How Early Exposure to Books Shapes Children’s Language Development

bailey olis

As a new parent you may be all caught up in the whirlwinds of a new routine, making sure your baby is healthy, or finding out your child’s likes and dislikes. As you lay your child down to rest, you may soothe them by singing a lullaby or turning on a sound machine in a dark room. But have you ever thought about reading to your right from the beginning? Reading to your child, as well as talking about your day-to-day life can be very crucial for your child’s speech development, as well as their future reading skills. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website, “The first 3 years of life, when the brain is developing and maturing, is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills.” Although your child will be unable to comprehend large amounts of texts, reading together early on can be as simple as reading a classic cardboard book with simple drawings or images.

Reading to your child has shown to increase their vocabulary.

The Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center says to use new vocabulary words when communicating with your child. When reading to your child, point out special pictures, or words you feel your child may be unfamiliar with. For example, when reading an animal book, point out the giraffe on the page. Overtime, your child will associate words with images, and words they can see. When you are introducing new vocabulary to your child, it is important to speak slowly. Speaking slow will allow your child to watch your mouth while pronouncing each letter sound, or phoneme.

From an early age, it may be challenging to get your child involved in their reading.

You could start by asking your child to read the stop sign in your neighborhood. Over time, your child should recognize that the bright red octagon on the corner says ‘STOP’. As your child ages, you can have them read to you. This is a great way for your child to interact with the text and leave room for mistakes. It is important for children to encounter productive struggle when learning how to read. This will provoke them to discover new words, and letter sounds. When your child begins to read to you, allow them to make a mistake while reading, but gently acknowledge the word or words they may have skipped or mispronounced. You could say, “Lets read this page again!”. Not only will this create a habit for your child to understand each word, but also an in for you to aid them in their pronunciation of new terms.

You may feel overwhelmed with the new routine of being a first-time parent, but reading can be implemented in a routine at any time that works for you. This may be reading to your infant or toddler as you’re winding down for the night, and about to lay them down for bed. You can also read to them during tummy time, or snack time. A fun way to get your toddler involved int their reading, is to have snacks that may go along with the story. If you are reading a book about the ocean, maybe provide crackers that are shaped like sea creatures. Your child may notice that their snack coincides with the story. This will get them involved and excited to read and it is also a great way to introduce new vocabulary terms.

Resources
ECLKC - Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2024, February 15).Read it again! benefits of reading to young children. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/publication/read-it-again-benefits-reading-young-children
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2024). Speech and language developmental milestones.
National Institute of Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/speech-and-language