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 Book Overview |
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Praise for Every Word Counts
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Passages: First Years
News and tips for parents of kids 0-2 years old.
BY S. DANYELLE KNIGHT
Published: July, 2008, Orange County Magazine
Baby talk. Reading to your little one increases literacy. We've all heard it said that a baby's mind is like a sponge. It is truly amazing that a 3-year-old will learn more in those first crucial years than he will in all the subsequent years of his life - even if he lives to be 100! Good habits (and bad ones) get started early, when our babies' brains are still malleable. There's plenty of research out there in the scientific community and your own neighborhoods that proves moms and dads who start reading to their children as early as infancy jump-start their children's literacy and language skills.
"Babies learn phonetic awareness (the ability to perceive individual sounds in the stream of speech) in the first eight to 10 months," according to the authors of "Baby Read Aloud Basics." By 18 months, they may already understand an average of 50 words. After age 2, babies acquire vocabulary at an awesome rate (about eight to 10 words a day). By age 6, a child understands about 13,000 words.
Caroline Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirez, both certified Reading Recovery teachers, have a combined 50 years of experience helping children with reading difficulties. In their book and on their Web site (readtoyourbaby.com), they demonstrate the benefits of reading to your child and provide strategies for making storytime fun, as well as educational.
Babies respond best to books when they are content (full belly, clean diaper) and when they are in a quiet, calm environment. Nursery rhymes and short rhyming stories are perfect for little listeners. Use an expressive singsong voice, and don't worry about reading the same story over and over - repeated readings are good for your baby's language development.
In between diaper changes and late-night feedings, it seems there is precious little time for bonding over a good book. Don't feel like you need to dedicate hours to reading; in fact, if your baby can sit still for five minutes, you're doing great. Turn off the TV, reach for Dr. Seuss and snuggle with your baby - it's one of the smartest things you can do for your child's future literacy.
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Caroline is available for talks about the importance of reading to babies. She also contributes to on-line magazines on the subject of language and literacy development.
