All the parents in this world are quiet anxious about when their infants or toddlers would start speaking. Most infants develop their speech quiet normally while a very few would have a difficulty coping with language and speech.
An infant’s first teacher would be his/her parents. So, stimulating language in toddlers and infants is a parent’s responsibility.
Communicating With Toddlers and Infants: A new born’s first speech is his/her expression. Prior to language development an infant expresses one’s self through facial expressions. Therefore it is essential for a parent to reciprocate back upon an infant’s expression.
The reciprocation kicks off the first conversation of an infant. Reciprocating is only possible upon spending time with your infants and toddlers. The more you respond to their gestures, the more they are encouraged to express.
Stimulating Language Development in Toddlers and Infants: The development from the stage of an infant to a toddler takes about 10-12 months. An infant would first start talking by the time he/she is 10 months old.
The words first spoken would be simple ones like mommy, daddy, et., but by the time an infant turns a toddler he/she would forget these words. This can be attributed to the child’s capability of being able to master only one task at once. Staying with the child and stimulating his/her language from time to time is a must.
Tips for Language Development: Let us look at a few tips a parent can follow in order to help their children develop proper speech and language.
- Speech and language stimulation has to start from pregnancy. A foetus, when in the mother’s womb is smart enough to pick up two to three languages. He/she is able to recognize it’s mother’s language and voice patterns when still in the womb and this is the reason for a child’s quick speech development with his/her mother. Thus, having positive conversations when pregnant is very much necessary.
- Talk and respond to your infants regularly. As mentioned earlier, an infant cannot talk but express. It is necessary that a parent responds to these expressions. Talk your baby through while feeding, bathing or while the baby is just lying. Upon the development of sound, respond to the goo-goos of the baby. This way they understand that they can grab your attention.
- Correct all the wrong words with the right ones. A toddler might not be smart enough to pronounce in the right fashion straight away, but he/she can correct upon repeating back the correct word several times to them.
- Fill in your child’s incomplete sentences. A toddler only learns a few phrases and cannot speak a complete proper sentence. So it is the parent’s responsibility to finish off the incomplete sentence. This way a toddler would learn to frame his/her sentences.
- Teach them common nouns. The things used in the house daily, like, table, chair, bed, juice, bread, et., should be taught to a child. Read out the names loudly so that the child understands what you are saying.
- Read your child stories. This is done by most parents and is the most effective way of developing a child’s speech and also the time for developing a bond with your kids. Fairy tales and books with pictures attract a child’s attention very easily and would help their language very well too.
- Show your child cartoons. Yes, cartoons are one of the most effective ways in which a child develops speech and language. Cartoons appeal to a child in the most appropriate way and help improve a toddler’s speech, language and vocabulary.
- Take your toddler for a daily trip. The trip can be to a park, to a party, shopping or any new place. This helps the child to see new faces and help in their interaction.
Stimulating language development in toddlers and infants is the responsibility of a parent. It is through you that the child develops his/her speech and language.
