Interactive Reading with Baby

Interactive reading or “dialogic reading” is a style of reading that parents can do with their children that has been proven to be effective and can increase IQ by more than six points. This isn’t just reading the words on a page to a child. It involves a give and take, actually interacting during the reading process. “‘Dialogic Reading’ is an interactive shared picture book reading practice designed to enhance young children’s language and literacy skills. During the shared reading practice, the adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller with the assistance of the adult, who functions as an active listener and questioner” (“Dialogic Reading,” 2006).

Interacting with the child rather than just reading the words on the page means that the child is more engaged with what’s going on. Asking questions as you’re reading (“The bear opened the blue door. Do you see something else blue nearby? What do you think will happen when he goes through that door?”) also requires the child to pay attention. Children’s attention can wander during reading sessions, and this interactivity requires the child to focus (Follmer, 2014).

In addition to creating a more engaging reading session, talking with the child during the process helps the child understand conversation, natural speech and language patterns, and lets the parent learn more about the child and his or her interest. Just handing a book to my daughter to use on her own doesn’t let me see if she actually uses it or if she’s interested in it, but by reading with her and actively engaging with her, I see that even at 8 months old (and even earlier), she is clearly more interested in some items than others. There’s a particular book, Hello, Bugs

, which is (shockingly) about bugs that she adores right now, I think especially because I make the noises and motions that the book indicates go along with each bug (buzz buzz, scuttle scuttle).

Sample questions to ask while reading:

• Do you see [X]? What else is [that color/shape]?
• How do you think that makes [the character] feel?
• How does it make you feel when that happens to you?
• What do you think is [behind the door, on the next page, etc.]? Asking what might happen next helps the child think through the narrative and get used to the structure of stories.
• Do you like that? Is that something you’d like to do? Help the child think of him or herself in the same position as the character in the book.

Even after reading with the child, it’s good to refer back to what was read and promotes further learning. Later that same day or in the next several days, try to ask questions that refer back to the story you read together. If you read a book about a dog, maybe point out a dog while walking and mention what had happened to the dog in the story you’d read. Do the dogs look similar? Do they behave in the same way? If you read a story about a child having an adventure, ask your child if he or she would like to have a different adventure, to the grocery store, library, or wherever else you need to go. By referring back to the book, the child helps connect that the things in books are just restricted to those books or to storytime; they relate to the child’s own life. It also helps reinforce concepts and even the ability to focus.

Reading with your child should be a fun experience for you both, a way to connect. You aren’t really teaching your child to read at such an early stage. There are a lot of baby media products out there that claim that they can teach your baby to read, and research has found that babies, “did not learn to read using baby media, despite some parents displaying great confidence in the program’s effectiveness” (Neuman, 2014). Becoming used to books and establishing a positive association with them, though, sets up babies for long-term success and later reading.

Sources and Further Reading:

• “Dialogic Reading. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report.” What Works Clearinghouse (2006):ERIC. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
• Follmer Greenhoot, Andrea, Alisa Miller Beyer, and Jennifer Curtis. “More Than Pretty Pictures? How Illustrations Affect Parent-Child Story Reading And Children’s Story Recall.” Frontiers In Psychology 5.(2014): 1–36. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
• Kindle, Karen J. “Interactive Reading In Preschool: Improving Practice Through Professional Development.”Reading Improvement 50.4 (2013): 175–188. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
• Neuman, Susan B., et al. “Can Babies Learn To Read? A Randomized Trial Of Baby Media.” Journal Of Educational Psychology 106.3 (2014): 815–830. PsycARTICLES. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.