In part because of a landmark study by Hart and Risley from the 1980s, most parents know how important it is to talk to babies. What is less known is how to talk to babies to help them learn language skills. In this post, I will give tips to help your baby learn receptive language or understanding language.

When talking with a baby, use a higher-pitched, very friendly tone of voice called parentese; it’s used in many cultures and languages around the world. Parentese involves an exaggerated pronunciation of words in a “sing-song” voice, in which more emphasis is given to each syllable, making it longer and clearer than normal adult speech. Research shows that babies are better able to differentiate sounds in early months when spoken to in parentese rather than when spoken to in a typical adult voice. Many parents unconsciously use this higher-pitched, elongated form of speech, but many other parents do not.

Start off speaking to your baby in simple, descriptive language; I suggest describing all of the baby’s senses. Talk about what the baby is looking at, listening to, tasting, touching, or smelling. Think of movement as a sense and describe how your baby is moving, an activity best done in front of a mirror.

For example, if your newborn baby is looking at her arm, gently touch her arm and say something like, “Arm. This is your arm!” in parentese. At first, you’ll need to repeat the same few words many times for your baby to start understanding his or her first words.

Receptive language refers to the capacity for understanding language. The first fifty words take many months to learn. During these first months of your baby’s life, it’s very important to talk to him or her as much as you can in very simple language, using many of the same words over and over. However, once your baby understands the meanings of around 50 words, he or she will begin learning words at a much faster pace. Around that time, your baby will begin to go through a “fast mapping” stage, where children can remember words after hearing them only once or twice. During this time, it’s very important to use many new words when speaking to your baby. You can tell if your child is learning words quickly by asking questions. Younger babies generally answer the questions by looking. For example, you could teach your baby the name of a novel object (e.g., key fob). The following day you could ask your baby, “Where is the key fob?” — with three objects in front of the baby. The baby could answer by looking, pointing, reaching, signing, or talking.

I’ll go into more detail in the next post about the long-term benefits of talking to your baby, and I will give many more tips on what to say to your babies and toddlers.

Thanks very much for reading my blog and I look forward to sharing many more tips with you in the future.

Dr. Bob Titzer

I have the opportunity to travel throughout the world giving talks on the subject of infant learning and have noticed that many parents in Asia appear to be more “hands on” with helping their babies learn to read than in other parts of the world. China has a long history of “learning time” with babies, while parents in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore talk openly about caring more about their children’s education. I recently returned from a trip to Singapore where, since 2002, our early learning videos for babies and toddlers, You Baby Can Read!, have been very popular. The program is available in every major toy, book and children’s store and I am always pleased to meet the many families who have taught their babies to read using it.

Singapore ranked #2 in an international comparison of fourth-grade reading scores throughout 45 countries released in 2007. The U.S. placed in the middle of the pack after dropping two points since the previous test. In the results from 2001, Singapore was below the U.S. in their overall scores. What is extraordinary is that children in Singapore learn multiple languages yet they now score above Americans when tested in English. Around half of all of the babies and toddlers in Singapore are currently using our program to learn to read. Since the earlier the child is taught to read, the better the child reads, I believe Singapore will move into the number one spot as more fourth graders who learned to read as babies and toddlers will be represented in future international comparisons.

You might be surprised to learn that Russia ranked #1, up from #14 in 2001. This is attributed to the fact that Russian children start school, and reading instruction, one year earlier. I have long been an advocate of teaching children to read much sooner than the standard age of five or six, and wanted to share with readers the difference just one year can make. According to an abundance of research, every child has one natural window of opportunity for learning language, which begins by birth.

Most of the countries whose fourth graders tested high are relatively wealthy nations with per capita incomes well above $20,000 per year-with Russia and Hungary as notable exceptions. However, not all countries that tested at the bottom were economically challenged. Norway has very low reading scores, which is attributed to their emphasis on socialization instead of content in early grades. This is somewhat similar to America’s emphasis in early school grades which I hope will someday change for the betterment of our children and their futures.

