{"id":6021,"date":"2013-12-04T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=6021"},"modified":"2023-11-08T10:31:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T18:31:32","slug":"building-early-language-skills-with-your-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-therapist\/building-early-language-skills-with-your-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Building Early Language Skills with Your Child"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reading with your child is one of the best ways to help build language skills. Source: news.appstate.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Mama!\u00a0 Dada!! Like many parents, you have likely been waiting months for your child to finally say a real word!\u00a0 Sure, the grunts, pointing and babbling sounds are cute, but that moment your child utters her first word is priceless!\u00a0\u00a0 Once the first word is spoken however, there is no turning\u00a0back. What was once a semi-peaceful trip to the grocery store is now filled with endless, \u201cBall\u201d, \u201cMama\u201d, \u201cApple\u201d, \u201cWant Dat\u201d.\u00a0 Car rides are no longer excuses to escape with Adam Levine.\u00a0 Instead the sounds of \u201cStop,\u201d \u201cGo\u201d, \u201cCar\u201d, \u201cFire Truck\u201d are yelled triumphantly and continuously from the back seat. Are there ways in which parents can start building speech and language skills early? \u00a0How early is too early?
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\nThe answer is YES you can start to teach your children language and speech skills at a very early age. \u00a0Children actually begin to learn and comprehend words and phrases long before they can speak their first word.\u00a0 Parents and caregivers are crucial components to the success of early speech and language building skills and often, the earlier, the better. \u00a0Parents can help build language skills by setting up an environment that gives children reasons to talk and things to talk about.
\nA few common and effective and easy ways include:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s All in the Question<\/b>:\u00a0 First things first, as early as possible it is vital to begin to talk \u201cwith\u201d your child, rather than \u201cat\u201d or \u201cto\u201d your child.\u00a0 It may seem like you are talking to yourself for a few months, but it is an important step to building language skills. Engage in mini conversations designed to elicit a response, any response, from your child.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask questions of your child that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no answer. Instead, ask open-ended questions. \u00a0For example, \u201cWhat color is that dog?\u201d, or \u201cWhat shape is that cloud?\u201d \u00a0This process helps to helps kick-start those connections in their brains into coming up with more detailed responses and helps build the foundation for putting words together.<\/p>\n

Reading<\/b>: Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child.\u00a0 Sure, he or she may not understand everything you are saying, but take the opportunity to ask questions related to the story.\u00a0 Ask questions about the pictures, ask your child to point to items on each page and for older children, you may ask your child to think of experiences he or she may have had that are similar.\u00a0 All these help your child make connections with what he or she is hearing.\u00a0 Toddlers learn best when the experience is fun and interactive.\u00a0 \u00a0You may find that your child wants to read the same book time and time again.\u00a0 Go ahead!\u00a0 What is important is that your child is listening and engaged.\u00a0 Hearing the same story over and over helps foster familiarity and security, while building language skills at the same time.<\/p>\n

Narrating<\/b>: \u00a0Begin a running commentary throughout your day.\u00a0 While you may think your child is not listening or cannot understand, commenting on what is happening around you is helping your child make the connection between words and things. \u201cIt is bath time\u201d, \u201cIt\u2019s a red light\u201d, or \u201cLet\u2019s take a walk in the park\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0Look for opportunities in common household chores that you can share with your child.\u00a0 Making lunch, taking a walk, even grocery shopping can provide excellent opportunities to teach your child about the language surrounding him.\u00a0 Point out all of the different fruits and vegetables in the produce isle at your local grocery store, or perhaps point to all the colors of ice cream at the local sweet shop.<\/p>\n

Have Fun<\/b>: This is probably the most important step. Don\u2019t make your \u201csessions\u201d with your child all about the work!\u00a0\u00a0 If your child senses any pressure from you, he or she may not want to participate.\u00a0 Make the experience a time that you and your child can share together, something you two can look forward to.\u00a0 Over time, your child\u2019s language skills will improve and you two will be enjoying a real conversation!<\/p>\n

What are some of the early language building exercises you have done?\u00a0 \u00a0How did they work?<\/p>\n

Check out these links for additional ways to boost your child\u2019s language skills:<\/p>\n

Parents Magazine, Baby’s First Words<\/p>\n

What to Expect: Your Toddler’s Language Explosion<\/a><\/p>\n \n \n \n \"Parent's<\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mama!\u00a0 Dada!! Like many parents, you have likely been waiting months for your child to finally say a real word!\u00a0 Sure, the grunts, pointing and babbling sounds are cute, but that moment your child utters her first word is priceless!\u00a0\u00a0 Once the first word is spoken however, there is no turning\u00a0back. What was once a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1538,1557,31,1323,826,28,3,15],"tags":[1297,1411,1355,1298,29,1289,1475],"class_list":["post-6021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games-and-activities","category-language-building-skills","category-language-development","category-parents-corner","category-school","category-speech-disorders","category-speech-therapist","category-speech-therapy-techniques","tag-communication","tag-communication-skills","tag-games","tag-language","tag-language-development-1","tag-reading","tag-speech-skills"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6021"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12456,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6021\/revisions\/12456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}