How to Make the Most of Book-Reading

In last week’s blog, I talked about how signing spurs language development by increasing a baby’s enjoyment of books. Part of the explanation that I gave for this positive relationship between books and language development involved something researchers call “Dialogic Reading” Quite simply, this term means engaging your child in a conversation about what’s on the page rather than just reading the text and moving on. What I want to do today is provide some specific tips for how to get such conversations going.

• Instead of only asking for labels (like “What’s that?”), ask questions that require some thought to answer (“Where do you think Goldilocks is running to?”) In general, good openers include “Why….?” “How….?” “Where…?” You’ll find you naturally expand on whatever answer your child provides, thus providing more words for your baby to ponder—and learn (e.g., “Too big? Yes, Goldilocks was too big. She was just too heavy for that little bitty chair.”).

• Ask about things that are more abstract, like feelings or predictions about the future. “How do you think Goldilocks felt when…?” “What do you think Goldilocks told her mommy when she got home?” Parents really underestimate children’s ability to think about such things. What’s more, helping your child identify a character’s feelings will indirectly help her identify her own.

• Ask questions that relate the book’s events to your child’s own life. “Have you ever seen a bear?” “What would you do if you woke up and saw three bears?” Like the rest of the human race, babies are more interested in things that have direct relevance to their own lives.

• Relax, laugh a lot, and “go with the flow.” Don’t worry if your child gives the wrong answer—or no answer at all! The point is to make talking fun. A child who genuinely enjoys such give and take will be motivated to get better at participating. A child who doesn’t, who feels “interrogated” and put on the spot, will emotionally withdraw and see book-reading as aversive. In other words, “Dialogic Reading” is not—I repeat—is not an IQ test! It’s just a simple way to enrich the experience of cuddling up with Mom or Dad and a good book.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program

and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Baby Sign Language and Books: A Wonderful Partnership

As most of you know by now, Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I discovered through our federally funded research

that signing actually speeds up rather than slows down the process of learning to talk.

There are a number of reasons why. The one I’m going to focus on here is the fact that signing makes book-reading more fun. And how does that help language development? Think about the books you read with your children. First of all, the pages themselves provide lots of things with names—both in the text and in the pictures. For babies just learning to talk, these names are often novel. That means they are getting exposed to new vocabulary items—and every time you read the same book again (which we know babies demand), they get the repetition needed to add these names to their repertoires.

The second reason books help language development is through what psychologists call “Dialogic Reading.” This is a fancy term for something very simple. It means engaging the baby in a conversation (i.e., dialogue) about the things on the pages, conversations that include questions for the baby to answer, even if in very simple terms. (“What’s the doggie doing?” “What do you think the baby owl is feeling?”) Research by Dr. Grover Whitehurst has shown that this “eliciting” of words from the baby during book-reading does promote language development.

So, there you have two reasons why book-reading with young children is good for language development. But, back to the initial assertion--that signing increases a child’s interest in books. The reason is because signs provide a baby with a way to actively participate in book reading at much younger ages. Instead of merely listening to Mom or Dad name things in a book, the baby can name them him/herself—with signs. And they do! Click here for an adorable example on YouTube (title "Baby Signs Julia"")—and notice how Baby Julia can point out things she thinks are interesting that her mother hadn’t really noticed, things she wanted to talk about. That really makes reading books more fun for babies! (By the way, the mom is Bonita from our home office and the videographer is Noah, Julia's 12-year-old brother.)

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
and
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program