One Minute Mama - Read to your Baby Every Day
One Minute Mama – Read to your Baby Every Day
If you could learn a secret about how to get your baby off to the best academic start possible, wouldn’t you want to try it? This particular technique doesn’t cost any money provided that you have some children’s books laying around your house. Simply put, it’s never too early to start reading to your baby. Yes, reading to your child, starting with their first day of life isn’t a day too soon. Going a step further, research conducted by Rasmussen College found that in the last 10 weeks of pregnancy, babies can hear and they cognitively start their language development and speech patterns. Truly, they are listening to you even while they are preborn.
If you need some research to back up these claims, a Rhode Island Hospital study compared two groups of eight-month old babies. The first group of babies was read to since birth and the second group was not. Researchers found that the babies that were read to had developed 40% more receptive vocabulary (new words learned) verses a 16% growth of words by babies not exposed to early reading practices. This research confirms what many have supported for centuries. Below are some suggestions to get you started and some website links with more information about the studies referenced. The results are compelling and its incredibly simple to do. Just read!
Proven Plan for Early Literacy…
Read books with big pictures and colors to your child.
Read as much on each page as they will let you. If the text is too long paraphrase to finish the book.
Children love rhyming patterns in their books, mix these into your book repertoire.
Read books as part of your routine especially before nap or bed time.
Use an actual book, not an electronic book, so the children have something to hold and touch.
Texture books are another great way to engage your child with different textile feels while reading.
Access the library and check out as many different books as you are allowed, to expose your child to new words and stories.
For more information on reading out loud to your baby, please click on any of the links below.
https://www.raisesmartkid.com/all-ages/1-articles/14-the-benefits-of-reading-to-your-child
https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/benefits-of-reading-to-children/
https://www.rif.org/sites/default/files/Support_Materials/ReadingAloud.pdf