Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Your toddler already lights up at the sight of their own name. We cover why that happens in When Toddlers See Their Name in Books. This post picks up where that one leaves off. Once name recognition is in place, your child starts noticing the individual letters inside their name,…
Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Toddlers gravitate toward animal characters in books. Ask any parent whose two-year-old demands the same bear story every night, and they will confirm it. The pull toward talking bears, curious rabbits, and gentle elephants runs deeper than cute illustrations. Developmental psychologists have studied why animal characters connect with young children,…
Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Parents often ask when to start reading personalized books with a child. The short answer: most children benefit starting around 18 months, though 2-year-olds get real advantages too. Here is what the developmental research says, and how to match your approach to your child’s age. What Happens at 18 Months…
Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Most 5-year-olds are not fluent readers yet. They sit in the middle of learning the skills leading to reading: naming letters, connecting letters to sounds, and following print from left to right. Some 5-year-olds sound out simple words on their own. Others need another year or two before words click…
Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Most two-year-olds do not read the way adults picture reading: sounding out letters and turning them into words. What happens at this age looks like reading from across the room. Up close, it works differently. What Reading Looks Like at Age 2 A 2014 study on toddler reading programs, cited…
Reviewed by the Chilkibo team Board books work best for children from birth through about age four. Their thick, sturdy pages hold up to grabbing, chewing and rough handling, long before a child builds the fine motor skills and care needed for a paper book. This guide covers why board books matter at each age,…
