You can easily teach your baby to read the names of family members while looking at a photo album. Babies love to look at pictures of familiar faces. This is especially useful for exposing babies to family members they don’t see as often, helping them remember extended family. By incorporating this one small step, you can turn her family scrapbook into a tool that will have your baby reading family names in no time.
For babies to learn to read easily, we must isolate the words we want to teach them. The brain takes the word and records it as if it were an image. In order for this process to happen naturally, we just need to make sure to keep the words and images separate from each other. It’s okay for babies to see pictures and words, but it’s better if they see the word first and then a picture.
To make an album for your baby, get a small photo album and write each person’s name on a 4×6-inch index card. Write the names with a red or black marker so they are as large as possible and easy to read. Place the ID card on the top page. Flip the page and place the image there. It should have a name on one page and an image on the next.
This way your baby will first see the name and then turn the page to see the picture. You don’t have to look at the names. Just say the name and turn the page to see each image. It’s helpful to point to the name as she says it, so your baby makes the connection that this is the written form of the word.
It helps to place a piece of tape over the opening where the pictures slide. This will make it harder for your baby to take the pictures. If your baby is anything like mine, this will soon become one of her favorite books to read. Because it’s small, it’s easy for her son to carry and turn the pages.