i remember back when we first brought hudson, now 3 years old, home from the hospital. my husband looked and me and asked, “what do you think i should do with him?” he was so sincere, serious, and actually curious and what he should be doing to ensure the best outcome for hudson! my response was to talk, talk and then talk some more! i also told him to read as often as he could and to point to the words as he read.
many people don’t know or understand the importance of talking and reading to your newborn. when i say newborn, i mean from the day you bring your bundle home! my husband always read aloud to both the boys when they were in utero. i truly believe this is why they are so comfortable with my husband from the beginning. they recognize his voice from listening to the hours and hours of the, boring, andrew carnegie biography! this always put me straight to sleep, but christopher would continue to read to them. the language and vocabulary is very advanced and helps expose them to everything from the get go!
once you have your baby in your arms it’s time to chat about everything. it doesn’t really even matter what about. what matters is you use lots of vocabulary, explain things, and talk to them about what you are doing. any language is good language! well, you know what i mean!! it is so important to give them the skills of language and reading as early on as possible. in terms of reading books with your newborn it is up to you to choose what. i always tried to read board books with big words and not a lot of words. the bright colours and large print makes it easy for them to focus and watch. read as often as you can and try to make it part of your daily routine. it alwasy worked well for me to read before naps and bedtime. point to the words as you read, to help them understand that the words have meaning. this is another skill that will help their language, as a whole, all come together. when you read, you often use words that you may not use in day to day conversations. books are an amazing tool and you want them to love books, so that they will be intrigued to read on their own one day!
i won’t ever really know for sure if hudson’s language and intelligence is 100% from the things we did with him or partly due to his genes. hudson was doing baby sign language at 8 months, spoke full sentences at 16 months and today at the age of 3, says things like “i suggested to daddy that the breaker may have switched! better go and check the electrical box!” he is a 40 year old man in a 3 year old body and he simply cracks me up!
language is such a wonderful skill to teach your little one for yesterday, today and tomorrow!
here’s a great article i found that backs all this up!