Every parent knows they should read to their baby. But a study has shown that Reading to your newborn baby could help advance their language skills. “Early, consistent reading demonstrates improved language scores as early as 9 months of age. Setting expectations of minimal daily reading impacted daily reading compliance early in life,” the researchers write in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
Three groups participated in this study, in which caregivers received 20 children’s books intended to help with early development and interaction with print media. The first group received books with no instructions. Families in the second group agreed to read at least one book a day. The last group enrolled when their child was 34 weeks-old. They also committed to reading one book a day and to watching an infant brain development video. Infants whose parents read them seven books a week (one per day) showed higher language scores at nine months-old in comparison to infants whose parents read less than seven books per week. The gap in language scores widened considerably at 12 months.
“One book each day is an easy goal for new families to try. To see that there is a measurable improvement in speaking and understanding before one year old is very exciting,” says corresponding author Adam Franks, MD, a professor of family and community health at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, in a media release.
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