Reading aloud is important for children's development. It not only promotes language and reading skills, but also satisfies the child's need for closeness and bonding.
On average, mums and dads start reading to their children when they are 10 months old. In doing so, they are doing a lot of good! Babies at this age are already developed enough to enjoy being read to.
Many parents intuitively use picture books for their little ones to give themselves and their baby a cosy break. Most mums and dads don't even realise that the positive effect of this type of early education on a child's development has already been scientifically proven many times over. The biggest and most important proven benefit for babies is that when parents read to their children regularly, it helps them enormously, learn to speak. The well-known saying "The early bird catches the worm" hits the nail on the head here.
But let's stay with the cosiness of the reading situation first. It's not just the children who feel this way, but also the parents. Because reading aloud - or rather: looking at a picture book with the child and talking about it - means for both first and foremost, cosy closeness and intimate bonding. The baby usually snuggles up on mum or dad's lap while the little book is held by adult hands. I'm thinking of various picture books that familiarise the child with different pets, for example. "Oh, there's the cow!" says mum, pointing to the corresponding picture. "The cow is mooing!" Then she looks at her baby, purses her lips again and makes another "Moo!"
The little lamb says "meow", the frog says "quack", the donkey says "Iaa". In this way, the child gradually learns to associate the illustrated animals with certain names, which are initially stored in their head as passive word knowledge. If the picture book is read aloud more often, you will soon find that your child will be pointing to the named animal with their chubby little fingers. "Where's the cow? - That's right! There's the cow!" And if mummy or daddy then make a moooo in a disguised voice, a happy laugh will soon be flying over baby's face. This way you can have lots of fun reading aloud with your little one - especially when the cow no longer mooos but croaks like a frog or grunts like a pig. Then your child will quickly realise your 'mistake' and be amused! And they will gradually try to imitate the words and animal sounds. You can't have more fun together!
And in this playful way, your child's vocabulary will expand. First passively, i.e. by recognising and correctly matching the word, and then actively, i.e. by pronouncing it themselves. Reading aloud also encourages your child's concentration and imagination.
This works with any book that is thematically suitable for the little ones. If it is made of sturdy cardboard, your child can also help you turn the pages. Or they may want to turn back to the previous page because their favourite animal may have waddled across the meadow. Even very young children have their own preferences and interests. This sometimes becomes apparent when they are shown two familiar books to choose from: It is not uncommon for the baby to then reach for their favourite title with great determination. And later, when they can already walk, they will also like to look at a book on their own or bring it to you to read to them.
What is also very important: It would be good if you spent a few minutes reading aloud with your child not only because it strengthens their speaking skills, but also because you really enjoy it yourself. This is guaranteed to be passed on to your child. However, if you only want to read to your baby for purely rational reasons, your child will quickly realise this and lose interest in the fun of reading together before it has even been awakened.
Reading aloud is actually like all things that your child is new to: you familiarise your baby with it slowly and in small portions. A few minutes of reading aloud every now and then - and don't despair if your baby doesn't scream hurrah immediately. As I said, the world of books and storytelling or reading aloud also needs to be discovered first. So here, too, your patience and constant new attempts are required.
Incidentally, science has shown that regular reading aloud at an early age not only strengthens language acquisition per se, but also the precursor skills for written language acquisition. Ultimately, parents are also laying an important foundation for later success at school, but that's just by the way. If your child has just celebrated their first birthday, you certainly don't need to worry about school just yet.
Instead, think about how you can find the right time to read aloud. Some babies and toddlers appreciate this as a nice ritual before bedtime, others like this relaxed reading and cuddling time after a bath or meal. However, if the baby is hungry, overtired or annoyed, you won't have any luck with reading aloud, no matter how cosy it is on the sofa. This is because concentration still requires energy from the child.
Here are two more tips for successful read-aloud situations:
- When reading aloud, always use your "heart language", i.e. the language in which you feel most comfortable.
- Make sure you have a cosy place and a quiet environment when reading aloud. The fewer disturbances (e.g. phone calls, older siblings) and background noises (e.g. radio, TV) interfere with your time together, the more enjoyable your time with a book will be.
My midwife tip: The book to read aloud with suggestions for the evening ritual: "When there are stars in the sky"
And another thing: I personally am a big fan of books and have even kept the first books of my now grown-up children. I like these hardbacks with their lovely illustrations and usually thick cardboard pages because the child can grasp them with their senses and leaf through them independently.
Some editions are available as Fabric books designed. Babies can also "chew" and suck on this soft first "reading material" wonderfully. In other books, there are certain pictures to touch and feel (Touch books)for example, a cat or a mouse with "real" fur that can be stroked. Other editions have peepholes cut into the inside pages for a nice surprise (Peephole Books). Other specimens crow, moo or grunt audibly (Sound picture books). Some parents may like this - but I myself find it much more entertaining for the baby and also more fun for us adults when we crow, moo, grunt or trek (töftöf) ourselves. Whether with a strong, quiet or disguised voice - the sounds are always self-made and accompanied by facial expressions. This is not only the best way for the child to absorb the information, because the sounds and noises do not croak out of the book anonymously, but it is also the most fun.
But just because I particularly like books doesn't mean that this applies to all parents. Especially as buying books isn't cheap fun either. The Reading Foundation, which promotes reading aloud and reading in general as well as the early would like to promote reading aloud. To this end, it offers the website lesestart.de on the Internet. Here you can read some Lesestart stories digitally free of charge to children aged 1 year, 2 years or 3 years: Simply select the appropriate age and a title - and off you go! The titles on offer change frequently. The digital method works best on a tablet, as the smartphone screen is too small for the child.
Even if the digital books cannot be touched and experienced with the senses - this option is definitely better than not reading aloud at all!
