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How to Raise a Reader
You can't start the reading habit too early. At 3 to 6 months, your baby will be more interested in chewing her board books, but by the end of her first year, she'll probably pick out favorites.
What They LearnWhen you turn pages with your baby in your arms, she'll associate books with snuggling. "As an infant, she's learning to value books because it means she gets to cuddle with her mom or dad," says Dr. Acredolo. But most important, reading to a young baby ultimately helps her learn to talk. She begins to connect pictures with words. At 9 months, she'll be able to home in on your tone of voice, cadence, and the length of sentences. "Parents help a baby learn language by speaking to her often, with varied vocabulary and about topics she finds interesting," says Parents advisor Kathleen McCartney, PhD, professor of early-childhood development at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Make Reading Fun- Go for the right touch (and taste!). Babies learn through their senses, so buy cardboard or cloth books that they can put in their mouth.
- Face it. Infants love looking at pictures of faces, especially those of other babies.
- Be silly. Is there a phone in the story? Say, "Ring, ring. Hello? I'm sorry Olivia can't take your call; she's in a meeting."
- Point out things in the real world. When you're taking a walk, talk about stuff you've read about in books. "See the doggie?" This will help her begin to associate the word "dog" with her picture book and the live creature in front of her.
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Reading to and providing stimulating information for your preschooler is key to getting them engaged with reading and the alphabet early on. Lovetoread.com provides some tools to help you engage your child through creative characters and fun type.
8/30/2010 11:23:56 AM Report AbuseColor Bears is a high contrast board book that grows with the child. Each spread contains a bold bear graphic, simple text and color lesson as well as a high contrast page for the 3- 6 mos. old infant. The book grows with the child. Aids in developing memory and encourages reading skills. Approved by early education experts. Available on Amazon.
5/14/2010 07:25:18 AM Report AbuseColor is a high contrast board book that grows with the child. Each spread contains a bold bear graphic, simple text and color lesson as well as a high contrast page for the 3- 6 mos. old infant. The book grows with the child. Aids in developing memory and encourages reading skills. Approved by early education experts. Available on Amazon.
5/14/2010 07:23:52 AM Report AbuseI started the Your Baby Can Read series with my 2 year old daughter in the last month and it's been working, I see improvements in her ability to memorize the words and what they represent. I found a site that lets me download the volumes as I need them.They only have the Starter Set so far.The site actually helps poor children as well, which is great. I recommend it, EssentialEmblems.com, its under child development.
1/15/2010 12:27:58 PM Report AbuseHi! I'm a pediatrician at the Philippine General Hospital and I have a 1 year old daughter and I basically do the stuff that you mentioned above and it's true that they learn to talk and associate things early when you talk and read with them. And it's really fun spending that time with them =)
11/1/2009 12:01:47 PM Report Abuse