because it's a visual language, signing stimulates both sides of the brain at once. It promotes intellectual development and hand-eye coordination, and according to one study, even accelerates verbal-language development.

Foreign Language - Learning a second language enhances a child's awareness of her primary one. And the similarities and differences between the languages help her understand the sounds, the words, and the rules for putting sentences together.

Baby Gym - Part mommy gossip sessions and part playtime, these classes have gentle, senses-stimulating activities like parachute play, scarf dancing, group sing-alongs, and bubble blowing.