The importance of reading to your baby
There is magic inside of books. Reading to your baby is not only a great way to bond with your little one, but also important for her future imagination and development.
Your baby is never too young to learn an appreciation for reading and books. In fact, research shows several benefits of creating a bedtime story ritual with your infant. A study presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting found reading to a baby as young as six months leads to stronger vocabulary skills and better early literacy skills at the age of four.
“Even though children may not be talking yet, it doesn’t mean they’re not learning,” said the lead author of the study, developmental psychologist Carolyn Cates, a research assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at NYU Langone Medical Centre in the US.
The study also found both the quality and quantity of books being read during the infant and toddler years predicted early literacy skills, such as name writing, beginning sound awareness, and early reading skills.
Read the right books at the right time
Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Florida, Lisa Scott, shares in her article, For Baby’s Brain to Benefit, Read the Right Books at the Right Time. What’s on the pages is just as important as the reading experience itself.
“Researchers see clear benefits of shared book reading for child development. Shared book reading with young children is good for language and cognitive development, increasing vocabulary and prereading skills and honing conceptual development,” she says. “Shared book reading also likely enhances the quality of the parent-infant relationship by encouraging reciprocal interactions – the back and forth dance between infants. Certainly not least of all, it gives infants and parents a consistent daily time to cuddle.”
Both Scott and Cates agree the more books you read to your baby, the greater the developments in your preschool child. Not only does this improve language, vocabulary, reading, and writing skills, but it helps develop a healthy imagination too. This topic has been the subject of many studies conducted by Scott and her team.
Perceptual and conceptual development
One of Scott’s studies, funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the journal Child Development, found picture books with characters and labels, rather than generic labels, were best for infants. Scott adds that the findings suggest, “Very young infants can use labels to learn about the world around them, and shared book reading is an effective tool for supporting development in the first year of life.”
Scott’s research found that naming objects and people influences both perceptual and conceptual development during the first year of life, which allows your baby to make connections between words and items in their environment. The specific words used to label faces or objects help influence visual and neural processing immediately and later in childhood.
Read age-appropriate books
Not all books are created equal, and it’s important to read age-appropriate books to your baby. In other words, you need to read the right books at the right time to get the best benefits. For infants, finding books that name different characters may lead to higher-quality shared book reading experiences and result in the learning and brain development benefits we find in our studies. All infants are unique, so parents should find books that interest their baby.
Scott adds, “Books that include named characters may increase the amount of parent talking. We know talking to babies is important for their development, so if you’re the infant’s parent, make book reading part of your daily routine and name the characters in the books you read. Talk to your babies early and often to guide them through their amazing new world and let storytime help.”
