Reading to babies is a great way to develop their language skills, encourage a love of reading, develop closer relationships and help them to understand the world. Babies and toddlers who love books increase their potential to do well at school and have increased confidence, independence and concentration.
In 1992 Booktrust, the reading charity that runs the Bookstart scheme, commissioned the developmental experts Professor Barrie Wade and Dr Maggie Moore to examine the effect on families who share books with young children. The results demonstrated that two-and three-year-olds who experienced 'book sharing' started school with significant advantages and scored more highly in various pre-school tests.
The Bookstart scheme works with libraries, health visitors and early years professionals, giving children free packs of books at three key stages of their development - seven months, 18 months and three years old.
Bookstart aims to encourage parents and carers who may feel embarrassed or shy about reading aloud to their children to see it as an important experience.
Bookstart works in partnership with libraries and early years settings to run a number of projects for babies and young children, including the Bookstart Book Crawl, the Booktouch scheme for blind and partially sighted children, and Bookstart Rhymetime activities. Rhymetime has developed into an engaging, exciting activity that helps children acquire language skills.
Reading stories aloud is a chance for parents and carers to share a simple, fun and rewarding experience. Read everything from comics to storybooks to encourage the child's imagination and the adult's confidence.
Providing a reading role model is the best way to build vocabulary and condition the child's brain to associate reading with pleasure.
