A few weeks ago I noticed a full page advertisement in our city’s newspaper titled “YOUR BABY CAN READ” which as a childcare worker got my attention. :-)

When I began to read this I was shocked at the notion that this was encouraging children to learn to read when they are as young as just 9 months. I know that there are prodigies out there but isn’t this going a bit too far!

Are we encouraging our children to read too quickly and are we expecting them to grow up before they are ready?  Let them be children and learn through self discovery and play.

I read somewhere that a baby’s brain is automatically making thousands of new connections every second and that in bilingual families children can learn to speak two languages by the age of 5. That’s all very well, but in my opinion, teaching them to read when they are babies is expecting too much. They are at an age where their brains are like sponges and they take in so much and it has always been my belief that they should be left to develop naturally. There are many ways that you can engage your child that will help them to develop at their pace.

Why force them to read before they are ready!

What are your thoughts on this?

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