For Caregivers
Check out our Read, Talk, Play pages for more tips and fun activities to do with your child.
Screen Time
Birth - 2 Learn Best From You
Photo on left: It takes around 18 months for a baby's brain to develop to the point where the symbols on a screen come to represent their equivalents in the real world.
What infants and toddlers need most to learn is interaction with the people around them. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't video-chat with a distant grandparent or a deployed parent, but when it comes to day-to-day learning they need to touch things, shake them, throw them, and most of all to see the faces and hear the voices of those they love the most. Apps can teach toddlers to tap and swipe at a screen, but studies tell us that these skills don't translate into real-world learning.
Paper vs. Electronic
Neuroscience research shows that paper-based content is better connected to memory in our brains (Bangor University). So while electronics are becoming more and more prevalent in our day-to-day life, keep printed books the main form of reading in your home.
When reading an e-book, the moment that book becomes interactive, the part of the brain engaged in the activity changes and it no longer is an activity that builds literacy skills. There is no give and take here, electronics should be an enhancement and not a replacement.
© 2016 The Children's Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia