How to Nurture Your Baby’s Language Skills
Nurturing your baby’s language skills is actually a delightful experience. It is also extremely important. Few other experiences with your child create as deep a bond as reading together. Snuggling up with your baby and reading out loud to them is soothing for both of you.
Start reading to your baby immediately! There are so many books and so little time. Make reading together a part of your family’s routine. Then, it is more likely they will continue to love books as they grow. Not only are they learning, but it’s fun, too.
These are the reasons that Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) Baby Class places great importance on literacy for babies. Reading a story is a part of every class as well as the musical activities that nurture language skills.
The more you read, the bigger and better their vocabulary will be!
Reading Out Loud to Your Baby Is Important
Research shows that typically:
- Reading helps develop language and cognitive skills, improves memory, and teaches communication
- Babies who were read to as newborns typically have larger vocabularies
- They are better prepared to read on their own later
- Reading out loud exposes your baby to feelings through different sounds when reading
- They learn that words have meaning and sounds mean certain things
- 0-3 month old babies will begin to focus on simple patterns such as shapes, letters, and colors
Research also shows some lesser known information:
- Babies placed in the NICU immediately after birth who were read to by their parents can develop the same feeling of intimacy and bonding as healthy newborns
- Books contain 50% more unique words than videos OR the typical conversation between two educated adults!
Nurture Your Baby’s Language Skills With a Good Read Aloud Book
The list of books for babies is LONG! So how do you find a good read aloud for your baby anyway? Here are a few things to look for when choosing a read aloud:
- if you can, choose the board book version-it will last longer
- the text should be simple, repeat itself, and about familiar situations
- sing-song or rhyming texts are perfect!
- you will notice your baby’s arms and legs moving to the rhythm of your voice reading
- clear, simple pictures against solid backgrounds
- nursery rhymes are ALWAYS appropriate-SAY and SING them!
You should be prepared to read AND re-read these books often. You may get really tired of reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” for the umpteenth time! But, your baby LOVES the repetition and LEARNS from it.
“Any skill can be acquired by constant repetition.”
Shinichi Suzuki
No Read Aloud Book Immediately Available?
No problem! If there just isn’t a book available at the moment, narrate daily activities to your baby. Tell them about the food they are eating for lunch, taking a bath, or the clothes they are going to wear. Just about any activity has a story in it! OR tell them about when you were a child and what you liked to do. Tell them about their grandparents and families.
Resources for Read Aloud Books for Your Baby
You can find some suggestions for your board book library here. I would also recommend Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. This price of this book is money well-spent. It will serve you and your child from newborn to high school.
How Do You Read Aloud to Nurture Language Skills?
First, make reading to your baby an important priority in you day. Read aloud a few minutes several times a day. All that cuddling while reading creates a sense of safety and connection for your baby.
Second, It is extremely important to realize that your baby will not understand the words your are reading at first. But, they will pick up on the rhythm, tone, and the emotion in your voice.
Third, read with expression! If there is a mama cat character talking in the story, use a “mama cat” voice. If there is a baby kitten character, then use your “baby kitten” voice. You get the idea!
Then, as your baby grows older, stop and occasionally ask questions or make comments like, “Where is the bunny? There he is! Isn’t he cute?”
Encourage your baby to LOOK, TOUCH, and ANSWER questions about the book. This will nurture their language skills.
How Important Is Reading to You?
I hope reading is an important part of your life, too. Before you had your baby, you may have read stacks of books. But as a parent, your reading material may be reduced to getting through part of a magazine. That’s OK. The important part is that your child sees you reading.
So begin your baby’s library of board books. Keep them in a basket so they will be handy to read when you have the opportunity. They will also be handy when your child begins to crawl and can get the book themselves. Then your baby will know that reading books is an important activity in your home.
Make a Plan…
This week, choose a couple fo board books from the suggested list in the post. Put them in your basket. Be ready to have special moments reading together with your baby.
On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,
Susan
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