Child-Central.com reports that the ideal time to teach your child how to read is while he is still a baby (between 3 to 23 months old). This is because babies can learn how to read more quickly when they are younger. Learning how to read as a baby helps your child enjoy school more when he does attend, and it increases his self-esteem.
Read to Your Baby
Read to your children regularly (a couple times each day) from the time of birth. Books can introduce babies to new words and encourage them to connect written words with concepts and sounds they already know.
Play Games
Use coloring book pages, printed blocks, foam letters and handmade cut-outs to show new letters to your baby. Introduce each letter's most frequent sound as you read each letter to your child.
Make Handmade Note Cards
Cut poster boards into 6-by-22-inch long cards or have a copy shop cut them for you. Start with 100 sheets of poster board. You can write simple words on these note cards in large letters. Use a wide-tip marker to do so, since babies do not have perfect vision until 5 years of age. Write words your baby hears frequently, like his name, "mom" and "dad." Create as many word cards as you can imagine. Select different categories for the words such as animal names, color words or food names. Be creative.
Make small sets of five or so words according to a certain category the words fit into (such as your family, which could include "mom," "dad," your baby's name and the names of your baby's siblings, if he has any).
Do Quick Note Card Presentations
Take your baby to a quiet place in your house where there are no toys, television, music or other distractions. Sit facing him. Show your baby each of the note cards belonging to one set by quickly rattling off the names of each word. It is important to present the cards quickly because babies have very short attention spans. Do not show your baby a set of cards more than three times during a given day. Stop doing note card presentations before your baby wants you to do so (to ensure he never gets bored).
Make Learning Fun
It is important for your baby to enjoy the process of learning how to read. Teach your baby how to read with a sense of playfulness. Praise him for providing you his attention. Do not try to test your baby on his reading ability. Let him demonstrate this to you when he wishes to.
References
- Child-Central: Teach Baby to Read
- "How to Teach Your Baby to Read"; Glenn Doman; 1993