In the course of my research and travel, I am often interviewed about teaching babies to read and why I feel it is important. I thought it might be helpful to share some of the questions I am frequently asked by sometimes skeptical reporters.

1. Is it placing too much pressure on parents and their babies to learn to read, when they could be playing?

First of all, I think many people mistakenly associate learning to read with pressure, due to the unsuccessful approach that is currently being used in most schools to teach reading. We teach children the alphabet, which is abstract for toddlers and preschoolers who do not know how to read. Once children memorize the names and shapes of the letters, we then teach them the sounds that the letters make. Next, we put the letters together and children are taught that the letters don’t make those sounds in many words. Many children and adults do not experience the joy of reading using this method. Children can take so long to sound out words that they often forget what they were reading by the time they get to the end of sentences. Many do not read fluidly which causes stress because they often have to read in front of other children. In school, some children make fun of the students who are not reading well, creating pressure for those children, and their parents. If a child is not reading at grade level, fewer than one in eight ever catch up to read at grade level (Seppa, 1991). Even worse, this often leads to a lifetime of low reading abilities for billions of people worldwide.

The baby’s natural state is to be curious and enjoy learning. Babies and toddlers have tens of thousands of new brain connections forming every second which means they do not necessarily make any intentional effort to learn. They learn naturally if they see words at the same time they hear them. Babies and toddlers have fun playing with words just like other types of play and generally love reading and books. Parents and children can also enjoy quality time together, by teaching written language in a fun interactive way, instead of in a classroom setting with one teacher and 20 or more children.

2. What are the long term benefits of learning to read from a young age?

There are many long term benefits. The earlier the child is taught to read, the better the child reads even when IQ and socio-economic class are controlled. Also, the gap between the early readers and the later readers increases over time. This is called “The Matthews Effect” where better readers get richer, and poor readers get poorer. Children who know how to read before they enter school have higher self-esteem and they are more likely to do well in school. Research shows that children who are taught to read early generally read more than children who are taught later, and are more likely to actually enjoy reading later in life. For more research on this topic, please click here. [provide a link to YBC’s research page]

3. What’s wrong with a picture book on Mom’s lap?

I think this is a rewarding activity for babies and their parents and I have been promoting parents reading to their babies for more than a decade. However, reading to babies does not teach them to read. A recent study in Psychological Science showed that the average four- or five-year-old only focuses on words five seconds per book when a parent reads to the child. The children are usually looking at the pictures which will not teach them to read. The authors of the study recommended that parents show words to the children to teach them to read. Many parents have experienced the pure joy of having their baby read the books to them.

1. What’s the rush with teaching babies to read?

This is not rushing anything. It is learning language during the most natural time, which is infancy. Instead of thinking about reading as a difficult skill to learn in school, we should think of it as understanding written language. Every child has only one natural window of opportunity for learning language. This window for begins by birth and starts closing by four years of age. During this natural time it is easier for the child to learn at more advanced levels, and with little effort. This is true for talking and understanding language, plus learning second languages, sign language and written language.

In the monumental research work that began in the 1980s by Hart and Risley, which took 24,000 work-hours to complete, they discovered it is very important for parents to talk to their babies. This creates a bonding opportunity and has a positive impact on their babies’ language capabilities and future quality of life. While many other studies in the 1960s and 1970s also showed the importance of talking to babies, Hart and Risley’s work eventually made an impact on how parents interact with their babies.

Here are some keys points discovered by Hart and Risley as a result of researching parents and children over a number of years:

1. Some parents said an average of more than 3,000 words per hour to their babies while others spoke as little as 200.

2. Toddlers’ talkativeness stopped growing once it reached the parents’ level of talkativeness.

3. By the age of three, children in the most talkative families had spoken more than 12 million words while children in the least talkative families said fewer than 4 million words.

4. Children in talkative families have language advantages throughout their lives, along with much greater vocabularies and a better understanding of language.

5. The children who were behind at age three did not catch up in any language-related area throughout their lives.

6. It was not the parents’ race, IQ, or socio-economic class that caused these language differences. It was the amount of talking that the parents did with their babies.

This same type of window of opportunity for learning language exists with foreign languages, sign language, and written language. More than a decade ago, scientists learned that the brain actually develops more efficiently when a child learns the second language in the first few years of life compared to after age four. Babies can also learn functional sign words, or even sign language when someone teaches them, without much effort. Now, scientists are discovering that babies can also learn to read as easily and naturally as they learn to talk when they are allowed to see the language that they hear.

We currently wait until a child’s brain is about 90% developed before we begin teaching written language, which helps explain why so many children struggle to read. Children who don’t read well generally do not enjoy reading. It is not natural to withhold language from babies and it is certainly not in the child’s best interest. The most natural time to learn language is during the infant and toddler years. This is when they learn all other aspects of language without any intentional effort. This means that when very young babies are allowed to see the language they could develop more efficient pathways for written language just like they do for the spoken language or second languages.

2. Why should they start at 6 months?

The best time to begin is when the baby develops visual tracking or the ability to follow moving objects with the eyes. This is generally by three months of age.

There are numerous reasons why parents should start early:

• The most natural time to learn any aspect of language is during infancy.
• The window of opportunity for learning language begins to close by age four which means it requires more effort to learn language skills after this time.
• It is fun to read.
• This can be a great bonding experience for babies and parents.
• It is easier to learn language skills at a high level in the first few years of life.
• The neural pathways for written language can develop to be more efficient when learned earlier in childhood compared to later in childhood.
• The earlier a child is taught to read the better the child reads, even when IQ and socio-economic status are controlled.
• The earlier the child is taught to read the more likely the child actually enjoys reading.

I have been traveling to Hawaii for more than 20 years. It is one of my favorite places. The people are so welcoming, so friendly and filled with the “Aloha” spirit. I visited as a featured speaker for the second New Baby Expo held in 1998, and now try to travel there about twice a year.

Because of my frequent lectures throughout this wonderful collection of islands, many Hawaiian families are very familiar with the early learning DVD system I designed called “Your Baby Can Read!” In fact, everywhere I go, I get to meet families who have used this program, and who present me with babies and toddlers at various stages of reading ability. It is so gratifying to see how joyful the parents are about how their children are doing.

Like many places throughout the world, parents are starting to realize that if they depend only on the public school systems, they are leaving the education of their children to chance. When parents become their children’s first teacher, as I did with my own daughters, they are providing them with a much better chance at early learning and with more opportunities, both in school and later in life.

At this year’s New Baby Expo, I had the opportunity to meet many families who have successfully used the program. Their children have certain things in common–they love books and they love reading. One sweet four-year-old named Emily happily read a book cover to cover, pausing at just the right moments and changing her inflection for each character in the book.  She reads as naturally as she speaks and she reminded me of my own children.

While there, I also gave a talk on the Big Island, and was able to visit with a friend named Melody, who started using the program with her son Elijah four years ago when he was a baby. She was so excited about the results that she opened a store called “Akamai Kids” in the International Marketplace in Kona selling our early learning products. In fact, four-year-old Elijah sometimes communicates with me via email, which he types himself. I always look forward to receiving those emails and staying in touch with the many people I have met there.

Hawaii is a special place for many reasons. When I get some down time in between lectures, I make sure I rent a mountain bike and explore the magnificent trails. I have also saved every lei. As said, I feel very connected to the families here and I’m glad so many Hawaiian babies and toddlers are learning to read. Because of this, many believe entire communities in need can start to change and prosper.

Tori Spelling, Dean McDermott, Scott Baio, Samantha Harris, Ian Ziering, Melissa Rivers, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and many more could not get enough of “Your Baby Can Read!” at the recent “Silver Spoon Hollywood Dog and Baby Buffet” event. These savvy Hollywood parents not only understood why “Your Baby Can Read!” is an important educational product, but could not wait to start their children on the system that has taught so many babies and toddlers to read worldwide.

