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Babies can learn to read. Babies have been learning to read for longer than we know. In the last century there have been thousands upon thousands of babies that have learned to read. Perhaps you have decided to do a reading program with your baby. You may have seen video of other babies reading at 9 months. They couldn’t even speak, yet they were able to prove that they could read by demonstrating the actions to words being shown. You have seen babies just over one who could read the words as they were presented. Now you are ready to begin a program with your child. Just be sure to avoid this one major pitfall.

When babies are born, their brains are like an empty vessel waiting to be filled through their life experiences. Babies learn to speak by being spoken to. Babies similarly learn to read by being read to. One of the rules we follow in reading to babies, in order to teach them to read, is to make sure the words are large. The second rule we should be sure to follow is to give to them freely, without expectation.

In order to teach your baby to read, you must expose your baby to many words. By freely showing your baby words, without expecting your child to read them back to you, you are allowing them to learn the patterns of the language. Once you have done this for a period of about 6 months, you may ask your child to choose between two different words. This is not a necessary step in assuring that they are learning to read. When your child is ready they will prove to you that they can read.

Teaching babies to read requires faith in your child. You have faith that when you speak to your baby they will understand. You have faith that they will speak when they are ready. You have faith that they will crawl and walk. As parents, we must have faith that when we expose them to written language as babies, they will read, and they do.