Learning to Talk
Learning to talk is one of the key developments of a child's first three years and is vital to normal social, emotional and intellectual development.
The rate at which individual children learn to talk varies widely, as does that of other aspects of development. It depends on temperament and the physical development of the parts of the body used for speech as well as on intellectual ability and stimulation from the environment.
It is worth remembering that early progress has no particular bearing on later ability.
Babies start learning language long before they can say words. Newborn babies prefer the sound of the human voice to any other and talking to them right from birth can play a valuable part in their language development. It not only helps them to learn the rhythms, patterns and intonations of speech but also conveys the idea that talking is a pleasant social activity, which makes them want to participate.
To reinforce this idea, it is important to spend some time talking directly to the baby, looking at him while you talk to him so he feels he has your individual attention. This will also help him learn the facial expressions that accompany speech.
Don't force yourself to oversimplify what you are saying. Don't worry either about constantly repeating yourself. Repetition plays an important part in language learning and babies seem to enjoy it.
Certain toys are especially useful for encouraging talking. From about six months, most babies enjoy looking in mirrors. These encourage them to be aware of their mouths and making sounds. From about 12 months, toy telephones are helpful and making hand or finger puppets speak can also encourage conversation.
It is worth looking at books or flash cards even with a very young baby. Talk about the pictures just as you would with an older child. A simple picture always accompanied by the same word or words is a great aid to realizing that words have meaning. Later, books provide opportunities to learn new words. Read simple stories too. Eventually the child will start joining in by wanting to move the pages or pointing at something or making noises.
Some babies learn lots of words as soon as they begin to speak but it is more usual to learn between one and three a month for the first few months. Some may only be used for a few days or weeks then disappear from their vocabulary for quite a time.
If a baby is concentrating hard on learning to walk, progress with talking may slow down temporarily. At around 18 months, toddlers often start to learn new words much more rapidly and by the time they are two, may know as many as two hundred words.
Shortly after their second birthday, children often start putting two words together to make their meaning clearer; soon after, they may begin to form simple sentences. From now on their range of vocabulary and ability to combine words, use grammar and take part in dialogue steadily improve, provided they get enough encouragement and stimulation.
Gradually they realize that words can be used to describe actions, where things are, who owns what and what things are like. You may notice a child introducing a different part of speech or aspect of grammar (such as past tense or plurals) and practicing it intensively before moving on to something else.
- Make language as interesting as possible by making time to have conversations and taking questions seriously and trying to answer them.
- Don't restrict your own vocabulary too much. Toddlers understand much more than they can express and learn words by hearing them in context.
- Don't make a child correct mistakes of grammar. He will only be put off talking. He will learn good grammar by hearing it spoken around him.
- Don't interrupt or finish the sentence if a child is struggling for words. The process of talking actually helps children to form new concepts.
- There is a broad age range when children learn these various developments in language. Don't worry if your child appears to be slow to speak, and don't necessarily think that your child will be a rocket scientist if they pick up language early.
Learning to speak, read and spell are three quite different developments. Although your child can speak he will still need to learn to read, although he can read he will still need to learn how to spell. If he learns to read correctly, he should automatically be able to spell.
At Clockwork Learning Centers we are strong advocates of communication with children and forming a strong foundation of literacy skills.
For Parents
