Teach the baby to read from birth. This is vital because the ‘critical window of learning’ theory says that there are certain times or ‘windows’ during which it is best to learn certain skills such as reading. The human brain is primed and ready to learn during these critical windows. This is the optimal time to learn a particular skill or concept. In fact, the theory goes further and says that it is very difficult or even impossible to learn certain skills if the window of opportunity is missed.
We know that the critical learning windows for learning a language, that is, reading, speaking and writing, are during the first three to five years of life. That’s BEFORE your baby goes to school. Therefore, parents must take responsibility for teaching the baby to read from the first day.
It is so important to teach the baby to read from birth! That’s the only way to make sure critical moments for learning vital language and reading skills aren’t missed. The ability to learn language is limited to the first few years before puberty.
After that time as a result of changes in the brain the ability is lost. This has been shown in cases of children who have been woefully neglected and not given the necessary brain stimulation to learn to speak, as the sad stories we hear show.
Wild children and the critical window theory
We know that the ability to speak will not develop unless a child is spoken to. There have been cases of ‘feral’ children being raised by animals. These unfortunate children did not learn to speak properly despite being talked to and put into language development programs when they were discovered. By then, “critical windows” of learning opportunities had been lost.
Although the critical period was debated for a few years, there is now compelling evidence, including evidence of feral, confined, and isolated children. Unless exposed to language early in life, humans lose much of their natural ability to learn language and especially its grammar. So it stands to reason that the better the quality and quantity of your baby’s language experiences, the better his reading and language skills will be.