You’ve always been an avid reader, and ever since you had your baby girl, you’ve been looking forward to introducing her to some of your favourite authors! Of course, she’s still a baby and isn’t able to read yet, but that hasn’t stopped you from splurging on every beautifully illustrated children’s picture book you could find and spending hours lost in the imaginary world of your little girl’s favourite characters.

However, you’ve recently heard that some of your friends with babies the same age as yours have been keen to get things going a little earlier with regards to their children’s reading skills. They tell you that the world is a competitive place today and that they want to utilise any learning tools they can to help their little ones get a head start when it comes to reading.

Although you agree with this, you wonder whether your baby is too young to be burdened with learning tools, even for something as important as reading?

Why do some parents want to give their baby a headstart in learning to read?

Parents, we know that it can feel difficult to know whether you’re doing the right thing for your baby. Suddenly, you start to question your every move, and every tiny little decision you make that relates to their wellbeing feels monumentally important. And when it comes to the subject of reading, every parent has a different opinion.

Many parents believe that introducing their children to books, flashcards, apps, media, and other learning tools at this age is a positive way to help their little one get the headstart they need when it comes to reading. They view their baby's future academic success as a priority, and therefore, don’t see why it would hurt to provide some early instruction with the help of these tools.

Why do other parents believe this is unnecessary?

While many parents believe that giving their child a head start when it comes to reading is important, others think that it’s far too early to be intervening in their child’s learning in this way. Although they will still be invested in their child’s learning and development, these parents tend to take a more laid-back approach and will simply stick to reading to their little ones instead.

How can I use this information to make a decision that suits my baby and me?

Ultimately, every parent is entitled to their opinion and personal belief system when it comes to their baby’s learning. So it’s completely up to you whether you want to seek the aid of learning tools to help your baby learn to read at a faster and earlier rate. However, we always like to follow what science says when it comes to our little ones. And studies have shown that babies are in fact, incapable of learning to read, even though some parents claim their little ones have learned to recognise words at this early age.

This brings us to define what “read” even means in this sense. Investigators have defined being able to read as “the comprehension of the relationships among the letters, the words, or objects they represent”. While some parents may think their babies are reading, studies show that what they actually might be doing is identifying an image within the correct context. For example, looking at the word “gorilla” and pointing to a picture of a primate.

Therefore, we would consider it a little unnecessary to seek the aid of learning tools at this very early stage in your baby’s development, and believe that reading to your baby is enough. However, we understand that you’ll be wanting to boost your baby’s cognitive development nonetheless, and there are some other things you can do in order to do this.

For example:

Limiting television viewing time.

Maximising time interacting with others.

Talking to your baby as much as possible.

Reading and singing to your baby.

Allow your baby to safely explore their world as much as possible.

Don’t become attached to academic benefits or outcomes so early in your baby’s life.

Can I teach my baby to read?

Can I teach my baby to read? Unii’s Baby Development Journey has the answer.