How to prep and protect your baby's reading brain

How to prep and protect your baby’s reading brain and why you should.

Parents, if you struggled with reading and spelling during your school years, chances are your children are at an elevated risk of experiencing the same frustrations and difficulties.

What can you do proactively to equip your kids to overcome reading difficulties before they start formal schooling?

Experts agree. Parents should create enriching language experiences for their children while they’re in utero and as soon as they’re born. Parents should talk, read, and sing to their babies constantly. Singing is important because it trains the baby’s brain to hear musical rhythms and rhythmic speech patterns, such as syllables. Syllables are combinations of vowel and consonant sounds, such as /ab/. When parents chant, sing, and spell syllable sounds, it helps the baby’s brain become adept at recognizing those sounds in spoken words. Consistent exposure to songs, such as nursery rhymes, helps babies develop an early sense of phonological awareness, or the ability to segment speech into intelligible sounds. Phonological awareness is essential for early literacy skills.

Where can you find an early literacy curriculum that includes syllable sounds and songs that activate and enhance the brain cells your baby will use to develop reading and spelling skills? Try Sylla-Bear, an adorable singing phonics bear that bonds with your baby as their first literacy coach—and yours too!

Learn more about Sylla-Bear here.