About Your Kid Can Read in nasik, Nashik

Why teach early?

Studies have shown that it is much easier to acquire language skills early in life than at any other time. Very young children naturally learn language simply through continuous exposure. Young children can learn two languages from birth just as easily as they can learn one.

It is our belief that children can likewise acquire the ability to read - in more than one language - simply through consistent exposure to the written word.

And unlike at school-age, when learning to read can prove a headache for many children, learning to read as a baby is as natural and effortless as learning to speak one's native language.

Since reading is one of the most important skills a child will ever learn, we would encourage parents to begin teaching their baby to read from the age of 4 months, or as early as possible.

Children who develop their language skills - and particularly, the ability to read - before starting school have higher self-esteem than their peers. These children are also more likely to enjoy school-based learning, as they have been equipped with the right basic tools early in life.

For more on teaching your baby to read, go to the Reading section. To see videos of babies reading, go to Baby Reading Videos.

You can also begin teaching your baby math from the age of 4 months, and if you do so, you will have the opportunity to give your child an intuitive understanding of this core subject.

This is because - up to the age of three and a half - small children perceive the world largely through the dominant right hemisphere of their brain (the left hemisphere becomes increasingly dominant thereafter). Small children can perceive the number of dots on a flash card without counting them, just as some savants can. This gives children the ability to truly understand, say, what 48 is versus 49. By retaining this ability to perceive quantity, even after their left brain begins to assume dominance, children can perform seemingly complex mathematical equations without a calculator. (For the rest of us though, numbers will have to remain abstract concepts, with a calculator almost certainly required for tasks such as multiplying two three-digit figures.)

For more on teaching your baby math, go to the Math section.

You would also not want to neglect your baby's artistic education - and where better to begin than with music? All babies naturally enjoy rhythm and melody - even before birth (just ask any mother who's felt her baby kick to certain tunes).

What you may not know, however, is that it's possible to teach your baby to have perfect pitch, provided you start early enough (sorry, but just like with right-brain math, we adults are too old to learn!).

Learning music is a lot like learning languages - it's a whole lot easier when you start young. And the sheer act of learning a musical instrument has profound sculpting effects on the brain. Musicians have been shown to have a larger than average corpus callosum (a fiber bundle that connects the brain's left and right hemispheres) - believed to produce enhanced synchronization between the two halves of the brain. What's more, brain regions responsible for movement planning and execution, as well as regions responsible for hearing, have been found to be larger in musicians than non-musicians.




Here are 6 fantastic reasons why children should be introduced to languages as early as possible:

Accent: It has already been established that children who learn a language when they are very young have a much better chance of not having a “foreign” accent when speaking another language. Research from a team at the University of Washington, which focuses specifically on childhood speech perception, has noted that as we get older, it is harder to pick up additional languages with native-like pronunciation. Thus, one very compelling reason to start children off with another language at a young age is to give them the gift of a native accent!

10,000 hours: Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers argues that to learn something well, it takes at least 10,000 hours of time on task (based on a study by K. Anders Ericsson) as well as the opportunity to learn the given task. It is hard for an adult to find 10,000 hours to devote to language learning. However, if we were to start in childhood, then 10,000 hours spread over a number of years (or a lifetime) doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Starting children early with language learning gives them this “leg up” that will help them succeed in mastering a language. Plus, using more than one language over a lifetime is the key behind the cognitive benefits of bilingualism that research has shown.

Enjoyment: Young children enjoy learning. They don’t care if an activity will improve their cognitive ability or motor skills. They just want to jump in and have a great time doing it. This same approach is true for children learning a new language. We would never try introducing high school students to a foreign language via children’s nursery rhymes, silly songs and hand puppets while sitting in a circle on the carpet. Yet, for young children, this is actually the best way to go about it because it makes language learning so much fun. It is amazing how quickly children will pick up a new language while having fun!

Undaunted: The wonderful thing about young children is that they will give things a try without necessarily worrying if it is correct or not. This applies to language learning as well. Young children will often jump right in to try out what they have learned without worrying about mistakes. They are eager to see the response they will get from other students and adults when trying out their new words and vocabulary. It is an exciting and empowering experience for children.

Support network: Young children have the opportunity for exposure and input from many different influences: parents, teachers, peers, and extended family. When both teacher and parent are on board with language learning, then children can be given language exposure, support and interaction all day long. A teacher can introduce words and songs in class while the parent further reinforces what was learned by offering activities and language exposure at home through CDs, bilingual books, games, videos and more. Plus, young children don’t have to deal with the difficulties of self-motivation that high school students or adults face when trying to learn a new language!

Unexceptional: Introducing children to languages when they are young helps them accept the fact that bilingualism and multilingualism are normal in our world. Speaking more than one language shouldn’t be treated as something out of the ordinary. It is simply a element of belonging to our global society. When young children are exposed to other languages and cultures at a very young age through books, videos, songs and objects, they will have the opportunity to feel comfortable growing up in a world where languages and cultures intertwine on a daily basis.