There has been quite a bit of publicity lately about babies reading.  It seems that more people are realizing that teaching babies to read is possible.  Not only is it possible to teach babies to read, it gives them a huge advantage in life, when they learn to read in their early years.  The question many people have is, “Are babies really reading, or are they just memorizing the words?”  

This is an important question to ask and finding out the answer can lead to a world of discovery.  When babies initially begin learning to read, they are just memorizing the words.  They memorize the shapes and forms of the words as if they were a picture.  This is no different than babies memorizing that an image of an elephant is an elephant.  It is through memorization that babies begin all learning.  But if babies memorize words does that mean that your baby can read? 

At birth, babies have the ability to easily memorize, if you will, an unfathomable amount of facts.  These facts may consist of pictures, words, and even written language.  Once your baby has seen, for example, a picture of an elephant, and been told repeatedly that it is indeed an elephant, they will know what an elephant is.  Through this process of repeated exposure and instruction, your baby will be able to identify elephants.  It doesn’t matter if it is an actual photo of an elephant, a cartoon elephant, or a real live elephant.  Your baby has made the connection and now forever and always will know that this is an elephant. 

This process is the same way in which babies learn to read, and is strongest from birth to five years old.  Once we know and understand this process, we can begin to introduce much more into our babies lives. 

Babies are born with the ability to learn to read.  Since a baby’s brain is wired to learn language from birth to five years old, this is the ideal time to introduce the written form of our language to our babies.  We begin by showing babies words.  We show them words that are large and clearly written.  We tell them what the words say.  After seeing the word in the written form around 15 times, babies then know what that word says. 

Babies that have been exposed to written language are then able to decode the sounds the letters make, thereby learning phonics on their own.  What started as simple memorization develops into actual reading.  Babies exposed to language are able to break up new words according to the phonetic patterns they have deduced from seeing language in its written form.  The amazing thing about this is that all this requires no effort on your baby’s part.

In the beginning stages of your babies reading program, they are just memorizing.  After a period of time, which is different for different children, babies cross the line from reading by sight or memorization to being able to figure out new words phonetically.  It is really amazing as a parent to see your child reading words on their own that you have never exposed them to before.

You can choose to teach your baby to read by creating your own reading program or purchasing a ready made kit.  You can find these kits at www.monkisee.com.  For a very fun way to teach your baby to read without formal lessons you can also try the Monki See dvd series.  They are lots of fun and teach your baby to read at the same time.  With the help of these great ready made products your baby can learn to read in a fun and enjoyable manner.

If you want to know everything there is to know about how to teach your baby to read check out A Guide To Teaching Babies To Read which is available for download or by DVD.  It will answer every question you could have and then some.

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