Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community:
Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning
Appendix H
| Contents
| Preface
| Introduction
| Module 1
| Module 2
| Module 3
| Module 4 | |
Reading with Babies and Toddlers*
From Birth to about Three Months
Reading can begin soon after a baby's birth. He or she will feel comforted by listening to a familiar voice. Shared reading times generally begin at about three months when a child can hold up his head without adult support. Before then, it may be difficult to hold the baby and the book. Open books and put them where babies can see them--in a crib or on the floor. Young babies like books with large pictures or designs on a contrasting background. Recite rhymes and sing songs with babies.
About Four to Six Months
Babies at this stage want to explore books. They chew, suck, crumple, and shake them. Cloth and soft vinyl books that can be washed and sanitized are best for this age group. They like large pictures or designs on a contrasting background and enjoy listening as their favorite adults recite rhymes and sing songs with them.
About Six to Nine Months
As babies develop small motor skills, they may try to turn the thick cardboard pages of a board book. Babies at this stage are not yet interested in stories. They like books with pictures of simple objects that the reader can point to and name.
About Nine to Twelve Months
Babies at this stage are beginning to pay attention to the content of a book. They may understand that the objects and events pictured in books are the same as those in their own world. Cardboard books are most appropriate because most babies in this age group have trouble handling paper pages without tearing them. At around twelve months, babies may begin talking about the objects and events in books. Sometimes babies repeat the sounds in a book and the names of objects.
About Twelve to Eighteen Months
Most young toddlers like books about familiar objects, events, animals, and people. They enjoy simple concept books with pictures and a few words, but no plot. During read-aloud sessions, some toddlers babble along as if they were reading, too. Some toddlers get very excited while being read to because they recognize an object in the book that exists in real life. They jump up and run to get the item (for example, a cup, stuffed animal, shoe, or blanket). Toddlers tend to like bedtime reading sessions when they are already relaxed.
About Eighteen to Thirty-Six Months
Stories about real-life experiences and familiar feelings are popular with this age group. They like predictable books with repetition and rhymes that they can repeat. They like "touch me" books and books featuring familiar objects they can point at and name. Toddlers at this stage can look at the pictures while listening to an adult read. Older toddlers can still get excited when they recognize objects in books. If they know how to say "spoon," they may say the word rather than jump up to find a spoon. Toddlers in this age group may look at books alone. They point to objects in picture books and say the words out loud. Toddlers may repeat some of the text of a familiar book in their own words. This shows that the toddler understands the meaning of the text, even if the words are not repeated exactly as written. If a toddler is very familiar with a story, the adult reader can pause to let the child say the ending of the sentence. Many toddlers also recognize the signs and logos for favorite restaurants and foods.
* Based on Judith A. Schickadanz, More Than the ABCs: The Early Stages of Reading and Writing (Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1986), 12-22.
Copyright © 1999 Head Start Publications Management Center. All rights reserved.
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