3 Steps To Support Early Childhood Development Stages In Speech
Are you looking for simple ways to support early childhood development stages in speech? We have them for you!
Get Face-to-Face with your child.
This allows your child to pay closer attention to your face and what you are doing with your lips, tongue, etc. It also lets YOU pay attention to what your child is interested in and makes it easier for you to identify your child’s attempts at communication. Communication does not need to be in the form of words or sentences. It could be as simple as a look, a gesture, sounds or words.
Follow Your Child’s Lead.
We all have our OWN favorite toys, however, it is important to follow what toys and activities your CHILD is interested in. When your child is interested, their motivation to learn and communicate is enhanced. Respond enthusiastically to your child’s interests and join them in this activity. This interaction allows for many communication opportunities, and most importantly, your child will love this special time with mom or dad!
Interpret Your Child’s Message.
Your child may not use words, but you can still help their communication along by interpreting what they are “saying” to you. Your child may be pointing or nodding, pulling you towards an item, or making sounds. These are all great preverbal ways of communicating but to help those words along, interpret your child’s message by saying a word or phrase that matches your child’s gesture or sound. In other words, say what your child would say if he/she could. For example, your child points to the bubble you just blew, you can say “bubble, big bubble.”.
These three tips are a great start to helping your child on his/her way to becoming an effective communicator. Speech therapy sessions with our In-Home Speech Therapists incorporate these tips and many more. For more detailed tips or activities, for late talkers or for early language development, please contact us at info@speechkids.ca or 1 844 804 5437.
Check out more on your child’s speech development.
Erin is a Registered Speech Therapist and Clinical Director of Speech Kids Canada, an In-Home Speech therapy company.
