Reading

Babies reading? Like many people, your initial reaction may be one of skepticism. But not only is it possible to teach your baby to read, it’s also easy to do (easier than if you wait until your child is five or six years old). More importantly, your baby will love it!

If you’ve never encountered babies reading before, you probably have some questions and doubts about whether this is something you’d like to do with your own baby. We hope to have answered most of your questions here. If there’s anything you’d like to ask or discuss, we’d love to hear from you in the Forum.

“I don’t believe it!”

If the idea of babies reading seems far-fetched to you, check out the Baby Reading Videos page, where you can see Felicity reading at the age of 12 months. Another good example of a baby reading – 17-month-old Elizabeth Barrett – is mentioned on the Editor’s blog. You can also find videos of babies reading on YouTube.

Why teach babies to read?

If you think babies are too young to learn to read, or can see no conceivable benefits to teaching babies to read, you might be interested in the article Why Teach Reading Early? Although teaching babies to read is fun, that isn’t the only reason we do it. Children who learn to read in their first few years of life experience lifelong gains in reading ability as well as other spheres of life.

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.

What if my baby doesn’t enjoy reading?

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, effortless, and a great chance for parent-child bonding.

What are the learning methods for babies?

Your baby will not learn to read simply by you reading books to him. You need to start more simply – with single words, and frequent lessons of short duration. How you present them is up to you. Some techniques to consider are the flash card method and multisensory method. You can get an overview of various mediums of reading instruction in Reading Tools.

We hope you enjoy this exciting learning journey with your child. If you have a reading video to share with us, . Your submission could end up on the BrillBaby site!