That’s right. This past summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics introduced new policies that encourage doctors and other health care providers to talk to parents about the importance of reading books to babies.
Pre-Literacy Skills Lead to Educational Success
Reading out loud to children is essential. It helps babies develop language, learn vocabulary, and interact with their parents and caregivers. As children develop pre-literacy skills, they reach certain important milestones that will help them later in life. In fact, studies show that a child in third grade who is reading proficiently is much more likely to graduate from high school than a child who isn’t developing needed language skills.
To support these initiatives and to ensure that parents know how important reading aloud is, programs like 1000 Books Before Kindergarten have been established throughout the United States.
“We started the 1000 Books Foundation because reading is awesome. Early reading expands a child's vocabulary and is critical for learning. If you can read, you can learn to do almost anything,” says Mark Borghese, Director of the 1000 Books Foundation.
Parents can look at the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten website for information and can also read useful blog posts like “Seven Tips for Reading to Infants and Toddlers.”
Why Reading to Babies Is So Important
Reading helps to power a baby’s cognitive and emotional development. Not only is reading good for babies’ brains, it’s also a bonding experience that parents, grandparents, and friends can all take part in. Reading to babies helps the child:
- Discover how people communicate: through words, gestures, and movements. They also learn to listen.
- Learn about letters, of course, but they also can use books to discover colors, shapes and numbers.
- Create new memory skills.
- Increase their vocabulary (just because they can’t say it doesn’t mean they don’t understand it).
Reading logs are available online for parents who are keeping track. If you’re wondering what kind of books to read, 1000 Books Before Kindgarten has a great list that will get you started: there’s everything from classics like Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar to modern-day favorites such as Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
If your local library doesn’t have a program, Mark says, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten can help them establish one.
“The foundation's primary activity is setting up 1000 Books Before Kindergarten programs in public libraries across the country. If your local library does not have a program, we can help get one set up. Just go to the 1000BooksBeforeKindergarten.org website and contact us,” Mark suggests.
