Poll of the Day > Remember that fad years ago where people were teaching their babies to read?

(+) Yeah! (+)

What even was the point of that
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Education?

I'm unfamiliar with the fad, so not sure if joke topic, but teaching your baby to read/write/do math is a valuable skill to learn early.
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Lokarin posted...

Education?

I'm unfamiliar with the fad, so not sure if joke topic, but teaching your baby to read/write/do math is a valuable skill to learn early.

An infant isnt even gonna understand the words though, theyre not even talking yet
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Parents probably just duct tape smartphones to their baby's eyes these days.
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y'know there's probably some babies out there who are reading at like 3 months, but don't take their first steps until they're like 2
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My daughter is 2 and can read some words. They're the simple words that she has heard a lot like cat, dog, couch, run, etc. She knows her colors and a lot of animals, even if she can't always pronounce it correctly or spell it. She loves to sing and dance to kids music and nursery rhymes.

My wife and I read to her all the time and teach her basic skills. The idea behind it is she can get ahead and not wait for the teachers to teach her the basic stuff. She loves learning and I don't want to deter that

Her PA said she's at a 5 year old for reading level and skills. I think it's great, especially when I see other parents just doing the smart phone thing or trying to force their kids to learn against their will.

Mead posted...

An infant isnt even gonna understand the words though, theyre not even talking yet

Makes more sense than the people who were listening to books on tape or classical music or other things with headphones right up against a pregnant woman's stomach so the baby would start learning pre-birth.

Reading TO an infant can potentially help, though. Even if they don't understand, you're still exposing them to vocabulary and grammatical structure that they're eventually going to use to sort of construct language in their own brain, and thus start understanding the language. Most babies just pick this up from hearing people talk nearby or having parents to talk to/around them while feeding them or taking care of them, but the more they're exposed to it, the faster and more effectively they might be able to adapt.
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My mom tells me that from the moment I could crawl, I would crawl up to her with books in my mouth to be read to. I'm pretty sure even if babies can't read they still enjoy and benefit from being read to for a number of reasons.

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Mead posted...

An infant isnt even gonna understand the words though, theyre not even talking yet

Perhaps not but kids learn at different stages so I can't see the harm in trying. It's like when folk talk to babies like the baby knows what they are saying. One day they will and probably sooner than the parent thinks.
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i could read at around 2 or 3, i think. my mom likes to tell a story where she found me reading charles darwin out loud to myself

nobody really taught me that though i dont think
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Showing them words is helpful but they should concentrate on talking to them. Normally not with baby talk
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Kids are like sponges, it is amazing what they can learn. But it should be fun and no pressure.
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While I'm sure I couldn't understand them, my mom says I would cry if I didn't have books in my crib with me, but if they put books in with me I would be up for hours flipping through the pages.

I'm not sure when I actually learned to read, but I have been able to since before I can remember.

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Reading is good mmkay.
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