The event allows celebrities a chance to be “just parents” for a short while and chat with other moms and dads about raising their kids. In a relaxed, but luxurious setting, they are introduced to today’s top products and services for babies and toddlers. Each celebrity has ample opportunity to discuss the products and how they might benefit their own children, and children throughout the world.

Needless to say, it was standing room only at the “Your Baby Can Read!” area for the entire two-day event. Everyone was so impressed and ready to get their baby started on “Your Baby Can Read! In addition, I was happy to see how devoted the celebrity parents were to the needs of their babies and toddlers. We are looking forward to hearing their success stories. Stay tuned for more updates and Hooray for Hollywood!

Tori Spelling with husband Dean McDermott and baby Liam & M.J. Winokur (from Dancing with the Stars)

Many of you may have seen the television news segment this week which featured the families of three children under the age of two who learned to read as babies as well as an interview with me. They achieved this by using my multi-sensory learning approach, which is to employ as many sensory systems as possible while babies are experiencing the world around them. Today I will share how parents can apply these methods.

We will begin with the action word ‘clap.’ First, print ‘clap’ in lower case letters on a white board or piece of paper. Point to the word and move your hand from left to right as you say clap, then clap your hands. Now, encourage your baby to clap. If she is unable to clap, gently assist her, but only if she is in the mood. Because she sees the word, hears the word, does a physical action related to the word and learns the meaning of the word, there are more elaborate connections in the brain, giving her a deeper understanding of the word.

I strongly support reading to your children; it is one of the most important activities you can do. However, it is a common misconception that reading to your children teaches reading. Studies show that when a parent is reading to a four- or five-year-old, the child focuses on the text of the entire book for only approximately five seconds. Why? Because his attention is on the pictures, not the words.

In the books I have designed for my early learning system called Your Baby Can Read!, only the word appears on the page, and then a flap is lifted to see a picture depicting the meaning of the word. The two are connected, but do not compete for attention. They are ideal for teaching reading because the child can focus on the words.

Here are easy steps to teach your baby to read using one of my Your Baby Can Read! books, or others that have only a few words per page.

1. Point to the words in the book and say them. This draws attention to the word. Next, let the baby look at the pictures and talk about them.
2. Teach your baby to point to each word as you say it. Discuss the pictures afterward.
3. Over time, some of the words will become familiar to the baby. While reading, pause to allow your baby to point to familiar words and read them.
4. Point to the words while your baby reads them.
5. Eventually your baby will be able to read most of the words in the book while you help with unfamiliar words.
6. In time, your baby will be able to read phonetically.

–Dr. Robert C. Titzer

I utilize multi-sensory learning techniques to teach babies and toddlers throughout the world to read. Today, I am in Scotland for the Scottish Baby Show and preparing to be interviewed by Scottish TV News about early language development.

In my previous posting, I described the fundamentals of multi-sensory learning, which is to employ as many of a baby’s sensory systems as possible while they are experiencing the world around them. These methods have been used to successfully teach babies as young as nine months old to read. Studies show there are many advantages to early reading. In this posting, I am going to list some of the most important advantages.

The following are key benefits a child can derive from early reading:

• Early readers stay ahead of children who are taught later in life.
• Some research indicates that the gap between early readers and later readers actually increases over time. This is sometimes known as the “Matthews Effect” where rich learners get richer and poor learners get poorer.
• Studies from all areas of language (spoken language, second languages, sign language, receptive language, etc.) show that it’s easier to learn the patterns of language early in childhood compared to later in childhood.
• The window for learning language begins to close by age four.
• Reading is the most important skill a child learns.
• Reading increases learning skills and it helps children succeed both in school and later in life.
• Children who enter school with reading skills have higher self-esteem than children who cannot read when they enter school.
• Children who are taught to read earlier prefer to read more than children who are taught at age five or later.
• A Yale University study says “activating children’s neural circuitry for reading early on is key.”
• It’s likely the baby brain will develop more efficiently for reading when the child learns to read early in childhood compared to later in childhood.
• The current methods of teaching reading and the age where it begins are not working for hundreds of millions of children around the world.
• Teaching reading earlier may eliminate most reading problems according to a U.S. National Panel of Reading Specialists and Early Childhood Educators.
• Better readers are more likely to stay in school than poor readers.

