Reading to infants helps language development: study
Categories: Just For Moms, Babies, Toddlers, Fun & Activities, That's Entertainment
Every night before bed, I read Nolan Baby's Busy World. This in itself is not absurd, he is nearly 11 months old and starting to say "Mamama" and recognize words like "dog" and "kitty". What is perhaps absurd is the fact that I've been reading to Nolan since he was about 1 month old. He probably had no idea what I was blathering on about, but he never seemed to mind sitting with me and watching my lips move as I'd mimic animal and fire truck noises.Well, maybe 1 month old is a tad early, but I feel vindicated by this new study that shows relations between reading to children and very early cognitive development. The study measured reading to children under the age of 3, and concluded that mothers who started reading to their children at an early age had toddlers with better language comprehension; larger, more expressive vocabularies; and higher cognitive scores by age 2.
To me, that's an excellent side benefit, but I am just hopeful that some of my passion for reading will rub off on Nolan. I really believe that there's very few pleasures in life greater than sinking into a new delicious book, escaping to a parallel world for just a little while. Also, the smell of my baby's sweet head leaning into the crook of my neck as I quack like a duck and read to him is also a pretty nice benefit.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ginny 7-14-2006 @ 2:06PM
I have also read to my two since they were born. I made notes in the books that I read to them and the dates, early on. I still read to them every night before bed. We go pick out 35 books at a time from the library and depending on their lengths, we get through 2 or 3 books a night. For the first couple years tho, they wanted me to read Curious George EVERY NIGHT, so I am glad I convinced them to let me read some new stuff every now and then. I keep waiting for it to be evident that it helped. I guess I'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, we'll keep reading.
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Michelle 7-14-2006 @ 2:41PM
I too have been reading to my daughter since she was a baby. I frequently see evidence that it increased her vocabulary, and her teachers have often commented on how maturely she speaks. One example was when she was about 2 we read a book that talked about "insects". Two days later she was watching some ants and when I asked her what she was doing she replied "looking at the insects." Before that, she would have called them bugs, and I probably wouldn't have thought on my own to introduce the word "insect". But that is what is so great about books, they use words that we wouldn't use in normal conversation.
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Tami 7-14-2006 @ 3:11PM
We have been reading to our boys since they were born. It is such an integral part of our day. We have a large bag of books in the playroom, a couple of bookshelves up near their rooms and then the trips to the library to get more books. We have also noticed that our oldest son (3 years) is far ahead in his vocabulary skills. My husband and I are both big readers, so it was definitely a passion we wanted to instill in our children.
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Anita 7-14-2006 @ 4:45PM
I've always been a firm believer in reading to my children. I love reading and grew up without a TV in the house so I decided to raise my children the same way. I started reading to my daugther when she was a few months old and although she did not talk early (first words at 15 months)once she started, she spoke clearly and well. By 2 she was speaking in paragraphs, knew all her colors, shapes, numbers to 10 and ABC's. Now she is 6 and reading at a 5th grade level. I am convinced that being read to so early and often helped her progress to where she is today.
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