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Developing early language skills with stories and songs
Spending time telling stories and sharing songs and rhymes starts little ones on their literacy journey.
Before they can talk, babies communicate through gestures, facial expressions and sounds; watching your baby’s cues and responding appropriately can help you find out what they like, build an emotional bond and get to know each other better.
Your baby might be trying to join in with their own little coos or chuckles when you're reading or singing to them. This is an exciting step in their literacy journey! Try to leave little gaps when you’re reading or rhyming together to let your baby 'take their turn' in the conversation. You can also try imitating the sounds that they make. By copying their sounds you're modelling turn taking and keeping the conversation going.
Sharing songs and rhymes
Many songs and rhymes have lots of repetition in them – this really helps your baby's language development. Hearing the same sounds and words helps your baby learn them, so don't be afraid to repeat songs and rhymes more than once. Many songs introduce new information within a predictable structure. The mixture of predictable and new information holds your baby’s attention and helps them learn new words. The same goes for stories. Little ones often love the same story being read over again and when they're feeling unsettled, reaching for a familiar book can offer reassurance and comfort.
Letting baby lead
This is the perfect time to start letting your baby lead the way. Little ones are much more engaged when they’re interested in the activity. Try leaving books in places they can explore them themselves along with their other toys. If you're able to get to the library, show them some books and see if there’s anything that ignites their excitement. And finally, don’t feel under pressure to spend long periods of time reading together. Keep an eye out for signs that your baby has had enough – a short time singing or sharing a book when you are both fully engaged and enjoying it is better than time spent battling for their attention. The most important thing is that you’re having fun together!
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