Age-by-Age Guide to Reading to Your Baby Get your child in love with reading at a very early age. The Benefits of Reading Reading is an addiction that parents should encourage well before their babys first birthday. The bonding experience is unbeatable, says Patricia Cowan, national program coordinator for Reach Out and Read, a project that gives children books during medical checkups. When you read to children, theyre getting your full attention, and thats what they just love. Nothing -- no TV show or toy -- is better than that. Reading to babies is also a great way to immerse them in the sounds and rhythms of speech, which is crucial for language development. In a study at Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, Rhode Island, 18- to 25-month-olds whose parents said they had been reading to them regularly for a year could say and understand more words than those whose parents hadnt. Its hard to prove whether such advantages last, but plenty of parents are convinced that early exposure to books makes a long-term difference, both boosting childrens language abilities and making them more eager to learn how to read. With that in mind, heres an age-by-age guide to getting your kids hooked on books. Birth to 12 Months Birth to 6 months: Since an infants vision is still developing, choose books with little or no text and big, high-contrast pictures. Also consider books with interactive stuff, such as puppets, mirrors, or peepholes, recommends Pamela High, MD, author of the Brown University reading study and a professor of pediatrics there. The more ways you both have to enjoy a book, the better. If youd like, read to your baby from grown-up books or magazines too. Comprehending the words isnt really the point with babies this young. For infants, reading is about the tone of your voice and cuddling up to you. 7 to 12 months: Halfway through their first year, babies may begin to grasp some of the words read to them, says Cosby Rogers, PhD, a professor of human development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The most meaningful words are the names and things from their everyday life -- words like doggy, mommy, daddy, milk, or bottle. Books with just one object or person per age are best; hearing you name something he recognizes reinforces your babys vocabulary and slowly helps him realize that illustrations stand for real things. Point to the pictures he shows interest in. And act out what you read with your face, hands, and voice. Let the baby babble back to you in return, suggests Dr. Rogers. This conversation helps him learn to take turns and teaches him about focusing on the same thing as someone else. One more tip: Because babies this age tend to be hard on their playthings, stick mostly to board books, which can take rough handling and even chewing. Cloth or vinyl books are good too, though turning the pages can be trickier for a baby.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:00:00 +0000
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