The early years of a child’s life are some of the most important when it comes to their development, and new research has revealed that parents are more proactive with baby learning than ever before
In a survey of 1,000 new parents from Baby to Toddler, which returns to ExCeL London next weekend (17th – 18th November), a whopping 97% of parents believe that reading to your baby from an early age is important, with 56% seeing it as very important. The majority (85%) of new parents believe that teaching your child to read or talk earlier on will have a good impact on them later in life.
When it comes to parenthood anxiety, a quarter (25%) worry that their child is slipping behind other babies in their circle. Half (50%) of new parents feel the pressure to teach their baby as many words as possible to help their development while nearly three quarters (73%) of parents said that if their child showed signs of delayed speech development then it would worry them.
And, nearly one in three (30%) parents have admitted to judging another baby or toddler for not being as developed as other babies in terms of speech, reading, crawling or weaning.
Dr. Robert Titzer, world-renowned infant researcher and expert at Baby to Toddler says: “It’s encouraging to hear that almost all parents surveyed by Baby to Toddler view reading to their little ones as important. Reading can be a great time to bond with your baby while helping them learn new words. The number of words taught to a baby by 18 months of age predicts how many words the child will know at later ages.
“In addition, research indicates that babies who know more words at 18 months have faster brain processing speeds than those who know fewer words*. This means that babies who are in better language environments think faster than babies who are in poorer language environments.
“Parents should start as early as possible to nurture their children’s learning as this is a key time when their brains are developing so rapidly, and they will reap the rewards later down the line.”
To help new parents develop their baby’s and toddler’s language and reading skills, Dr. Robert Titzer, founder of Your Baby Can Learn, will be holding regular free workshops throughout Baby to Toddler that will last approximately 20 minutes. These include:
- 11.30am How to Talk to Babies and Toddlers
- 12.30pm Teach Your Baby or Toddler a Foreign Language – Even If You Don’t Know One
- 1.30pm Nurture Early Maths, Music, and Thinking Skills in Babies and Toddlers
- 2.30pm How to Enhance Babies’ and Toddlers’ Language and Reading Skills
Baby to Toddler takes place twice a year – at ExCeL London (17th – 18th November) and the NEC in Birmingham (24th – 25th November).
*Fernald, Marchman, & Weisleder, 2013
