Why You Need To Start Reading to Your Baby Today
You’ve probably heard a lot of parenting advice, such as the benefits of sleep training newborn babies. Well, this next bit has science to back it up. If you have an infant, you should start reading aloud as soon as possible.
Is It Necessary To Read to Your Baby?
Depending on babies’ ages, they may not understand what you’re saying or what a book is. However, that doesn’t affect the many benefits they receive. In fact, reading aloud to infants helps them learn enough to make sense of the activity.
How Reading Can Help Your Baby in the Long Run
Babies soak up language like a sponge, and research shows that the more words children hear before school, the better prepared they are for learning. The subjects don’t have to be educational, either — fun and even silly stories offer a wide range of benefits.
Enhances Memory
The brain is like a muscle — the more it’s used, the stronger it gets. Reading to babies exposes them to new ideas, and the more you do so, the more they remember each time.
Improves Cognitive Skills
Books for children are specifically designed to stimulate the brain. Parents can increase the effect by talking to babies as they read and asking questions. Even if your kids don’t understand at first, they’ll learn to use context clues to make predictions, a valuable skill when they reach school.
Stimulates Language Learning
Reading provides context for words you don’t use every day. Babies have a huge capacity for language, and the more diverse the vocabulary they hear, the more solid their language foundation becomes.
Provides Information About the World
Books introduce key ideas to infants:
- Colors
- Shapes
- Seasons
- Emotions
Reading books on various subjects can nurture curiosity and help children learn more about the world.
Helps You Bond
A Wellements baby knows the world is a safe place. Parents create this sense of safety by providing for infants’ needs, including emotional ones. Engaging with your baby during storytime creates a loving bond between parent and child, one they’ll remember subconsciously even as adults.
What You Should Read
Finding an appropriate book for your kids is incredibly easy since most bookstores and libraries organize reading material by age. Children under six months use their hands and mouths to explore, so you should look for tomes with laminated cardboard pages that can withstand teething. Kids this age also love textures, so books with small patches of textured material are sure to pique their interest.
As babies grow, you can move on to nursery rhymes, fairy tales and more complicated narratives. Children like to hear beloved stories repeatedly, so don’t be surprised if you read the same bedtime story every night for months.
Just as you use baby health products to safeguard your children’s physical well-being, you can use reading to nurture their emotional and mental wellness. Creating the habit early means kids will look forward to reading and develop a love of stories. When they open a book by themselves, they’ll feel safe and excited to learn.
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