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.