Teaching Your Baby to Read

Reading to your baby? Does a baby even understand what is being read? Well, the answer is: yes! You see babies are a lot smarter than we can imagine. From the moment of the birth, babies learn how to adapt to their atmosphere like crying when hungry or fussy when clothing is put on them. As they begin to age, your child begins to absorb tons of information, and carry out unexpected things you never thought that they could do.

The main way they can obtain that knowledge is by reading. Reading to and with your baby stimulates their visual capacity and helps them understand words even if their unable to state them verbally. Not only does reading help with the development of your child, but it also can serve a great bonding experience you will always cherish. When starting out find books with visual stimulation (lots of pictures, colors) also try books with different textures. Each child is unique...some may prefer books with more texture others more pictures. Try a little of every type of book and see what your little one likes most.

Here are some tips and types of books you should get for your child.

 

• Use sturdy board books try to avoid paper. Get books that your baby can hold themselves and look at.

• Talk about and describe the pictures you see in the books.

• Sing the words instead of reading them to keep them interested.

• Use books with flaps that hide illustrations, play peek-a-boo with the pictures behind the flaps.

• Read texture books that your baby can touch and feel.

While reading, your child can see you to employ many various emotions and expressive noises, which stimulates and helps teach good communication skills and helps with development. Reading also invites your baby to look at, analyze, move, and touch, which helps aid and support social development. You will begin to notice your baby develops qualifications of thought by noises and imitation of words reiterated and identification of the images.

An important thing to remember before getting ready to read with your baby is make sure he/she is comfortable. Try to make sure that your baby is not hungry or tired before you try reading to them. You will want your baby to be alert and happy while you sit and read together. Sometimes your baby cannot sit still long enough to read, but don’t worry they maintain the information in their memory like a sponge even if you don’t get through the whole book. So don’t give up! Keep trying it and you will be rewarded…..Once they can speak, they will open up that sponge like memory and use a vocabulary you didn’t know they had. So start reading to your baby as often as you can. Open your child to not just reading and verbal development, but open their imagination as well.

Jamie Starr

www.baby-skim.com

 

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