Stage 1: I Can Hear You!
This Stage starts as early as 4 months. Exposing your child to all kinds of experiences is so important. Start talking with your child even though they show no outward signs of understanding you. Make a habit to point at and describe all sorts of things. As your child starts reacting to your words, begin mixing in questions for your child to respond to.
When your child begins to understand that objects have properties, start pointing out properties that make things similar or different. These properties are also useful for playing with patterns. Finally, start describing shapes in terms of their many properties