Reading to Your Baby

Reading to your baby is a way to spend
special time with her. And it is one of the
best ways to help your baby learn. Read to
her every day.

When you read to your baby, you are
helping her learn new words. Reading to her
lets her know that books and reading are important. Reading to her now will help her
do well in school later on.

At this age, your baby can pay attention for only a short time. Read only a
few pages to her with lots of large, colorful pictures. She loves to have you
read the same book over and over. Hearing the words over and over helps
her to become familiar with them. She will begin to point to pictures to
get you to name them for her.

Your baby likes to touch things. You can make a book for her with
different pictures of her favorite things. Cover the book in plastic. She will
like to feel it. You can paste pictures onto sheets of paper in the book. Use
pictures of toys, family members or friends, foods, flowers or other things
she likes. It will make her happy to look at these pictures and to feel the
pages. She will like to listen to you as you talk to her about them.

You can even make a book of textures. Paste pieces of fabric onto the pages.
You can use fabrics that are rough, bumpy and scratchy. You can add fluffy,
stretchy and other kinds of fabrics. You can even paste in a piece of leather
or some soft fur. This can be her special book. She will enjoy handling its
pages. The important thing is to spend time reading to her every day.
Reading to her is good for both of you.

Do you want to learn to read better? A public library might be able to help.
You can also call America’s Literacy Directory at 1-800-288-8813 to find out
about programs in your area that help people learn to read. The call is free.

This content has been provided freely by CMC. Click Healthy Start, Grow Smart—Your-Eight-Month-Old for your free download. Click GreatDad Free Ebook to download the entire Health Start, Grow Smart series.

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