How to Teach a Baby to Read

Nine Month Old Reading With Mom

With a few simple steps, lots of excitement, and short practices sessions, babies as young as five months can learn to read as naturally as they learn to speak. By introducing written language in a large enough format for an infant to see, a child can learn to read the same way they learn to talk.

Things You'll Need

• 6 inch by 22 inch strips of poster board
• Red marker with one inch wide tip
• Super sized rubber bands

Instructions

How to Teach a Baby to Read

1. Cut poster board into 6 inch by 22 inch long strips. The easiest way to do this it to buy poster board in packs from an office supply company. Take the packs of poster board to Minute Man Press or Kinko's and ask them to cut the poster board for you. They will cut up to 100 sheets of poster board at a time. You will be left with a 10 inch by 22 inch strip. If you have this cut in half (making it 10 inches by 11 inches) you can use these to make books later on. Most text is written too small for babies to see. Most reading philosophies suggest waiting until a child has developed 20/20 vision (around five years of age). Making the letters larger is another way of solving this difficulty.

2. Write words on the cards in large block letters using a wide tip red marker. The ideal width of the marker tip should be about one inch. Start with words your child hears regularly like his name, mommy and daddy. Make as many word cards as you can think of. It is helpful to have a pile ready to go, waiting for when you need them. You may choose to use categories like animal names, dinosaurs, color words, or even plant species. The choice of words is yours, so be creative and have fun.

3. Choose the first five words your baby will learn and put them in a set. An example of a family set would be: mommy, daddy, Jeffery, Helen, and Johnson. Place a thick rubber band around this set to keep it organized when you are not using it.

4. 

   Sit in front of your baby with the set of five word cards. In your most excited happy voice say "We are going to learn to read." Then show the baby the card, reading the words out loud as fast as you can. With practice you should be able to do all five word cards in less then five seconds. Let your inner cheerleader go wild as you praise and encourage your little one for her hard work. This should last for about ten seconds or so. Some parents find that holding their child on their lap and reading words works best.

5. Put the cards away and enjoy your regular activities. After an hour or so, you may bring the cards out and have a second reading session just like the first one described above. Put the cards away again. You may do another session in about an hour. When your child has seen the card set three times in one day, he has finished that set for the day.

6. After the third day of showing cards you may choose one card to retire. Put this card in a storage place and add a new card from the pile of pre-made cards. For example, you may replace the card that says mommy with a card that says grandma. From this point on you should retire one word card a day and add a new word card each day.

7. You can continue to work with one set of five cards showing it three times a day or you can now begin to add more sets of cards. Some parents have used as many as ten sets of cards a day but this is not required and takes a lot of organization.

Tips & Warnings

• Teaching your baby to read should always be fun for both of you. Sessions should never be longer then two minutes. Short fast sessions are the best. Keep your voice and expressions as enthusiastic as possible. If you are having an amazing time your baby will have an amazing time! As your baby gets older you may begin to use smaller cards. If you are not sure if your baby can see the words go back to big word cards. It is better to make words and cards too big then too small.

• If you or your baby are not having fun STOP! Reading should always be introduced as a fun enjoyable activity. Young children who have recently learned to crawl or walk will be focused on exploring these new skills. A child who has loved to read may loose interest at this time. That is OK! Put the cards away for a week or a month and try again. It is OK to take breaks as your child goes through different developmental stages. If you or your child is sick you should also take a break! It is important to never "test" your baby. Give your child the information she needs and trust her to understand. She will surprise you soon by pointing out words and reading them to you!

Resources

• Institute for Achievement of Human Potential
• Mrs. March's Little Women