Develop Your Child's Thinking Mind to Read and Speak

You can start teaching your child to read by developing his or her thinking mind.

At the beginning of the eighth month or so, your child should be able to act on an object to create a given effect, such as making a sound. Your child is beginning to understand the relationship between cause and effect. Show your child how a certain action will create a certain expected result. It should be apparent that your child expects the effect and that the effect is the main motive for his or her action.

Show your child how he or she can overcome an obstacle to get what he or she wants by thinking.

Activities and Games

Acquiring an object by overcoming an obstacle

Show your child how he or she can reach a toy by moving around an object, such as climbing under or moving around a table.

Acquiring an object with the aid of tools

Show your child how he or she can acquire an object by pulling one end of a piece of string or cloth. Your child should be taught and trained to use his or her thinking to get what he or she wants.

Developing the thinking mind is one of the first steps towards learning how to read and speak.

Pointing at Things

Your child may also begin the development of recognition of objects at about the eighth or ninth month. Your child may well be making unintelligible sounds as he or she does so, as if actually naming these objects. If your child turns his or her head and eyes to the object you have just named, your child may have indeed formed an association between the word and the object; in other words, your child is beginning to understand the meaning of words. That is the beginning of passive speech, which is clearly an indication that your child is ready to respond appropriately to words.

Show your child that everything has a name, and name every object that your child meets. By the age of six months or so, you can be labeling your child’s everyday items for him or her, such as “Here is your bottle!” and “This is your napkin!” Give your child a period of familiarizing play with them, for example, making a spoon disappear or throwing it about. Use all everyday situations, such as feeding, bathing, and dressing, to increase your child’s passive vocabulary, and talk as you experience daily activities with your child.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau