Can Babies Learn to Read?

  No doubt you've all come across at least one, if not several, advertisements that make quite vocal claims that their product will be able to teach your baby how to read.  I'll make a confession myself---as a young mother, I admit to being enticed by these types of advertisements that I saw on television and online that claimed that their single product would be able to give my newborn an educational head start on the all important skills of reading.  But, I just could not completely get myself to buy into the belief that these products would be able to make my beautiful baby boy a reader at the tender age of three months!
     Interestingly enough, recently I came across a study published in the February 2014 edition of the Journal of Educational Psychology that examined the effects of a particular best-selling baby media product that touted its expertise in specializing in reading development, that I thought I would share with you all.
     Researchers, led by Susan Neuman, a professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, observed 117 infants between the ages of 8 and 18 months who were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups.  Infants classified into the treatment group received the baby media product (which consisted of DVDs, word/picture flashcards and word books) that were used on a daily basis over a seven month period.  The infants placed into the control group did not receive these materials.
     During this seven month period, researchers observed a four phase developmental model of reading, with careful attention paid to phonemic, letter and sound recognition, as well as conventional reading/vocabulary comprehension.  Utilizing advanced tracking technology that follows even the tiniest eye movement from the infants, researchers were able to monitor how the infants distributed their attention, as well as how they shifted their gaze from one location to another when specific words and phrases were displayed in front of them.
     The researchers conclusions were startling--there was no difference displayed between the infants exposed to the baby media product than to those who were part of the control group on 13 of 14 assessments.  "While we cannot say with full assurance that infants at this age cannot learn printed words, our results make clear that they did not learn printed words from the baby media product that was tested," explains Neuman.
     However, Neuman went on to state that there was one undeniable effect that these products have made, and it wasn't on the infants.  It was on their parents.  "There was belief among parents that their babies were learning to read and that their children had benefited from the program in some areas of vocabulary development.  It's clear that parents have great confidence in the impact of these products on their children.  Unfortunately, our study indicates that this sentiment is misplaced."
      While the results of this study can stir up passionate feelings on both ends of the spectrum, ultimately, at least in my eyes, this study's findings highlight the important issue of an infants literacy development.  At this early stage, although infants may not have the capacity to learn how to read, it doesn't necessarily mean that parents should consider this as a means to temporarily neglect to encourage their baby's literacy growth.  This is where I feel that the power of leading our children by example, which is something that I believe so strongly in, takes great precedence. Simple things like bundling your little one up in their stroller for a trip to your local library or nearby bookstore to enjoy story time on a regular basis, to having your little ones see you, Dad, and all of their loved ones around them, reading consistently for your own pleasure as well as to them, will speak volumes.  And, I'll make yet another confession--- during the first trimester of my pregnancy, I started to read to my swollen belly, and continued to do so right up until the day I delivered.  I knew that if I would follow the things that my mother did when I was young, by exposing my baby to the world of knowledge and imagination that books bring to us all-- thru taking the time to read to him even during those tender first days of his life when my husband and I brought him home from the hospital, provided my husband and I with priceless bonding moments with our son.  And, most importantly, this helped to lay the groundwork for our son to share in our love of books, of which we are very proud of, and very lucky to say that today, years later, he still does.