Babies can read. Your baby is reading when they engage with books and stories, either on their own or when you are reading to them.

This is reading to a baby and needs to be a fun part of every day.  You are your child's first teacher. You will strongly influence their success with reading.

Ensure your baby feels successful as a reader by recognising that babies can read and are reading at their own level.

Reading with your baby needs to be a natural and fun experience. It's not about flash cards and helping them master the alphabet.   Starting these exercises too soon could put your baby off reading forever!  If you immerse your baby in reading from the time they are born you are helping to ensure they will be successful readers for life.  
How?
By fostering in them a 'love' of reading and a want to do so.

Think about your own attitudes towards reading.

• Do you believe that babies can read?
• Are you someone who reads for pleasure or purely for information?
• What were your early reading experiences like?

These will influence and have an impact on the way you introduce reading to your baby.  Research has shown that babies who are bought up in a home which has books in it and by parents who read daily in front of them are more likely to be successful readers.

Babies should be encouraged to read every day to establish a love for reading. The more you are reading to your baby, the more they will grow to love reading and books.   You are giving your baby the greatest gift you can by ensuring they love books and reading.