When Is The Best Time To Begin Reading To The Babies?

Reading is the best way to bond with the child and to spend time together.

During the story time session, babies minds work and take in all the language they hear. It boosts brain development.

As you read to the child, they are not just having fun, they are learning as well.

There are several benefits to reading, which are as follows.

Reading is a great opportunity for the child and the parent to bond.

Research shows how reading can help develop a parent-child relationship.⁽¹⁾ Children feel secure when they are read to, plus they develop a positive attitude towards literacy.

It is said by experts that children must acquire listening skills before they start reading themselves.

Other than reading you can also make them listen to a book on tape. It provides entertainment with silly voices, music, and other embellishments.

Even a very young child benefits from hearing what their caregivers are reading to them. Research showed babies who are read to or are talked with more scored higher in language skills and cognitive development like problem-solving.⁽²⁾

Verbal interaction between parents and the child promotes higher language and IQ scores up to the age of 14 years.⁽³⁾

Reading books to kids expand the number and variety of words that a child uses.⁽⁴⁾ There would be words that otherwise do not come in daily conversations.

It makes you add different adjectives and use specific names for different animals or plants. This adds up to the vocabulary building process.

Study shows, children who are read to regularly are exposed to more words than children who aren’t read to in 5 years to kindergarten age.⁽⁵⁾

Reading helps children to develop concentration and self-discipline skills.

You may notice, when you start reading the child is distracted. Regular reading gets the child listening in order to comprehend what they hear.

There are numerous non-fiction books on different animals, objects, and different types of tales that go beyond the real world.

The child goes into a fantasy element and makes them think outside the box. Children already have a vivid imagination. Reading to them further feeds to their creativity.

Kids especially enjoy books that feature children their own age, doing what they do in everyday life.

Reading books provide an opportunity to talk about the real world according to their age. Books on targeted subjects may help children not feel alone while dealing with something new such as going to a new country, or something potentially uncomfortable such as going to a dentist.

Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and even children of older age benefit when they are read to. There is no age. You can begin today.

Books for children can be brought from a local library.

Children less than 6 months of age benefit from books that have simple but bold and bright images. Talk to them while showing them these pictures.

For a 7-12 months toddler, you can get a book with simple phrases or just a line about the picture on the page.

Children of 12-18 months, find books with pictures of other children doing their everyday things interesting. Other options of books can be those with animals, television characters, or familiar scenes. The books can be more detailed and can have a simple story or progression of events.

As the child babble, involve them more in describing what they see on the page.

Look for books that have hardcover (board books) made of fabric or vinyl.

Also, when the children learn to read themselves, do not stop reading to them. Independent reading is certainly important. Reading aloud to a child even 14 years of age benefits him both academically and emotionally.

When reading to a child, enjoy the story, instead of trying to teach them. If you read to your child, when he reads he’ll eventually make a connection between sound and words and letters.

Teaching him to enjoy reading is a valuable lesson in itself.