Bridging the Million Word Gap

We know reading to children is vitally important. We have all been told that we must read to our little ones. Whether we were told by our physicians, pediatricians, teachers, other parents, our own parents, or we read it in every baby book or blog post, we know reading is important. Now here's what I want you to know... (especially before you read the rest of this article) ...it is better to begin reading late than to not begin at all.

Now why am I even saying that? Well... what we aren't always told about this very important reading that is to happen is that it really needs to begin the day our sweet babies are born and it needs to continue daily for the first five years of our child's life.

Studies reflect that children who are read to daily from infancy to their 5th birthday accumulate exposure to over a million more words than children who are not being read to. That is a million more words heard which is a million more words to then potentially be spoken and that is a million more words to also be understood.

The reason that reading is attributed to creating this million word gap between children of readers and non-readers is that when we read books to children they are exposed to more lexically diverse language than in the standard conversations we have each day. The simple exposure to these new words allows children to expand their vocabularies and enhance their ability to make meaning of the world.

The moral of this story: get yourself some books to read to your children.

For some of you, this is easy. Your child may love to read with you. You read one, two, maybe even ten story books a day. Keep on it!

But what if your child really isn't all that interested in books?

I acknowledge that for some of you reading daily is really challenging. Whether your schedule doesn't allow for much time to read or your child is not a book worm, you may not get a story in every day and that's ok. Don't give up! Just because they aren't showing interest in books yet doesn't mean they won't and we have the ability to keep piquing their interest with new and engaging books and to model a love for reading ourselves. It's also really important to note that most children will naturally go through a phase (or phases) where the reading that was once beloved will no longer be of interest and it isn't necessarily because they don't enjoy it anymore. The key word up there is phase and it does pass. Why is this? Well, the world becomes very interesting to babies and toddlers as their brains develop. As they become more and more aware of their environment, they become keen to explore it. This simply means that sitting to read may be less enticing than the fluff on the floor or the toy on the shelf or the noise outside the window. My advice to you no matter what is going on is KEEP READING! Remember that reading to your child has to happen in order to bridge this vocabulary gap. Let them play with the fluff or their cards and blocks but read them a story while they do it. They don't have to always be in your lap for story time. Hearing the story is what is important in those early months. You can even try to jazz it up for those reluctant readers.

1. Read while you're in the car, the tub, in a blanket fort, take the wagon to the park, pack a picnic and read while you munch on your lunch. But just keep reading...

2. Read to them from your favourite novel! If you'd rather read Harry Potter instead of a board book while they are colouring or playing away, go for it! Hearing the language is a huge component for language acquisition!

3. The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten reading challenge is another simple and free way to keep your littles engaged in books and reading. Your local library may already have this set up and have all the materials including the sticker book and app instructions. They may do prizes or your child may get to write their name on the board! If not, it's all online free for printing and using here! You can make it fun and engaging in a way that is most meaningful for your child!

Finally, can we just talk about the biggest hurdle a lot of families face when trying to read to their children? Sometimes the hardest part is that books are so dang expensive. There is absolutely no doubt about that. We only have a small collection of books at home for Lilly. Thank the good Lord for libraries! Libraries can be so helpful in putting books in the hands of your children. We are in our local library twice a week at least! Garage sales are another great place to find used books. I also recently came across a great website for deals on books called Book Outlet. Haven't ordered any yet from there, but my sister-in-law just ordered over a dozen books for less than $50 so when I am planning to buy some new ones, you can bet that's where I will be going! But rest in knowing that reading the same books over and over is also extremely beneficial for children! So even if you don't have access to a bountiful amount of books, it's okay! If you are on the fourteenth reading of The Three Little Pigs, you might be over it but your child's brain is loving it! Repetition of reading helps children acquire new words faster. Studies have shown that it is not necessarily the number of different books that is important, but all of those requests to “read it again makes the difference!

So whatever books you have and wherever you are... read them to your children often!

Happy Reading!

-Ashley

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Sources:

Logan JAR, Justice LM, Yumuş M, Chaparro-Moreno LJ. When Children Are Not Read to at Home: The Million Word Gap. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics: March 20, 2019. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000657

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3111254/