– By Dr. Robert C. Titzer

I firmly believe it is not in children’s best interest to withhold written language while they are learning spoken language. Starting with my own children, who both learned to read before their first birthdays I have traveled the world introducing parents to multi-sensory learning, with thousands of babies learning to read using my techniques.

Here, I will describe the fundamentals of multi-sensory learning and how any parent, anywhere, can use them on a daily basis to help put their children on the path to early learning.

It is a scientific fact that babies learn more about many aspects of their world, when they learn through multiple sensory systems. Every parent knows that when babies are given toys they will look at them, shake them, and often put them in their mouths. This is how they acquire knowledge about toys and other objects in their environment. They learn through several sensory systems - looking, touching, listening, moving, and tasting.

Here are the key points about multi-sensory learning:

1. It is more fun than learning through one sensory system.

2. It is easier and more natural to learn through multiple sensory systems.

3. It is better for baby brain development. Infants have tens of thousands of new brain connections forming every second, many going from the different sensory areas of the brain. The more elaborate the connections made in their brains, the deeper their learning will be.

4. This approach works well for everyone, whether the person is a visual, auditory or physical learner.

The key to multi-sensory learning is to create situations where a child uses as many senses as possible during an experience. For example, if a baby is interested in flowers, let her see, smell, touch and feel a flower. Without any effort on her part, the infant will simultaneously process multi-sensory information about flowers, giving her a better understanding of them.

I have effectively applied multi-sensory techniques to learning language. In order to teach reading skills, I suggest adding the written word to the activities a baby is doing. I use this approach and more in the early learning system I designed called Your Baby Can Read!

-Dr. Robert C. Titzer

Every father wants the best for his children. I have two wonderful daughters: Aleka, age 16, and Keelin, age 13, both excellent students and well-rounded teenagers. One reason they have achieved so much in their lives is that they had the advantage of learning to read while still babies.

When Aleka was born, I was a teacher for San Diego California Unified School District and had already been accepted into the Ph.D. program at Indiana University. My research was focused primarily on how adults learn, but I had acquired knowledge about baby brain development. When Aleka was three months old, I wrote words on paper plates and showed them to her. Encouraged by her attention, I designed a home video for her to watch and interact with. As her interest and development grew, so did my commitment to this exciting new early learning system I found myself creating.

Aleka’s progress was extraordinary. At the age of nine months, she could read thirty words; at one year, 400 words. By the age of two, she was able to read twenty books a day (mostly first-grade to third-grade level) and at age four, possessed the phonetic ability of a twelfth grader. However, as a scientist, I needed to replicate this success in order to be certain that Aleka wasn’t a unique case.

When Keelin began recognizing words, I knew that my multi-sensory approach to teaching reading would work with other babies. That realization set me on the path to share this educational breakthrough with parents everywhere. I have since devoted my professional life to the study of how infants learn, and have helped thousands of babies around the world to read.

Watching Aleka and Keelin grow up and excel in school has made me very content. They have both maintained 4.0 GPA averages and each has skipped at least one grade. And they are typical American teenagers—except that they can read at a level most people cannot unless they are taught as a baby

I can assure you that the best time–and the most natural time–to teach children to read is when they are babies. My own children, and thousands of others I have taught through my baby reading DVD system, Your Baby Can Read!, continue to enjoy the great gifts that early learning can bring. –Dr. Robert C. Titzer