It’s OK to read to your unborn baby. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, babies can hear well before birth. But don’t count on your prenatal efforts making your baby smarter or more well read. Instead, think of these pre-birth reading times as an extended practice session for all the years you’ll be reading aloud to your child–the most important thing parents can do to encourage a lifelong interest in books, reading and learning.
The Parent Connection
Beyond time you spend reading for pleasure, reading to your baby shows that it’s something worth learning. When parents read aloud, children hear the words but also experience gestures, expressions, emotions and sounds that support social and emotional development. Reading together invites your baby to get involved–to look, touch, listen, point, imitate and answer questions–which promotes social engagement and thinking. Imitating sounds, learning words and connecting them to pictures is early formal language instruction. Reading out loud connects books and reading with what your baby loves most–being close to his parents, hearing their voices and communicating.
Language Learning
By the time a baby reaches her first birthday, she knows all the sounds she needs to master her native language or languages. Reading aloud to children gives them much richer information about the world. The more stories, words and conversations your child experiences, the richer the network of words, sounds and images in his brain. Kids whose parents frequently read to them and talk to them with intention know more words by age 2 than other children, and are more likely to learn to read easily. Reading aloud develops your child’s listening and memory skills, builds vocabulary and introduces concepts such as stories, numbers, letters, colors and shapes.
Reading Stages
Infants don’t know what pictures in a book represent, but they can see them--especially bright colors, faces and striking patterns. Lullabies and nursery rhymes may engage your baby. By age 4 to 6 months she may show great interest in books, particularly as something to grab, mouth, chew and drop. Between 6 and 12 months your baby may prefer certain pictures, pages and books. By 12 to 18 months he will start carrying his books around, and will correct you if you open a book upside down. By age 2 your toddler will be the book expert, turning pages, completing your unfinished sentences and even reciting the story.
Keep It a Kid Thing
Wanting the best for your child--even before she is born–is part of being a parent. But it’s important for parents to examine their own motives as they explore the territory between wanting the best and actually doing what’s best for your child. Doctors and child development experts worry about trends such as reading to or playing classical music for fetuses if they represent very early pushy parenting. Placing too much emphasis on early achievement and accomplishment can rob a child of childhood. Turning the womb into a classroom may even disrupt normal development rather than enhance it.
