Read Aloud to Your Children: Early Exposure to Literary World Fosters Brain Development

What you teach your child throughout the early stages of his or her life will ultimately influence the beginning of their education. Now, a new recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that parents begin reading stories aloud to their children, starting as early as birth.

"Reading with young children is a joyful way to build strong and healthy parent-child relationships and stimulate early language development," said Dr. Pamela High, a pediatrician and professor at Brown University's Alpert Medical School who was a part of drafting the policy, via the HuffPost. "The benefits are so compelling that encouraging reading at check-ups has become an essential part of care."

The release of the organization's statement is linked to a broader announcement by Hillary Rodham Clinton about the new early literacy partnership Too Small to Fail, the AAP, Scholastic and Reach Out and Read, according to Publishers Weekly. 

Health officials said that previous research reiterates the success of brain development along with the fostering of early literary knowledge. In order to maximize these learning opportunities, the AAP advises that pediatricians become "powerful advocates for reading aloud," according to the New York Times.

"The reality of today's world is that we're competing with portable digital media," said Dr. Alanna Levine, a pediatrician in Orangeburg, NY. "So you really want to arm parents with tools and rationale behind it about why it's important to stick to basics of things like books."

The authors said that higher income families may also be missing out on optimum literary involvement with their child/ren. Furthermore, officials argue that literacy promotion should be extended to pediatric residency programs.

"Pediatricians are taking a stand to spread the news more widely that early shared reading is both fun and ultimately very rewarding," Levine added.