0-12 months: Read out loud, often.
Reading to babies is crucial for brain development. Books often have vocabulary you don’t use on a daily basis which is even more important for them to hear. Children whose parents read out loud to them often know more words by age two than children who have not been read to, and they are able to form stronger language and conversational skills. Reading out loud to your child teaches them about communication, introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes, and builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills. Even as a newborn, your baby will learn so much by looking at the bright, colorful pages and hearing your voice form words. As your baby nears 12 months, encourage them to help turn the pages. 

Just think – if you read just one book to your baby each day, you will have read to them 365 times by their first birthday!

12-24 months: Imitate animal sounds.

By 12 to 15 months, children should be able to imitate a few animal sounds. As you go through each page of the book, imitate the animals. Don’t be afraid to act out each page and make silly faces or hand gestures to go along with each sound. Make it fun! Go through the book and ask your child things such as, “What sound does a cat make?”. Children will repeat animal sounds and non-verbal signs much sooner than verbalizing full animal names.

Between 15 to 18 months, your child may start to answer questions with one word. For example, if you ask, “What is that?”, and your child answers “Frog”, you can expand their vocabulary by elaborating with something such as, “Yes, a frog! That is a green frog with big eyes and orange toes.”

As your child reaches 18-24 months, you may notice they start asking for the same books over and over. Toddlers enjoy and learn a lot from repetition, and consistency in the way you read each book (the same expressions, non-verbal hand signs, and inflection in your voice) also helps children become aware of patterns and the rhythm of the text. Language is more than just words – it’s how words sound and connect to each other to form sentences and emotions. So, hopefully knowing that it is beneficial for them will keep you somewhat sane while reading a book to your child for the thousandth time!

2-3 years: Ask questions about the book.

At this age, you can start asking questions that are a little more involved such as questions around feelings, colors, shapes, numbers, or actions. For example, you can ask, “How do you think the hippo is feeling, is he excited or sad?”, “What is the koala doing?”, or get them to practice counting by asking, “How many ears does the rabbit have?”. Try making connections between the book and your child’s own life such as, “Look – the jaguar is running through the grass. You were playing in the grass today in our backyard too!”. Reading out loud to your child while asking them questions about the book helps with social development and thinking skills. By the time your child nears 2.5-3 years old, they may be able to tell you what is happening on each page based on the pictures. 

Most children begin visually recognizing some letters between 2-3 years old, and usually first identify letters that are in their first name. Have your child identify which animals in the book are associated with the letters in their first name. At this age, most children are also able to verbally recite the alphabet. You can have your child sing the alphabet with you as you turn each page.

3-4 years: Practice letter sounds and letter recognition.
Most children will visually recognize all letters in the alphabet between ages 3-4.

However, fun fact: Did you know studies have shown that more important than knowing the name of the letter itself, is knowing the actual sound the letter makes? This is important because most of the time, for example, the letter “M”, pronounced “em”, does not make the sound “em” when at the beginning of a word. It makes the sound “mmm”. This is incredibly essential to practice in developing children’s verbal communication as they begin to start reading out loud. Go through the book and point at each letter while saying the sound of the letter, and then at each animal while saying the animal name, such as, “aa, alligator… buh, beaver”. They will begin to understand that they can relate each letter to a certain sound, and they will be on their way to reading!

Ages 4-5: Connect letters to words.
Between ages 4-5, most children begin to make letter-sound associations with words, such as knowing that the word “cat” starts with the letter C, which sounds like “kuh”, followed by the letter A which sounds like “aa”, then T which sounds like “tuh”. While reading the book, point to a word and ask, “What sound do each of these letters make?” and have them say the word putting those sounds together. This is also the age where some children learn to read, so reading books daily and showing enthusiasm about reading is more important than ever. While you read to your child, run your finger under the words to show your child that the print is telling the story. Invite your child to join in whenever there is a repeated phrase in the book, and show your excitement to encourage their involvement. If your child asks a question, pause to answer, and discuss further. Even after your child learns to read, keep reading to them! A child can listen and understand more difficult stories than they can read on their own.

Ages 5-7: Listen to your child read.
Once your child starts to learn how to read, have them read simple words in the book out loud, followed by simple sentences. Reading a book out loud can help build a child’s confidence and excitement with learning new skills. Have your child sound out every word on each page. If they ask for help with a word, tell them right away so they don’t get discouraged or lose the meaning of the story. If your child substitutes a word for another word that makes sense, such as “kitty” instead of “cat”, let your child continue reading and do not stop to correct them. If your child uses a word that does not make sense, such as “woke” instead of “walk”, ask them to read it again because you are not sure that you understand the sentence. If you notice they are struggling, it is okay to guide them along, but stop the session once you notice any signs of fatigue or frustration. You want to keep reading enjoyable. Most importantly, make sure to give your child a lot of praise! Your support will help your child enjoy reading and learning even more.