The reading journey in early childhood

From the moment of birth, children begin forming an emotional bond with their primary caregivers. This bond is built through sensory experiences and the adult’s physical contact with their child. Hearing is already developed, and the voice becomes a crucial emotional element, providing the baby with a sense of security, as do eye contact and touch.
For this reason, during the first six months of life it is important to promote:
Singing lullabies and nursery rhymes, which have an essential emotional and intellectual aspect for the baby.

Singing and talking to the baby, as well as listening to short musical snippets.

The child is a being of language.
Around six months old, babies learn about the world by exploring it with all their senses. Through hand-eye coordination, they explore objects and also books, which for them are sensory objects (books with different textures).
We can continue with the lullabies.

Start traditional skirt and finger games.

Later:
We can spend time looking at picture books with the baby on our lap or beside us. These can be photo albums, picture books, and we can start creating dialogues using sounds, words, and gestures based on the images.

Children understand much more than they can verbally express themselves. Around the age of two, there is a significant qualitative leap in their language development. This is also a more symbolic stage: they express themselves with words and want to hear stories.
Introduce stories with short narratives.

Books that sing (songbooks, rhymes, poetry).

Offer stories that represent the world they know (daily life, family, etc.).

From the age of three:
We can introduce them to picture books, which are undoubtedly an artistic experience. As the Czech artist Květa Pacovská says:
“The book is the first museum that a child visits.”

These are attractive formats that invite you to read and enjoy them. The image helps to go beyond the written text.
Introduce folk tales and traditional stories. Emotions can be expressed through this magical world. Children can see themselves reflected in the characters, allowing them to identify, express, and learn to manage their emotions.

This practice has been applied in Catalonia, in municipal schools and extracurricular activities.