Teaching your baby to read

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING YOUR BABY TO READ

Like thousands of other parents all over the world, your initial impression may be one of skepticism. But what many don't realize is to teach babies to read successfully is not only possible, it is highly likely - in fact, teaching your baby reading is much faster earlier in life than later, as her cognitive development is strongest in her first three years of life!

If you've never encountered babies reading before, you probably have doubts about whether this is something you'd like to do with your baby. So to help you with your making your decision to go on the exciting adventure of teaching your child to read, we're here to give you some answers to the most basic questions you might have.

Question: CAN BABIES REALLY LEARN TO READ?
Answer: YES, babies most certainly can!

If the idea of babies reading seems far-fetched to you, check out the Baby Reading Videos page, where you can see videos of babies reading, most of them at the age of 12 months. Among them is a video of Felicity, the daughter of BrillKids founder KL, showing her reading words at the tender age of one.

Q: WHY SHOULD I TEACH MY BABY TO READ?
A: Children who learn to read in their first few years of life experience long-term gains in reading ability as well as other spheres of life.

If you think babies are too young to learn to read, or can see no conceivable reason for teaching a baby to read, you might be interested in the article Why Teach Reading Early? Also, because teaching your baby reading is one of the best ways to enable your child to begin learning independently, we encourage parents to start to teach reading at such a crucial stage in baby development.

Giving your baby reading opportunities stimulates your child's brain, helping to develop the proper neural circuitry for reading. If you teach reading to your baby, you improve her chances in excelling later in life.


Q: SHOULDN'T I TEACH THE ALPHABET FIRST?
Babies can learn to read whole words without knowing the letters of the alphabet. However, children need to learn phonics in order to progress to phonetic reading (sounding out words).

Some people think it's harmful for children to learn to read whole words. We believe that it is beneficial to learn to read as young as possible, and that so long as children learn phonics before they start school, they will be fluent readers. For more on this debate, go to Whole Language Vs Phonics.

Q: BUT WHAT IF MY BABY DOESN'T ENJOY HIS READING LESSONS?
A: Stop his reading lessons for the meantime, and take them up again when he is more receptive.

Step back, and look at what you're doing. The cardinal rule of teaching babies is to keep it fun. The point of teaching is not to achieve certain targets, but rather to give your baby the opportunity to learn to read at the age when it is easiest for her to do so.

Most likely, one of the methods of learning to read will appeal to your child and naturally become integrated into your daily routine. When that happens, the learning process will be fun and effortless, as well as a great chance for parent-child bonding.