When Can We Start Reading To Our Child?

Cultivating the habits of reading to our child aids in his future development in language skills, hence should start as early as our child is born. When a child learns to read, he is acquiring other important skills such as the ability to express himsef, his needs; building his confidence and self-esteem, etc.. By reading to our child at their young age, we are also teaching them the connection between words and expressions (feelings), as well as expanding their vocabulary.


Reading aloud to our baby is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come — and it's an important form of stimulation.

Reading aloud:
--> teaches a baby about communication
--> introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way
--> builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills
--> gives babies information about the world around them


The more we read stories aloud to our child, the more words our child will be exposed to and the better he or she will be able to talk. Hearing words helps to imprint them on a baby's brain. Kids whose parents frequently talk/read to them know more words by age 2 than children who have not been read to.


When reading, our child hears us using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters social and emotional development. Reading also invites our baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions — all of which promote social development and thinking skills. And our baby improves language skills by imitating sounds, recognizing images, and learning words.

Young babies may not know what the images in a book mean, but they can focus on them, especially faces, bright colors, and contrasting patterns. Read or sing lullabies and nursery rhymes to interest and soothe your infant.

Between 4 and 6 months, your baby may begin to show more interest in books. He or she will grab and hold books, but will mouth, chew, and drop them as well. Choose sturdy vinyl or cloth books with bright colors and repetitive or rhyming text.

Between 6 and 12 months, our child is beginning to understand that pictures represent objects, and most likely will develop preferences for certain pictures, pages, or even entire stories. Our baby will respond while you read, grabbing for the book and making sounds, and by 12 months he will turn pages (with some help from us), pat or start to point to objects on a page, and repeat our sounds.

There is never a time too early to kickstart the learnings for a child but do not forget that learning should be a fun time for them and not a forceful one.

Tips: One of the best ways you can ensure that your little one grows up to be a reader is to have books around your house. When your baby is old enough to crawl over to a basket of toys and pick one out, make sure some books are included in the mix.

**HAPPY READING**