Board Books Station Summary
Read the books with your child. Describe the pictures and what is going on in the story.
Cognitive Benefits
Reading to babies contributes to the development of their growing brains and gives them a good start towards a lifelong love of reading and good literature (Bright Horizons, 2020).
When you read to infants, it can also help language development as they are taking in information and beginning to learn about speech patterns (Bright Horizons, 2020).
As babies see a picture of a red bird in the book and you name the bird, they begin to make the connection between what you say and the picture of the red bird (Bright Horizons, 2020).
Social and Emotional
Your baby hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds. This supports social and emotional development (Lewis, 2019).
It encourages your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions. This helps with social development and thinking skills (Lewis, 2019).
Perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that it makes a connection between the things your baby loves the most — your voice and closeness to you — and books (Lewis, 2019).
At Home Strategies
You do not have to read the words to tell a story. Try “reading” the pictures in a book for your child sometime. When your child is old enough, ask him to read the pictures to you (Zero to Three, 2020).
Explain what the story is about (Zero to Three, 2020).
Run your finger along the words as you read them, from left to right (Zero to Three, 2020).
Talk about your own family, pets, or community when you are reading about others in a story (Zero to Three, 2020).
References
Bright Horizons Family Solutions. (2020). The Benefits of Reading to Babies and Infants. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/the-importance-of-reading-to-babies-and-infants 
Lewis, K. N. (Ed.). (2019, August). Reading Books to Babies (for Parents) - Nemours KidsHealth. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/reading-babies.html 
Zero to Three. (2020). How to Introduce Toddlers and Babies to Books. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/304-how-to-introduce-toddlers-and-babies-to-books

Items