You cannot hold your excitement when you are child utters words for the first time. From this moment onwards your child is going to learn so many new things. When you listen to the babbling sounds of your child carefully, you will be able to understand that your child is trying to repeat the sounds and utter the words that you have made a short while ago.

Your baby is putting his or her maximum effort to communicate with you. Your job as a parent is to encourage this natural instinct to grow full-fledged.

Following is a guide for how to teach baby to talk:

• Let your baby learn to talk in his or her own way. You should not put much pressure by making your child utter words quickly. This will make him or her disinterested and can even result into stammering.
• Children have a habit of imitating their parents, the words they say and the sounds they make. So, talk to your baby and while you talk look at his eyes and watch his reaction thoroughly. You will see his efforts to imitate the motions of your mouth and watching this will bring tears of joy in your eyes.
• When you talk, make sure that your speech is distinct and slow. Put stress on a couple of words. Emphasizing on these two words, you should move your mouth and tongue distinctly and slowly so that your baby is able to follow you properly.
• Babies are very much interested in the source of the sounds. They love to put their fingers into the mouths of the elders. Open your mouth as wide as possible so that they are able to pick up the sounds and words clearly.
• Talk to your baby joyfully. As you follow their reactions they also follow yours. So, smile while you talk.  He or she must not get the slightest hint that you are trying to teach him or her something. This may arise problems in the task.
• Do not forget to give rewards to your baby for his or her achievements. This acts as a great motivation for them to learn unknown things and to explore new avenues.

These are the tips and guidelines for how to teach your baby to talk. As the months will pass, the time will come for your child to learn how to read. As a parent, then also it will be your responsibility to teach your child to read. After all, parents are a child’s first and best teachers.

When do you start teaching your little one to read? This question bothers many first-time parents. It becomes even more confusing because of the existence of differing opinions in this regard. While you are sure to hear a lot about why baby reading at an early age is not a good idea, here are a few ways your little one can do this with ease.

Try the age-old method many parents use – native reading. Get a good picture book with colorful images. Point out a particular picture and speak out its name loudly. Make sure your baby can see the mouth movement. They would pick up the sounds first (it is easier to learn phonics for him/her), and later the words.

Use flash cards for your baby. You can opt for real ones or virtual ones on your computer. These big cards with bold and colorful images or alphabets or letters are useful tools when it comes to teaching your baby to read. This helps to associate images with letters and words and enhance learning.

You can also take help from multi-sensory tools that boost early reading skills in your little son or daughter. Get a reading DVD that has images, letters, words, colors, sounds, and such other features to attract the various senses in your baby. Such methods work well because they capture your baby’s attention and fascinate them.

Whatever method you choose to use, you need to keep in mind certain factors. The following tips could come in handy to make these sessions a success.

ü  Incorporate elements of reading in the daily routine for few minutes at a time.

ü  Make sure your kid is having fun while he/she learns to read.

ü  Always remain on his/her side.

ü  Do not burden him/her with learning attempts.

ü  Let go at times your kid wants to play instead of learn.

When your kid’s advantage is your objective, you need to be careful. Do try out different methods of teaching your baby to read; however, never try to impose anything on your little one. After all, you need your baby to be happy first.