From the time a child is born until they are about five years old, there are major developmental milestones that will influence how they interact and how they view the world for the rest of their lives. It may seem a bit daunting, And it may seem like every single thing will get stored into their data centers, and locked in forever. This may be A bit of an exaggeration, but the things that make this ring true are an outcome of repetition. You are what you do most often. By contrast, your child absorbs what they are exposed to most often. The most important developmental milestones of the first few years are being acclimated to language and reading. The earlier one is exposed, the more likely they will perform well in school. Not only that, but their analytical skills outside of school will also be greatly affected by way of expanding their imagination into language and words. Here, we will explore the benefits and ultimate importance of reading to your child during early development.
Why Read?
The development of a baby‘s brain in the first few years is filled with discovery and rapid skill acquisition. It may not seem like they’re learning all that fast, but when you compare it to any other age group, the conscious effort of mind and body to do things such as rollover, smile, pick up objects and recognize patterns, all happen at an insanely fast pace. Getting your child used to the sound of your voice, and used to the idea that the sounds convey meaning, is a primary goal for the first three months. They might not immediately latch on to that idea, but exposure is key. Once they see you and hear you and realize that the sounds that you’re making have intent, they will start to attempt to mimic it. That is when a whole new section of the brain is activated. It’s called Broca’s area.
Brain Development
As you continue reading, and the grasp of language spreads out a bit further from the “Oooh’s and aaah’s” and expands into consonants. As you keep reading, and the mental exercise of forming the first words come in to play, the connections being made or astronomically important. From the nerves to the arching pathways going to the sides of the cerebral cortex, putting it all together is directly influenced by the simple act of introducing more words. Babies are little sponges. They always respond to more input. This is where we see a differentiation between accents and dialects. It’s in the first introductions to words in the initial attempt at making them. What they hear the most becomes “language.”
How To Start Correctly
So now that we’ve established how important reading is, we can explore the systematic means to greatly improve your baby's cognition through reading. As much as more input is ideal, an organized approach is always better than just bombardment. There are some really good programs out there geared towards families of all types and all schedules. One of the best out there is Optimized Family. If you’re curious, read the review to see if children learning reading program is right for you and your family. Basically what these online programs try to do is systematize the learning process. The end goal is to, ultimately, give your kid a literacy advantage from the start. Child and infant psychologists have long known that an early start is a key to progressing on later. If your kid can read earlier than expected, the exposure to those words and the exposure to ideas coming from text is sure to be deeply ingrained by the time they get to school.
Age Appropriate Books
When we say read to your child, we’re not saying to pick up a copy of Dostoyevsky and narrate the inner musings of a tactician. We’re talking about baby books. Age-appropriate books are important because as much as we want to think that early reading advancements correlate with the difficulty of the subject matter, this simply isn’t true. Here is a list of age groups and the kinds of books they are more likely to respond to. Basically what these online children learning reading programs try to do is systematize the learning process.
- Anything under six months, they most likely don’t know what a book is. This is the age where they’re exploring the world with touch and putting everything in their mouth. So soft books, vinyl books, and bath books with big pictures and interactive play are always the best. This is where you’re just getting your baby used to the sound of your voice. Providing pitch, songs, and various sounds of intonation are what’s important here.
- Between six months to a year, the pictures and the pretty colors become more significant. The shape of things becomes apparent, and familiar figures like trees and dogs may be recognizable. Attributing the same songs and to what’s going on in the story, the highs and lows and the emotions reflecting it, or the beginnings of establishing the idea of a narrative.
- From age 1 to 2, your child may already be familiar with the stories. He or she might even want to hear the same one over and over again. This is your chance to give different “performances“in the same story. Again, they’re more likely into the way you say the story in the actual words and content of the book. But this doesn’t mean syntax and sentence formation isn’t being integrated into their little brain.
- From age 2 to 3, your child may be able to latch onto different literary devices. This means that humor, drama, sadness, and everything in between can be properly explained and attributed to the words in the book. This is also a time where you can introduce regular paper books. Aside from just reading books to your child, this is a perfect age to introduce puzzles and “I spy” books to expand their understanding of the page even further.
Every child deserves the best they can get. The beautiful thing about this day and age is that no matter where you are, one can always have access to a book. They are programs, are used bookstores, and even international aid efforts that are always willing to help with beautiful, usable children’s books. Give your child not just the upper hand, but the language skill sets they will need to flourish.
