Can a Baby Read?
Can Your Baby Read?
I'm sure you've see the many infomercials and various videos showing different babies "reading", or performing tasks that seem like they are really reading. Some show babies "reading" words from flash cards while others show a baby "reading" words from a TV screen. But have you asked yourself these questions:
- Are these babies really reading? As in, do they really know how to read, or are they simply performing a memorization task?
- Do these babies really understand the mechanics behind the English language to know what makes a word sound the way it does?
- If a baby could read a word such as "Cat", will he or she be able to read "CAT"? Or if they could read "Banana", can they read "BANANA"?
- Will these babies be able to read words they've never seen before? A fluent reader will be able to sound out and decode words they've never seen before.
Asking these questions will help you distinguish between a child that can READ for real versus a baby who has merely memorized the shapes and configurations of a handful of words. Memorization of word shapes and configurations is NOT reading, please do not confuse the two. This memorization technique is very much the same as the whole word or look-and-say approach to learning to read, and it is a poor and inadequate method to teach babies to read. This whole word "memorization" method consistently produces poor readers, and studies and reports published by the National Reading Panel have consistently stated that teaching phonics and phonemic awareness to children produces far better results than whole language programs.
Taking #3 from above as an example, a child who could read understands what makes Cat sound like Cat, as it contains the 3 phonemes /C/ /A/ and /T/, which blends together to say "cat". Now, for a baby who might have memorized the word "Cat" based on its shape and configuration, they may not necessarily recognize right away that "CAT" (in all capitals) is the same word, simply because when spelt out in all upper case letters, the shape looks different than "Cat". This same child may very likely confuse the words CAT, HAT, OAT, and BAT, simply because these "shapes" are so similar. Whereas a child with phonemic awareness understands that it's the /C/ that makes CAT, and /H/ that makes the word HAT, and the /B/ that makes the word BAT. They understand the fundamental building blocks of English.
How to Teach a Baby to Read
So how do you go about teaching a baby to read? Wouldn't it be wonderful if your baby could read, as reading is arguably one of the most important skill one must master to succeed in life. Poor reading and lack of literacy skills leads to poor academic performance and reduced options later on in life. My goal here is to tell you that there is no rush to teach your baby how to read!
Some will ask when is a good age to start teaching young children to read? The general rule of thumb we go by is: when the child is able to speak clearly. This is generally around 2 to 3 years of age. Before this age, there's no need to force your child to memorize word shapes and word configurations, since this does absolutely nothing in helping them learn to read. The only thing it accomplishes is helping them memorize a few shapes. Instead, you are much better off spending that time reading to your baby - getting them into the habit of reading books, familiarizing them with printed text, enhancing their language acquisition, and improving their vocabulary.
Once your child can speak clearly, then it becomes a great time to start teaching them to read.
Suitable reading programs for babies must have a few characteristics:
- The reading program must be based on phonics and help the child develop phonemic awareness
- It does not involve the memorization of word shapes or configurations
- It must not have a heavy focus on learning rules - can you imagine forcing 2 and 3 year old children to learn and memorize rules?
- It must start with the fundamentals and build from the ground up - starting with letter names and letter sounds, and then moving on to blending and more complicated reading
- The lessons of the reading program must be short and to the point - probably no longer than 3 to 5 minutes per lesson as young children have a very short attention span
We have a wonderful reading program for teaching babies to read. We taught all of our children to read before age 3, and by reading, we mean real reading involving the decoding of printed text along with reading comprehension. No silly memorization of word shapes, or trying to guess unfamiliar words from the context of the sentence it appears in. With this reading program, young children are able to become fast and fluent readers. They can quickly decode and read printed text and comprehend its meaning. It worked wonderfully for us, and it will work for you too.
Click here to discover how you can easily teach your baby to become a fast and fluent reader
|
