Part 4

To a baby Reading Time is filled with love and words. Love felt and shown through the closeness of bodies and the flow of words spoken AND the thing called – BOOK. This object is a mystery to be solved, a baby sees their parents hold it, open it, and speak words. This challenges the baby’s brain to understand why? What’s this all about—-it seems so exciting? The baby’s curiosity has been piqued by each daily encounter with “the thing – book”. They need to examine and figure out ”the thing-book”—pages and all.

During these last months of the baby’s first year their physical capabilities have grown at a rapid pace. When the baby body can sit and move about on the floor, it’s a perfect time to have a basket or box of books available for these little investigators (with supportive help near by). This may lead to a time when they select and hold up a book to be read to them. Oh yes, the repeat stage might begin. A favorite story may be requested over and over. Best get used to this concept because once this appears – it does not disappear. Repeat readings of favorite books are a necessary part of their language development. “Parents who repeat words more often to their infants have children with better language skills a year and a half later.” said co-author Rochelle Newman, professor and chair, University of Maryland, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences.

Reading Time is jam-packed with language. At first it might seem as though it is just the parent doing all the talking. Soon the parent will see that the baby is beginning to engage by making babbling sounds. Take this opportunity to interact using “Serve and Return”. Briefly this is when a baby will make a sound, gesture or some other attempt to engage and connect with someone. For example: The baby first serves- presents a happy sound like–ba ba ma when looking at a picture. The baby has started an interaction and the parent returns- responds by saying something like—”Yes, that’s a picture of a dog digging.” Next, the baby claps with excitement – a second serve has been made by the baby. The parent says as a return, “Yes, I think it’s funny too.” “Babies’ brains develop in response to genetic factors as well as early experiences, and in particular, “serve and return interactions” — such as what happens when a child coos and a parent responds”, said Professor Pat Levitt. He is the Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics at the Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital. “Serve & Return” is something that can be done during Reading Time, but what is even more thrilling is that this type of exchange can be done throughout the day with other activities. The baby brain welcomes it and gets fired up with each learning experience. Check out TALKING Time Posts on this website for more specific details on “Serve & Return”.