Helping Babies and Toddlers Learn Language (Part 1)

  •  January 19, 2024

Part 1 – A New Approach

Little children continue to amaze us with what they can learn, and we are constantly having to readjust our expectations as to what is possible, as well as when that is possible.

I believe one such example lies in language acquisition.  For example, whereas reading skills were once only expected to be developed during elementary school, we are seeing that children are developing these skills earlier and earlier, and greater exposure is now given to the written word during kindergarten.

What if babies can not only learn the written word much earlier than thought, but the process of learning also helps them understand and communicate better, and sooner?

This has been exactly my personal experience having first taught my daughter many years ago, and continues to be my experience with my toddler son (see this video of him understanding many words at 12 months, and reading full sentences by 24 months).

It is from this experience that I would like to share what I think could be a new approach towards infant language learning that we should consider.

Current Expectations and Approach

In terms of the language development that we expect from little children, this is the typical order and time frame:

  • Stage 1: Listening and understanding

We talk to our babies from birth (and even before), and we expect that over time, after hearing us over and over again, they will start to understand what we are saying.

  • Stage 2: Talking and communicating

Sometime after their first birthday, we expect them to utter their first words, and start being able to respond to our questions, whether verbally or by gesture.

  • Stage 3: Recognizing words and reading

Generally, we only expect them to start the long process of recognizing words and learning to read much later, perhaps getting some initial exposure during kindergarten, but mainly only after reaching primary school.

In the first three years, especially the first two, the focus is on getting our babies and toddlers to listen and repeat words to learn to speak.  We teach them words by pointing to things or showing them pictures and saying the names out loud. We don’t focus much on teaching them to read or recognize these words in writing; if we show written words, it’s just as labels for pictures, not expecting the little ones to remember them.

What if Stage 3 (recognizing words and reading) could happen earlier, even before Stage 2? And what if teaching the written word very early on could also make both Stage 1 and Stage 2 happen earlier?

This is what I believe is the promise of this new approach.

The New Approach

Here are four important things about this new approach:

  • Immediate Aim is Improved Communication

First, although the written word is an integral part, the immediate aim is not to teach our little ones to read. Rather, it is to help them build their vocabulary and improve their ability to understand us and to express themselves. The sooner they can do this, the sooner they can communicate well with us. This makes parenting easier and reduces frustration for both parents and children when their needs aren’t understood.

  • Deliberate Teaching From Infancy

Secondly, we start teaching them from a very early age as babies, as early as six months old.  We would be teaching them in a very deliberate and systematic way making full use of current technology, as opposed to only doing so casually through our regular daily interactions.  I firmly believe that the best time to teach children is during ages 0-2, and I explain why in Part 2.

  • Personalized Content

Thirdly, we are teaching our little ones about the world around them – not the world in general, but their world specifically.  We do this by primarily using personalized content that is based on their everyday life, so that everything that we teach is directly relevant to them, or is something they are interested in.  In other words, there is no fixed teaching material (let alone a curriculum), and the content shown is personalized as much as possible.

The easiest way to have such personalized content is simply by capturing our babies’ surroundings and activities as pictures or short videos using our smart phone, and then playing back the content to them regularly.  Depending on the equipment available and personal preferences, the content would generally be shown via a tablet, casting to a TV, or storybook print-outs.

I believe that personalized content is so important that I talk more about it in detail in Part 2.

  • Show and Teach Words

Finally, we show and teach the written word right from the start. We first display the words and read them out loud, then show the corresponding pictures and videos, and present the words again afterwards.

The Importance of Teaching Words Early

One reason for placing emphasis on the written word is similar to why early learning experts encourage us, when reading storybooks to our little ones, to not only read to them but also to point to the words as we read them.

By showing and reading out words, we let babies understand that what they see in the pictures and videos not only can be described by sound (our voice), but also by writing, and that in fact, the writing also corresponds to the sound.

Let’s take an example. When we show pictures of a cat, sounding out ‘cat’ will let babies associate the visual image of a cat with the sound, ‘cat’. However, by also showing the word ‘cat’ and sounding out ‘cat’ at the same time, babies will start to associate all three (the image, sound, and word) together, and understand that the furry creature they see is called ‘cat’, and can be represented in written form as ‘cat’.

Having babies associate not only image with sound, but also with the written word, may initially seem like adding an unnecessary complication and making it more difficult for the baby to learn. However, the truth is that in the long term, learning all three items together actually makes it easier for them to remember, similar to how we would remember a person’s name more easily if we also saw the name in written form in addition to hearing it.

More importantly, this method helps with learning to read phonetically later on. At first, babies see words like ‘cat’ as single pictures, not as a group of letters. However, what I’ve repeatedly noticed is that over time, they start to notice that words are made of letters that follow a pattern in how they sound, even without being directly taught. By being exposed to enough words, they begin to understand some phonics rules on their own. This means they can start sounding out new words they’ve never seen before. They do this naturally as pattern-recognition machines. This early understanding is a great foundation for when they learn the alphabet and formal phonics rules later. 

Other Major Benefits

You can see my son Kyler in videos recognizing words at 13 months, and seemingly reading full sentences at 24 months.  Is he really reading? That depends on how you define ‘reading.’ To me, my answer would be: “Maybe. Maybe not. Does it really matter?”

Teaching babies to read can be a controversial subject. I discuss this more in another article, but it’s important to remember that our main goal is to help babies understand words and start communicating sooner. Whether Kyler is actually reading or not, and the broader question of whether babies can be taught to read, are beside the point.

This is especially so because the benefits of this approach do not end there. It’s clear to me that teaching my son this way has brought many other benefits. Apart from having better and earlier communication, these include:

  • Parent child bonding

Teaching Kyler has caused me to be very involved with his upbringing and education. Not only has it given me pride for being his first teacher, but it has bonded us in ways that is even more fulfilling than watching him learn to read.  Even though he may be, naturally, more reliant on his mother, it is me he would always turn to where learning is concerned.

  • Love of books, confidence in reading

It always brings a smile to my face when I see him picking up books himself at home and reading them out loud to himself, or attempting to read sign boards and posters that we come across when we’re out.  My wish for Kyler is to be able to acquire knowledge for himself independently as early as possible, and he seems quite clearly to be heading that way.

  • Invaluable gallery documenting child’s development

I usually don’t take many pictures or videos, even of my children. However, teaching Kyler has led me to record videos of him everywhere, even during mundane everyday activities. This has resulted in a precious album that captures his learning journey. It’s become so valuable to me that it motivates me to keep taking videos to teach him.

In Closing

I believe that teaching language systematically from an early age using written words can greatly benefit our babies and toddlers. It can accelerate their language development, strengthen their independence and confidence, and deepen the parent-child bond. Our little ones have immense potential during their formative years – let’s consider a new approach in early education where we can support them in reaching it.

In part two, I go into further detail on how to implement this new approach, especially what we can do as parents.