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Birth to 18 Months: From Babbling to Words

From the moment she is born, your baby is learning how to communicate. She progresses from simply crying and cooing, to speaking in phrases, and eventually to making short sentences as she moves into toddlerhood. As your child's first teacher, you can help your baby develop solid language skills through talking, singing, playing, and reading together. Games and activities that teach babies how to understand and use language are an easy, natural way of building a loving and lasting connection with your child.

Although your baby is years away from becoming a reader, he starts to develop the skills necessary for reading and writing at birth. While he won't be doing this for quite some time, you can begin now to help him develop a love of language and books. He will start by listening and making sounds and words. These skills lead to the development of language and literacy. Communication through play is the key to developing both a loving relationship and a budding reader. Talking about things that interest your baby, saying nursery rhymes, playing "peek-a-boo" and other games, and reading board books are all simple but important ways to begin.

Find out how communication promotes literacy, what kind of parent talk is most interesting to babies, when you might expect your baby to show an interest in books and writing, and what you can do to help your baby grow up to become a reader and writer.