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Children who are read to regularly at home throughout early childhood will be exposed to exponentially more words than their peers who are not regularly read to. By the time they reach kindergarten, children will have heard 290,000 more words if read 1 book each day and 1.4 million more words if read 5 books each day (Logan, et al., 2019). Here you’ll find ideas on HOW TO read with a baby from birth through the first year.
Although you may jump right to thinking about baby’s first word when you think of communication development in the first year, there is so much that needs to develop in baby’s brain before we can expect to hear that first precious “mama” or “dada.” We use the term communication to encompass many aspects of speech and language development, including vocabulary (i.e., how many words a child says), articulation (i.e., how words are formed in the mouth), language expression (i.e., what a child says) and comprehension (i.e., what a child understands), gesture use (e.g., waving), and social skills (e.g., eye contact, turn-taking).
You’re likely already spending time each day talking, reading, and playing with your baby. Engaging and bonding with your baby with these three activities when you can throughout the day are likely all he/she will need to develop communication skills on time. But not all interactions are created equal when it comes to enhancing speech and language development. All children will develop at their own pace, but making a few small changes to how you talk to your baby can make a big impact on your child’s ability to both understand and use language when he/she is ready.
