Reading to Babies

My grandson is 17 months old and he loves to read.  His parents read to him from the beginning.  When he was four months old, I started babysitting every week for 2 1/2 days.  After our daily morning walks, we always had reading time.  We sat in front of the bookcase on the floor where my grandson is sitting in the picture above.  Because he couldn't sit up at the time, I put him on my lap and we looked at books.

As a retired language teacher (English and English Language Development), I know that babies need to hear written language.  Because written and spoken language are different, reading to a baby is the best way to help him or her learn the English they will need in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.  When I taught writing to high school students, the most daunting task (aside from getting kids to do their homework) was to help students learn how to write differently from how they talk.  Even for native English speakers, it was like learning a new language.

Reading to babies helps them in many ways.  It helps develop imagination.  It helps babies make a connection between books and real world.  It helps them learn to focus.  And, of course, it helps them learn the sound and the grammar of the English needed for school.

Best of all reasons to read:  IT'S FUN!