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Reading is a crucial skill, but it’s also a skill that can lead to endless amounts of joy, knowledge, and information.

So, how soon can you start teaching your little one how to read?  The simple answer is immediately!

Reading is an ongoing process

Learning to read doesn’t start with the words on the page.  It starts with shared conversations, hearing voices, seeing pictures.  Even tiny infants can be read to.  They won’t understand the story, but they love hearing voices, and the sound and rhythm of a voice reading aloud is often a unique experience.  As they get older, babies will respond to pictures on a page.  Older babies and toddlers will often help “read” a beloved book.  My toddler has memorized the words for certain favorite pages, and half the fun for her is shouting “Peek-a-Boo!” at the appropriate time.  Preschoolers will gradually start to pick out letters and even short words, and school-agers who read on their own will still delight in a book shared with Mom, Dad, or siblings.

The technology of reading

Because reading is so natural to us as adults, we forget that reading has certain mechanics.  When we read to our kids, they learn that books progress from front to back, left to right, and top to bottom.  Children learn how pages turn, and how certain words are associated with certain pages.  Eventually, they also learn that words and pictures are related, yet different.  For instance, my toddler seems to know that letters have names.  She can’t identify them, but she understands that the black, squiggly shapes are different than the colorful pictures.  She points at letters and announces, “M!” or “O!”  She’s rarely correct, but she has learned that pictures and letters are different things.

A positive experience

Reading together is essential.   Aside from its connection to literacy, reading together is a shared experience that allows us to slow down and savor language, art, and story.  Although there are plenty of toys, “systems,” flashcards, and videos that promise to teach your baby to read, nothing can replace the simple act of reading together with your child.  That’s not to say that I don’t use some of these tools with my children, but it’s more important to me that we read together.  In fact, children who have rich experiences with literacy (reading together, discussing books together, and access to books) tend to have much greater reading success.

So, break out the books, and enjoy them regularly with your family.

For Further Reading:

“Before They Read: Teaching Language and Literacy Development Through Conversations, Interactive Read-Alouds, and Listening Games.” Cathy Puett Miller.