The Benefits of Reading to Your Baby

You may wonder if it really matters if you read to your baby; after all, your baby has no idea how to follow along with a story. Well, it DOES make a difference, and the sooner, the better!

· Clearly your baby can’t understand what you’re doing or why, when you read to him or her; but would you wait until your child could understand what you were saying before you started speaking to him or her?

· Would you skip singing lullabies to your baby until he or she could carry a tune?

· Would you wait until your baby could shake a rattle before you offered any toys? No!

· At birth, a baby’s brain can do a lot, especially what it needs to keep the body running properly, but it is not fully developed. The more the senses are stimulated, the more quickly the rest of a baby’s brain will develop. Reading aloud to your baby is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come – and it’s an important form of stimulation.

· Reading aloud teaches your baby about communication.

· Reading aloud introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way.

· Reading aloud builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills.

· Reading aloud gives babies information about the world around them.

· Believe it or not, by the time your baby is 1, he or she will have learned all the sounds needed to speak your native language; the more stories you read aloud, the more words your child will be exposed to and the better he or she will be able to talk.

· Hearing words helps to imprint them on a baby’s brain.

· When reading, your child hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters communication and emotional development. Reading also invites your baby to look, point, touch and answer questions – all of which promote social development.

· Your baby develops thinking skills by imitating sounds or repetitive words and recognizing images.

· But perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that you are helping make a connection between the things your baby loves the most – your voice and closeness to you – and books. Spending time reading to your baby shows that reading is a skill worth learning.

· All official research shows that the early years involve the highest rates of learning, and the habits formed at a young age will stay with them for a lifetime.

· In this day and age of hectic lives and busy schedules, reading together is a simple and enjoyable way for parents to take time out and focus on the family. Young children need lots of special, dedicated time with their loved ones.

· Reading to your child is a wonderful bonding experience that fosters meaningful one-on-one communication.

· Reading to your child shows in no uncertain terms that he or she is important to you.

· It molds your child into becoming a reader, and raising a reader significantly increases your child’s potential for academic success as well as lifelong success in general.

· It helps your child master language development.

· It’s FUN!

Libraries

While you can receive free books throughout the year from Norwalk Reads!, get to know your library. We have four in town: The Norwalk Public Library on Belden Ave, the East Norwalk Library on Van Zant Street, the South Norwalk Branch Library on Washington Street, and the Rowayton Library on Highland Ave.

Get in the habit of visiting the library regularly – in the summer it’s air-conditioned! They have regularly scheduled programs – look into it – find out!

SOURCES

HTTP://kidshealth.org / www.thekidswindow.co.uk/childbooks/benefits-ofreading.htm