Contributed by Dr Teresa Wai See Ong, from the National Institute of Education, Singapore, for SingTeach Virtual Staff Lounge

Reading can briefly be understood as a cognitive process of understanding speech that is written down. According to Arnold and Doctoroff (2003), shared reading (between parents and children) is a promising means of promoting children’s early development, particularly in setting a platform for language development before starting primary school. Hence, to encourage the reading habit from a young age, gifting books to children via families is considered as one of the most appropriate strategies to do so (Zuckermann, 2009).

Studies have shown that babies who are read to before 12 months demonstrate better language and literacy skills when compared with their peers (Dunst et al., 2012). Nevertheless, it is uncertain whether the shared reading practice offers wider benefits that go beyond cognitive and language development (Mol & Bus, 2011). Although there are not many studies that have examined the impact of shared reading on socioemotional development, findings have demonstrated that such practices in early infancy provide an ideal context for developing more emotionally satisfying parent-infant interactions (Murray, 2014). Additionally, a recent randomized controlled trial of parent training in shared reading with 14- to 16-month-old toddlers has shown impact for greater social behaviour in a helping task (Buttlement et al., 2009) and imitations for affectionate doll play (Murray et al., 2016).

The American Academy of Paediatrics (2014) recommends that shared reading between parents and children should begin from birth (or even earlier). During pregnancy, when foetuses are exposed to nursery rhymes read aloud by their parents, the sounds made create neural memory in the fetal brain, which develops a striking ability to detect and process speech. During the first six months after birth, babies show capability for joint visual attention. Babies are able to follow their parents’ gaze as their head turns around when listening to their parents’ voices. This process encourages socioemotional reciprocity in interactions and co-regulation of interest and emotions. After six months, babies begin to experience a dramatic increase in periods of alertness, object perception and spatial orienting. In short, the shared reading process provides babies with the building blocks for language development and tools for social and emotional skills despite them being unable to hold the book, turn the pages or recognize the letters and words in the book.

Three Main Benefits of Shared Reading with Babies

First, shared reading with babies helps them to develop their cognitive, language and literacy, and social-emotional skills. It stimulates their imagination, leading them to learn about the world around them. They also get to familiarize themselves with different sounds and words during the reading process. Simultaneously, the routine of reading to babies helps them in the development of a passion for books and reading when they grow up.

Second, the reading process helps babies to learn their native language/mother tongue and develop their speech with the words they hear. Although they are not able to talk yet, they are learning the sounds of the language, the meaning associated with words, and the wonderful social element of communication that stimulates their cognitive function. At the same time, they are introduced to uncommon vocabulary, sentence structure, rhythming and repetition, which are all important elements for literacy development.

Third, when reading to babies, bonding and emotional connection are developed between babies and their parents, especially when parents cuddle their child in their arms during the process. It also establishes a habit that is significant not only for their academic success but also the development of social and mental health. Those babies who are not read to frequently may develop slower language skills, which may lead to behavioural problems when they grow up.

How to Conduct Shared Reading Session with Babies?

As there are many benefits to reading to babies, several tips are provided to parents on how to conduct a reading session with their babies.

• • Start with a short session of five to 10 minutes. You may want to set aside bedtime or after bath time as these timeframes are considered as the calm period for reading. It also helps to build a good daily routine for the babies.
  • Set up a special reading spot with a comfortable chair and some books to provide an ambience that is ideally quiet and relaxing. This is also a time for parents to rest and relax after a long and tiring day.
  • Switch off the television, phone and other electronic gadgets during reading time to avoid disturbance.
  • When reading, use an expressive voice when appropriate or for different characters.
  • When arriving at pictures on the books, stop and make comments while pointing them out to babies so that they will look and understand. Encourage babies to hold the book and turn the pages as these actions will engage their sense of touch.
  • For those parents who are not native speakers in certain language(s) or have difficulties in pronunciation, they can use animated e-books. Animated e-books can help babies to develop their emergent language skills while providing them with more accurate pronunciations.
  • Some parents may prefer to use electronic gadgets than physical books as they find them convenient and handy to read at anywhere and anytime. Reading apps are able to help parents in developing strong bonds with their babies as they read aloud while cuddling their babies.
  • For some parents whose children have grown up, it is never too late to start cultivating the reading habit so that children will experience the joy of reading and discovery through books.

References 

American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] (2014). Literacy promotion: An essential component of primary care pediatric practice [policy statement]. Pediatrics.

Arnold, D. H., & Doctoroff, G. L. (2003). The early education of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 517–545.

Buttleman, D., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Eighteen-month-old infants show false belief understanding in an active paradigm. Cognition, 112, 337-342.

Dunst, C. J., Simkus, A., & Hamby, D. W. (2012). Relationship between age of onset and frequency of reading to infants and toddlers and later language and literacy development. CELLreviews, 5, 1–10.

Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 267.

Murray, L. (2014). The psychology of babies: How relationships support development from birth to two. London: Constable & Robinson.

Murray, L., De Pascalis, L., Tomilnson, M., Vally, Z., Dadomo, H., MacLachlan, B., … Cooper, P. (2016). Randomized controlled trial of a book-sharing intervention on a deprived South African community: Effects on carer-infant interactions, and their relation to infant cognitive and socio-emotional outcome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57, 1370–1379.

Zuckerman, B. (2009). Promoting early literacy in pediatric practice: Twenty years of reach out and read. Pediatrics, 124, 1660–1665.