The Gift of Words –Books give the gift of learning

The Gift of Words –Books give the gift of learning

Infant brain research indicates unequivocally the benefits of reading to your infant and toddler. Very young babies have excellent hearing as compared to vision and will typically relax when talked to and read to quietly and slowly in a soothing tone by their mom or dad. They prefer familiar voices and recognize the voice of their own mom and dad from birth.

Babies who are read to from the early months have better attention spans and better language development. You should begin reading with your baby at least once a day from the time he or she is born to help build the habit of listening. Be sure to read when there are no other noises around such as television or talk radio which interfere with baby’s ability to focus on just your voice and your words.

It is important to have books which baby can handle and manipulate without the worry of ripping paper pages. Infant books usually have just a line or two of text and just a few pages because babies tend to have a fairly short attention span and need frequent changes to remain interested. You can help by changing your voice or by bouncing or rocking the baby gently in time with your voice. Rhyming books often have a rhythmic verse which helps baby to learn more about the “music of language."

Pages that have some texture and activities draw the attention of older infants who just want to feel and manipulate everything that they see. Using hands and eyes together as mom or dad talk about what baby is seeing on the page helps the infant to begin to understand that pictures have meaning.

When you begin reading to your infant on a regular basis, the baby forms the habit of listening to your voice and sitting calmly, cuddling while you enjoy the book together. The association between cuddling, relaxation and listening lasts and translates into pleasure from learning together.

Gifts of books and how to use them at different ages:

Very young infants should have soft, cloth books with gentle rhymes. Read slowly and rhythmically with a soothing voice at bedtime. Rocking or swaying in time with your voice also helps babies to relax and recognize words more easily

Babies from 6-12 months will enjoy looking at the book as you read with them. Cloth books with activities on each page are most attractive at this age. Point to pictures, change your voice, encourage them to touch the pages and manipulate the activities on the pages to build an enjoyment of books. Talk slowly to them about what they are doing as they do it as well as reading what is written on the page. Read every night at bedtime to build the habit of reading.

Babies from 12 months to 18 months often want to be moving around more than sitting down and would be most likely to listen to books when you have gotten them in the habit of reading at bedtime as part of your bedtime routine. Books with bright pictures, activities and fun rhythms and rhymes keep their interest at this age. You should also build in a reading time several times during the day, turning off the television and radio so that your child can really listen

Babies from 18 months to 3 will really enjoy silly books when you are dramatic in your words. They will love it when you talk in different voices for different characters. Encourage them to answer a question about what you are looking at as well as just listening to the words. Some babies will listen to a sentence or two on a page and some will prefer to find a picture on the page when you name it rather than listening to the entire story. Again, time your reading to help calm your child by doing it at bedtime or quiet/naptime.