Why is Reading With A Baby So Important?

Most brain growth happens by the time a child is three!

How many brain cells do we have at birth?

• A baby is born with a lifetime supply of brain cells.
• From the time we are born, these brain cells begin to die. By the time we are adults we have half of the brain cells we did when we were born!

What happens then?

At birth, pathways are formed to join one brain cell to another so that information can travel around in the brain.  It is as if we have "construction workers" building "roads" (synapses) in our brains.  This is called "brain wiring."

How do the construction workers know when to build a road?

When a baby senses things (sees, hears, smells, touches, tastes) then construction workers say, "Hey guys, come on!  We have to build a road over here!"

What makes the roads strong and healthy?

Repetition!  When babies experience the same things over and over again, the "construction crews" pave the roads, adding more layers with each repeated experience.

Why can't we just read to them when they get older?

90% of "road construction" is done by the time a child is three!

If they create a lot of "paved roads" in the early years, it will make learning easier later on (in the same way that driving on a paved road is easier than driving on a bumpy, dusty dirt road).

Paved roads make it much easier for information to find its way around in the brain!

Why should we read to them?  They can't even talk yet!

Reading to babies (and singing songs and nursery rhymes) while they are in our laps stimulates their senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and feelings of love and security).

The more experiences babies have with music, rhymes, books and reading, the easier it will be for them to learn to speak and learn to read later on.

Sitting on a caregiver's lap, feeling loved and secure, looking at a caregiver face-to-face, listening to a loving voice, having fun, being relaxed, having no pressure or stress, moving their bodies, singing, chanting, rhyming and letting children be who they are (whether outgoing/active  or pensive/quiet) all help to build strong paved roads.

To learn more about reading with your baby, or to find children's reading programs in your community, call your local Ontario Early Years Centre and\or library.  You can find these services by logging on to www.connectingsimcoe.info or by calling your local community information centre.

To talk to a public health nurse about this or any other parenting issue select the Health Connection Call or Click logo below...

Written by Martha Petrie, Ontario Early Years Early Literacy Specialist, 2002. ( 7 0 5 ) 7 3 7 - 7 4 6 2 or m a r t h a . p e t r i e @ s y m p a t i c o . c a