You’ve all probably heard it a million times at this point, but it is important to get your kids to start reading from an early age. As a matter of fact, there are certain pediatricians which heavily recommend that you start teaching your child to read as soon as he or she reaches three months of age.

The truth however, is that while many people know what I just said, they ignore why they should do it… they don’t know what consequences lie ahead should they take the wrong approach to early reading.

While a child can certainly benefit tremendously from learning how to read from a very early age, taking the wrong approach will bear a disaster; in the worst case scenario, you will knock the will to learn straight out of your child, and needless to say, he or she is going to have a lot of trouble in school later on. And so, I present to you an in-depth look at the approach parents ought to take when teaching their children aged from 0 to 2 years how to read; you will learn which types of books to use, and how to teach them to your child when they are 0 to 9 months old, 9 to 18 months and 18 months to 2 years of age.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting a reading routine when your child is as young as 3 months old.

• Most Babies Will: Enjoy tactile books with flaps, mirrors, textures, and sounds.
• Some Babies Will: Enjoy simple board books with action language, and recall pictures, sounds, and phrases from their favorite books.
• Some Babies Might Even: Enjoy longer picture books with a simple plot — especially if the plot has a pattern of repetition.

It’s 20 minutes before bedtime, and you’ve decided to start a bedtime reading routine with your 6-month-old baby. As you turn the pages of a sturdy board book, your baby seems so interested! She is grunting and grabbing at the book. You let her hold the book herself, and she babbles excitedly.

“Wow,” you think. “My baby loves reading!”

Then, she brings the book up to her face. . . and sticks it in her mouth for an after-dinner snack.

• Birth to 9 Months

  Reading to a baby can be hilarious — and it’s also bound to be frustrating for any linear-thinking adult. Many parents don’t see the value in reading to children this young. In a 2008 survey commissioned by Scholastic, only 48% of parents reported reading to their child when the child was less than 1 year old. An additional 17% read to their children before they turned 2, and another 15% began reading before their children turned three.

  This is also the age to introduce books with fun textures and flaps — children love to explore with their fingers and mouths as well as their eyes.

  When you read to a young baby, don’t worry about finishing the book or even turning pages in the right direction. Just enjoy playing with the book as if it’s a toy, and read as much as your baby will let you.

• 9 to 18 months

  At this age, you are beginning to hear your child’s first words. He is probably also pointing at objects and saying “Dat?” His receptive vocabulary (the words he can understand) is much richer than his spoken language.

  This is where early reading begins to pay off. According to a study published in PEDIATRICS , babies who were read to regularly starting at six months had a 40% increase in receptive vocabulary by the time they were 18 months old. Babies in the study who were not read to had only a 16% increase in receptive vocabulary.

  As your child begins to speak these new words she knows, now is the time to check out the plentiful “see and say” books. You’ll enjoy pointing out pictures and describing them to your child, and your child will enjoy pointing to pictures and hearing you identify the images.

• 18 months to 2 years

  At 18 months, your child will begin to have the patience for “real” story-time, cuddled up on your lap with a pile of books. Mother Goose and other rhyming books will delight her ears and train her to listen carefully to the sound of language.

  At this age, your child may want to “read” the books with you. He may ask questions, turn the pages back and forth, and ask you to read specific parts that interest him. Encourage this! He will also begin to request his favorite books, which he will like you to read over… and over… and over again. This will become an enormously satisfying ritual for him — and it builds a strong foundation for future success with books and reading.

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Pamela C. High, MD and her associates at the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital conducted this study. (See PEDIATRICS, Vol.105 No.4, April 2000.)

Zoë Kashner is a freelance writer. Previously, she was an editor for Scholastic’s READ 180 program, the reading intervention program for elementary, middle, and high school students. She was also the editor of The World Almanac for Kids.

Source: Books and Your Baby: Ages 0-2

About Teaching Early Reading

Many people believe that every child should learn how to read at a specific age, expecting him or her to have acquired certain skills during a certain amount of time. However, most of these parents do not take into account something; we are all unique, having a different method and pace when it comes to learning anything. While some kids may still be unable to read after the first grade, there are preschoolers who are ready to make the jump.

In any case, the point which I am getting at is that there is no specific demarcation as to when you should start teaching your child how to read; it is up to you to take the initiative and start the learning process.

Naturally, teaching your child to read may be a bit of an overwhelming task because after all, most of us aren’t fit to be teachers. Fortunately, there are numerous guides which have been written by renowned experts on the subject, and in my opinion one of the most impressive ones is titled Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and it was written by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox and Elaine Bruner; here is a look at what the book has to offer.

A General Overview of the Book

To start things off, let’s have a look at what the book has to say for itself, or its sales pitch if you will. Well, the book is basically a home version of the SRAs DISTAR® program, which is only the most successful beginning reading program used in countless schools across the entire country. This version of the book was made for parents who want to spend one-on-one time with their children, just teaching them how to read.

The book, as the title suggests, is divided into 100 different lessons, and you will only need to go through one lesson per day, each one lasting roughly around 20 to 30 minutes. If each lesson is completed successfully within the recommended time frame, by the end of the program your child will allegedly have the reading capabilities of a second-grader. The book itself is all you need; there are no flash cards or unnecessarily complex instructions… just your child, you, and the book.

Are These 100 Easy Lessons Actually Effective?

Well, the lessons have been arranged by difficulty and complexity, starting with extremely basic concepts such as sounding out letters and ending with relatively complex readings. Each lesson contains a concept which is to be applied through a few tasks.

This book was meant for kids who don’t know how to read yet, so if your child is already a capable reader he or she may not gain much from this. If however your child is just starting his or her journey into the fantastic world of reading, the lessons provided within will be extremely helpful in building a solid base of knowledge.

As for the book itself, you should keep in mind that it starts off kind of slowly and may seem a bit too easy and boring. However, I strongly recommend that you stick with the instructions; some tasks may seem to be pointless, such as sounding simple words out slowly, but in the end their purpose will become clear.

As a parent, you will also have access to scripts if you don’t exactly know how to go about teaching a certain subject. Also, instead of being presented separately the lessons actually connect with each other and sort of form a chain which holds from the first lesson to the last one. All in all, the approach to teaching is extremely balanced in this book and will help your child to build a very solid foundation for reading without boring or overworking them.

What the People Have to Say

Naturally, when looking at such products it is always important to know what those who have tried it have to say and if there are any outstanding complaints. Let’s have a look at the Amazon reviews: out of 750, 586 gave 5 stars, 81 gave 4 stars, 38 gave 3 stars, 24 gave 2 stars and 21 gave it 1 star. In other words, 89% of the people who reviewed the book gave it 4 or 5 stars, without any outstanding complaints.

Those who did complain about the book noted that the lessons aren’t advanced enough for their bright children(again, the book wasn’t intended for those who already know how to read), or that the teaching method in the book did not suit their child well. As I mentioned in the introduction, everyone requires a different approach to learning so the book is bound do displease some people, and in this case it is a tiny minority.

All in all, the book left most people satisfied, and if your child doesn’t know how to read yet and you would like to kick-start the process, then I recommend that you give this book a shot.

After looking around, I found that the best place to get the book would be from Amazon, where you can get it at a 43% discount for only $12.57.