The development of your child’s listening, understanding and talking skills is a crucial first step in their ability to think and learn. Developing a firm grounding in these skills in their early years means they have the best chance of making the most of the learning they are exposed to when they start school. They will also be equipped with the skills necessary to make friends and to grow up to be happy, successful individuals who realise their full potentials.

Learning to talk seems to happen effortlessly for most children, however it does take a lot of input from those in the child’s environment to help develop these skills, and you as parents are the most important people in your child’s environment. Children need to be exposed to hearing language being spoken to them in order to develop the ability to talk. They develop their own talking skills by listening to you and watching you talk to them and then by practicing this for themselves.

Children develop at different rates but if you are concerned about your child’s communication skills, don’t be afraid to seek advice from your Health Visitor. If your child does not appear to be developing communication skills at the rate or in the way you were expecting them to, contact a Speech & Language Therapist for support. Below is some general advice on developing young children’s communication skills.

Talk lots to your baby and young child. Your baby and young child learns how to talk by listening to voices and working out the sounds that make up words, so the more you talk to them the greater chance they have of picking up words and learning how to speak.

Create opportunities for your child to communicate. Try not to anticipate your child’s needs. If you always give them what they want without giving them the chance to ask for it first, they will learn that they do not need to speak.

Try offering them choices throughout the day. You can offer choices during meal times, play times and during dressing. For example; “Do you want the teddy or the car?”, “What shall we put on next, your socks or vest?” By offering them choices between different things you are encouraging them to communicate with you other than through pointing, and helping them to develop new words.

Respond to your child’s attempts to communicate. When your child draws your attention to something, show interest in it. Name the item they are pointing to and talk about it. By hearing you repeat the names of things over and over again they will soon learn the words and start using them.

Expand on what your child says. When your child tries to name something, praise them and repeat it back to them, putting another word or two with it. This helps them learn how to put words together to form sentences. Example: Child says: “uh” Parent says: “yes, it’s a cup”; Child says: “cat” Parent says: “clever girl, it’s a cat, a black cat”

Limit the amount of time your child spends watching tv, videos and playing computer games. Over-exposure to these affects your child’s listening and attention skills. Constant background noise can make your child ‘switch off’’ from your voice when you speak to them.

Spend time alone with your child every day. Turn off the telly and radio so that there are no distractions and sit facing them on the floor, or sit them on your lap. Hold them close and gain their eye contact. Talk and sing to them. Play with them and the toys they enjoy the most, following their lead in play. Make the time you spend with your child pleasurable.

Share books with your child from an early age. Your child is never too young to be introduced to books. Soft cloth books are ideal for very young babies. Board books are ideal for your child from seven months upwards. Books containing bright photographs and pictures are the best for your toddler and young child. Let your child turn the pages as you name and talk about the pictures you see. Don’t put any pressure on your child to name the pictures, but if they are keen to imitate any of the words you say, smile and give them lots of praise for trying, and then say the word again for them.

Sing action songs and nursery rhymes. Rhymes are a great way to develop your child’s communication skills as they are repetitive and often contain lots of simple language delivered in a fun way. Do all the actions with your hands as you sing and say the words. This helps your child develop listening, imitation and turn-taking skills as well as developing their speech and language.

Give a running commentary. Talk about what you and your child are doing throughout the day. Try to reduce the amount of questions you ask your child, instead tell them about things. This will help them to learn best. Talk about the things you see when you’re on the bus, out for a walk, in the shops, etc. Emphasise the important words in your sentence, for example: “Let’s put your coat on”

Get rid of the dummy. Limit the time your child has a dummy to nap and sleep times. Giving them a dummy throughout the day restricts their tongue movement and inhibits the opportunities they have to practice sounds and words.

Model how words should be pronounced. If your child is having difficulty pronouncing sounds and words just repeat the sound/word they are trying to say in a clear adult fashion without any pressure on them to repeat. This helps them hear the correct production and learn how to say it properly for themselves without feeling pressurised or self-conscious.

For more useful tips on developing young children’s communication, please visit
www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby

The following are some other relevant websites with lots of parent-friendly information:

www.ican.org.uk   A charity that helps children with speech & language difficulties

www.helpwithtalking.com   Association of Speech & Language Therapists in Independent practice

www.talkingpoint.org.uk   Information site for parents developed by RCSLT, ICAN & AfASIC

www.afasic.org.uk   Association for all speech impaired children

www.rcslt.org.uk    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists

www.speech-lang.org.uk   The Speech, Language and Hearing Centre in London

www.stammering.org    The British Stammering Association