As I read to my son over the first two years of his life, I often wondered how he
interpreted the words, the pictures, and my tone of voice. When he lay on my lap
at eight weeks, gazing at a bathrobe and a sandbox in Lucy Cousins' Maisy's Colors,
how did he process these images? When he chose Richard Scarry's Humperdink's Busy
Day over My First Body Board Book at 20 months, what attracted him to one and not
the other?
Literacy experts do not understand everything about how very young children's brains
interact with books, but they do know that babies and toddlers respond to different
elements of the reading experience. Here's a guide into what might be going on in
your little one's brain as you read ‘Jamberry’ one more time.
Young Babies: It's About Attitude
For newborns, reading primarily fosters relationships with caregivers and creates
positive attitudes toward books. In the first half of the first year, adults are
laying a foundation for the baby to associate reading with happiness and connection.
"Newborns really are not so much interested in the books as they're interested in
the comfort and closeness of being held and the rhythm and the intonation of their
adults' voices," says Dr. Ann Barbour, PhD, professor of early childhood education
at California State University, To promote this closeness, parents can read lullabies
or nursery rhymes while holding babies in a comfortable position, Dr. Barbour says.
Newborns tend to enjoy looking at pictures of the human face, according to Drs.
Stephen Herb and Sara Willoughby-Herb, PhDs, in their book Using Children's Books
in Preschool Settings. At this age, parents can "choose a few books that baby likes
and reread them regularly."
In addition, young infants "can really see vivid colors" and may like books that
reflect that preference, says Sherry Wong, director of product strategy at the Talaris
Research Institute in Seattle. The institute communicates research on early childhood
development to parents.
Developmentally, hearing spoken language at an early age "promotes the development
of speech centers in the brain," allowing a baby to discriminate among and recognize
different sounds, says Dr. Bob Stevens, PhD, associate professor of educational
psychology at Penn State University. This "phonemic awareness" can help kids better
understand a wide range of vocabulary words as they grow older.
However, children cannot really understand the content of books until they comprehend
oral language, according to Dr. Margaret Moustafa, PhD, professor of education at
California State University, "Until children have enough spoken language to understand
books read to them," explains Dr. Moustafa, "all they can learn from being read
to is activities associated with reading, such as how one turns pages."
Older Babies: I Think This Might Mean Something
During the second half of the first
year, children can focus more on books, partly because they are able to sit up.
"It's easier for me to read when I'm sitting or standing rather than lying down,
too," says Dr. Barbour.
As they move toward age one, children start to understand that "pictures represent
things in their environment," that a picture of a ball symbolizes a real ball, Dr.
Barbour says. Later, kids apply this connection to other symbols, such as numbers
and letters.
Tapping into this new understanding of symbols, Drs. Herb and Willoughby-Herb suggest
that a parent "point to and label something on each page" in a basic book. After
a number of times reading the same book, the parent can "encourage baby to point
to a particular item," especially something she likes.
As children approach one year they "are starting to recognize that books really
say something," Dr. Barbour says—that words tell a story and convey meaning. Dr.
Stevens calls this "print awareness" and sees it as a crucial basis for later formal
reading instruction.
Young Toddlers: I Get It!
The year of astonishing growth from age one to two brings a sense of mastery and
joy with familiar books. This age also introduces a physicality that parents can
incorporate into reading.
If "books are part of [children's] everyday experiences in their homes—they're familiar,
like toys—[kids] really just delight in being read to," says Dr. Barbour. Young
toddlers are much more interested in a book's content than they were as babies and
often treat reading as a "peek-a-boo game," wanting to know what is on the next
page, she adds.
As children begin speaking a few words, it is important to provide simple picture
books that they can label and begin to repeat back to the parent, Wong says. Later
in the second year, many toddlers also like rhyming books.
At this stage it is especially important to provide resilient board books for the
child "so that she can 'read' and turn pages independently," say Drs. Herb and Willoughby-Herb.
These authors also suggest setting up an easily accessible bookshelf or other area
so the child "can find her own books and put them away," contributing to a sense
of accomplishment in reading.
Given young toddlers' fascination with moving around, what should parents do to
keep them interested while reading? Most important, experts say, is to follow the
child's cues and not force the issue.
"Maybe the worst thing the parents can do is say, 'It's reading time,'" and march
through the book page by page until they finish, says Wong. Instead, just keep reading
while the child moves around. "They can be walking around the room, they can be
crawling around the floor—you're still telling a story," Wong says. Reading at this
age continues to be about associating books with pleasure and relationships, not
about sitting absolutely quietly.
There are books out there for every child, "even the little people who hustle about
and really don't sit still," says Dr. Herb, who is director of the Pennsylvania
Center for the Book at Penn State University. He also suggests taking advantage
of natural "pin-down" times to read, such as highchair feeding or bedtime.
Two and Beyond: Interaction Is It
As they begin to talk, children transition from labeling pictures to having a dialogue
with books. At this time, it is especially crucial to "follow their interests,"
says Dr. Moustafa, such as the moon or trucks or even car exhaust pipes. As parents
talk with their children about a passion, these conversations help create children's
"'schemas,' or knowledge of the world," Dr. Moustafa says, allowing kids to make
more sense of the subject.
Also key is to discuss stories with kids and make sure they understand the language
and the meaning. "It is OK to focus on words," such as, "Do you know what gigantic
means?" and then talk about how that word appears in the story, says Dr. Stevens.
More generally, parents can read "in a way that enables the child to comprehend
the story," says Dr. Moustafa. "This could mean anticipating comprehension problems
or responding to the child's questions." If a parent simply reads through a story
in lockstep, without stopping for questions or checking to see if a child understands,
the child might physically remove herself from the room in frustration, Dr. Moustafa
says.
At Any Age: Follow Your Child's Lead
During all stages of pre-reading development, parents can do the best for their
children by noticing and responding to their cues, such as preferences for certain
books and the desire to sit still or move around while reading. Parents will then
"set the stage for children wanting to read," Dr. Barbour says, and make reading
part of everyday life.
By reading to their children frequently in this interactive and nurturing way, parents
will also help kids develop skills that will help them in school, especially the
ability to focus. "You can teach kids about phonemes, but if they can't pay attention
long enough to sound out a word, to see how print flows on the page," Wong says,
"then all the techniques in the world aren't going to help."
However, literacy experts strongly caution parents against trying to teach formal
reading skills to young children—rather, parents should focus on building relationships.
Above all, parents should have a light touch when reading aloud to infants and toddlers.
"The key word in all of this is play," Dr. Herb says. "If you treat prereading activities
as playful, language as play . . . it's much more likely you'll have a highly literate
and early literate child."
Sarah Cooper is a writer and middle school history teacher whose columns and features
have appeared in a variety of magazines, websites, and newspapers. She lives with
her husband and young son in Pasadena, California. This article is kindly provided
by:
