I’m not suggesting that you give your child a copy of ‘War and Peace’ or even ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, but there has been a lot in the media recently about parents teaching 9 month olds or so to respond to flash cards and then touching the appropriate parts of the body, even at the stage when they can’t say the words clearly ( or at least do so only as clearly as the most doting of parents can understand).
The footage is amazing and both parents and children seem to be having a good time. You may or may not want to go along that route - justified by one father as being worth the effort because ‘When they go to school they don’t waste time. They can just get on with learning “real stuff”.
However learning to read is much more than about responding to flash cards. It also includes learning about some very basic things that are so automatic to us as adults that we can forget that even these have to be learnt. For example just the fact that reading can be a pleasurable experience. So read to your baby even when they are still too young to understand the story – just the pleasure of sitting with you, being given attention, hearing your voice.
I have a relative who was studying for the bar when she got pregnant so for months her baby sat happily while Mom read out such things as the laws of evidence – But Firemen Sam or Winnie the Pooh is probably a better choice. Remember how much you used to enjoy a bed time story.
Then there is the fact that in English, and of course in many other languages, books go from front to back, words from left to right and pages start at the top. Your child will pick up all these things just by watching you – especially if you follow the words with your fingers as you go. And if you point out things in pictures and then point to the word they will also begin to realise that these funny marks have meaning.
He’s too little – no he’s not. When my daughters were one year old they may not have been able to read in the conventional sense, but they knew what books were for and how they worked. Many a child enters reception class at four or five without this vital knowledge. Anyway it is fun. So however busy you are sit down with your baby every day and enjoy a book together. Your local library should have loads.
Reading is of course also about acquiring language. All those parts of the body? A baby is a great big ego. Only gradually do they learn where they stop and the rest of the world begins. But talk to your baby. Every time you get them dressed and undressed – and we all know how many times a day that can be – say things such as ‘Over your head’, ‘Your arm goes in here’ and so on. This is proper home schooling. It takes no extra time, becomes a routine and helps baby to learn. Soon he will be joining in – what more can you ask?
So whether or not you want to ‘really’ teach baby to read or not do spend time together over a book. I don’t know which of you will enjoy it more.
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