Literacy Skills: The Roots of Reading Start at Birth

Young children hear their parents and caretakers say a lot of words every day and it adds up.

Reading together is an extraordinary experience for parent and child. Research shows that when parents read to their children, children develop a love of books that later builds strong reading skills.

What’s the connection? The more words children hear and understand, the more they can say, and the better their reading and vocabulary skills are likely to be.

Children whose parents talk to them frequently hear about 45 million words in the first four years, in families that don’t talk as much children heard 13 million words.