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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
nilu129
member
Reading Books
nilu129
member
When do you start reading books to children? When do you work on ABCs and numbers?
nilu129
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Re: Reading Books
As early as you like; babies love to hear the sound of your voice and see pretty images, even if they don't yet understand the words. As for actually "drilling" your kid on ABC's and numbers...that probably depends more on them and their developmental readiness than any given age. Some kids get to that stage faster than others. I wouldn't worry about it in the first year; just read to your kid because it's a good bonding experience, it's fun, it stimulates baby and helps ready them in a period of rapid language acquisition (they are learning language long before they utter their first words).
You can start reading from day 1! My lil guy wasn't super interested until about 3 months though. Now he loves the pictures and listening to our voices. I've read that babies especially respond to repetition and rhyming (like Dr. Seuss).
As for ABCs and 123s...you have a long time before that becomes important. What you are doing now is laying the foundations for a lifelong love of reading. By reading aloud to your child, books will be associated with positive feelings, snuggles, and love.
Have fun
We started from the beginning. We sing the abc song to him, we count his fingers, the snaps on his onesies when we change him, the Velcro tabs on his diapers... We've just started reading books though, he's so wiggly it's hard to hold both at the same time.
I've read to hear from day 1 and some days she's into it more than others. But I want reading to be fun, not a chore so the more I read to her now I hope she enjoys it that much more later.
This.