Promoting Literacy From Birth

Learning to read starts from birth. Newborn babies learn to read signals all around them by listening to voices, watching faces and reading body language, and need to hear and use sounds, sound patterns and spoken language to eventually learn to read printed words. Here's how to help provide these opportunities from the moment your baby is born.

0–6 months

Good books: board books with photos of babies, brightly coloured books to touch and taste, books with pictures of familiar objects, small books for small hands. Your baby will vocalise, look at pictures, and prefer pictures of faces. What you can do: hold your baby comfortably, look face-to-face, follow her cues for "more" and "stop," and point and name pictures.

6–12 months

Your baby reaches for books, puts them to her mouth, sits in your lap, turns pages with your help, and prefers pictures of faces — vocalising and patting pictures. Keep responding when your child wants to read, let her control the book, and be comfortable with a short attention span.

12–18 months

Good books: sturdy board books to handle and carry, books about familiar routines (sleeping, eating, playing), goodnight books, hello-and-goodbye books, books with only a few words per page, and simple rhymes with predictable text. Your child sits without support, may carry and hold a book, turns board pages (several at a time), points at pictures with one finger, and gives the book to an adult to read. Ask "where's the...?" and let your child point.

18–24 months

Your child turns pages one at a time, carries books around the home, may use a book as a comfort object, names familiar pictures, fills in words of familiar stories, and "reads" to dolls or stuffed animals. Relate books to your child's experiences, use them in bedtime routines, and ask "what's that?" — giving your child time to answer or complete the sentence.

Tips for supporting early literacy

• Read to your baby — make books, stories and storytelling part of the daily routine.
• Use rhymes, games and songs — babies respond to them almost from birth.
• Talk about what's going on, whether changing a nappy, bathing your baby or taking a walk.
• Let your baby babble — it's how she learns to make sounds with her own voice.
• For newborns, try rhymes involving gentle touch, like patting their feet or a little bounce while talking.
• Reward first tries at making sounds with smiles and hugs.
• Once your baby starts talking, help her find the words for things around her.
• Ask questions — naming pictures in a book teaches your baby that things have names.
• Encourage involvement, even if that means putting books in the mouth.
• Sing songs — music makes words easier to remember.
• Visit the public library — even babies can get a library card.
• Turn off background screens during reading time.
• Keep books visible and accessible around your home, and choose books as gifts.