Encouraging Your Baby to read
- Recite nursery rhymes and sing songs to your newborn. Early infancy is a good time to begin reciting nursery rhymes and singing rhyming songs. She will feel comforted by the rhythmic sounds of rhymes and songs and feel a close connection to you as you sing and talk to her.
- You can introduce books to your baby at around 4 months. At this stage, babies become interested in objects. Because babies explore by touching, grabbing, and shaking, buy sturdy books that lend themselves to such use. Early on, vinyl and cloth books are easy to chew. At the age of 6 months, board books are ideal because your baby is able to get his small fingers between the thick pages and experiment with turning them.
- When you read, point out the pictures. Although you can read the story, most babies will be more interested in looking at the pictures and turning the pages than in hearing you read a story. Even older babies may be more interested in asking, “What’s that?” to pictures in a book than in hearing an entire story. Don’t worry if your baby loses interest before you look at all the pages. Reading a little bit on a regular basis is more important than reading for extended periods of time.
- Around your baby’s first birthday, establish a regular reading routine. At this age, many babies will enjoy looking at a specific book that has been read over and over, whether it be Pretty Brown Face or Pat the Bunny. Making a habit of reading together is one of the best ways to encourage a lifelong love of reading. And, babies can go the library and enjoy story hour!
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