Fantastic Four: #1
I had a blast last night sharing with the Sarasota MOPS group! They were a lively bunch, full of questions and laughter. There were two mommies, in particular, who were very knowledgeable. They offered great additional suggestions to the group about how to enrich your child’s speech and language development! Thank you ladies!
I decided to share my Fantastic Four with the ladies last night. These are simple, everyday, but powerful ways to give a ‘boost’ to those emerging communication skills. Let’s get started today with number one:
Drum roll please….aaaww, you guys know what it is…Talk with your child! Yes, I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. Talk to and with your baby about everything. Become their narrator and communication partner.
In a book by Drs. Hart and Risely called Meaningful Differences, they share the results of a study about why some children do better in school than others. I think that’s a good question to ask, don’t you? And you know what they found out? There was one variable that was highly correlated to or connected with children who were doing better academically in school. And that variable was the amount of talking the children heard during their first three years of their lives.
Academic success wasn’t correlated with the parents’ educational level or socioeconomic status, it was related to the volume of words the child heard in the formative period of 0 - 3 years!
I’ve talked about this before, but it is worth repeating. This is a simple, natural thing you already do with your child, but now you know to do it more and with intention!
Tomorrow we will talk about #2 of my Fantastic Four! See you then…
Going to a MOPS meeting!
I’m very excited…I’m going to be sharing at a MOPS meeting tonight. I love getting together with mommies and talking about our little ones!
I’m going to be teaching my FANTASTIC FOUR WAYS to enrich your child’s emerging speech and language skills.
Stay tuned tomorrow for number one!!
It’s Finally Here!
I am so excited to announce that my first educational product for parents is now available-YEAH!
This product was born in my mind over ten years ago. As you know, I am passionate about providing helpful and relevant information for parents to help them nurture and enrich their baby or toddler’s developing speech and language skills.
Strong speech and language skills are the foundation for all future learning. Good speech and language skills are critical to your child’s overall development.
If you would like to learn more, please go to babytalkandbeyond!
More Listening Fun
Another great way to promote listening skills in your toddler is to expose them to different kinds of fun sounds.
Gather together different kinds of noisy items: a bell, a squeaky dog toy, a whistle, any of your toddler’s toys that make noise, the list is endless!
Sit down with your little one and play the “Noisy Game” with your toddler: Talk about the sound it makes, is it high or low, soft or loud, and let your toddler make the noise.
Your child will grow to love this game and eventually be able to identify the noise being made without seeing the object that’s making it. This is a great listening discrimination skill and it’s just plain fun!
Get baby-talking!
Two Ears and One Mouth
There’s an old saying that says we have two ears but only one mouth; therefore we should listen twice as much as we talk! I’d say this is sound wisdom for all of us!
Listening is an extremly critical skill in learning to talk and in the back and forth process of communication. Listening is not the same as hearing. We are born with hearing, but our listening is developed through practice.
Stay tuned for information about teaching your child to become a better listener!
Let’s Review!
I want to take time today to review with you some really effective ways to boost your baby or toddler’s developing speech and language skills:
- Talk! Yes, you’ve heard me say it before and I’ll say it forever: Talk to them and with them! Yes, even when they are babies and they can’t talk back yet. (They sure will try though!) Your baby’s brain is processing language in amazing ways throughout their first year of life (and beyond) and it’s absolutely essential that they hear lots and lots of it so their brain is super primed for language learning and expression!
- Read! Start reading before your baby is even born. Read to them in your belly. Get into the habit and continue it for the rest of their lives!
- Sing! Babies love music and they particularly love their mommy and daddy’s voices.
- Laugh! Laugh with them and build joy! True joy builds deep and lasting relationships and helps the brain form a firm foundation for life.
Get baby-talking!
Food For Thought
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s very easy to forget about yourself when you are a parent, particularly when your children are very young and require constant care.
Don’t forget to take some time out for yourself! I’m a big proponent of going to Starbucks, getting a cappuccino, and chilling out! Leisure time is needed to help us unwind and relax.
But you need more than just leisure time… I also want to challenge you to do something that requires you to learn something new. Why I am I suggesting this? Because when we learn something new, we get outside of the daily ‘rut’ of our mind and become sharper, better, smarter, and more engaged.
And guess what? You’ll become a better parent in the process!
So, go take up ballroom dancing (or whatever it is that you’re going to learn!) and get baby-talking!
Telephone Talk!
You know what one of my favorite toys was when I was a little girl and my daughter has nearly the identical toy today? The Fisher-Price Classic Chatter Telephone!
Do you remember those? Red, blue and white with the happy little face on the front with the eyes that move around when you pull it by the string? I loved that toy. And my daughter loves hers also. During her ‘rest’ time, I let her play with it and she will chat endlessly. I gave it to her when she was around a year old. And she’s enjoyed it ever since….
A telephone is a great toy for your baby or toddler to play with. It encourages babbling, vocalizing, talking…all those things we want our little ones to do! And an even better idea is for you both to have a phone in hand and talk to each other. This is a great way to encourage even more vocalizing and turn-taking as well!
Of course, there is an endless variety of toy phones out there to choose from, but just make sure you have some kind of telephone for your baby to play with. You will be amazed at what they say or try to say. And of course, they will want to imitate you…so watch what you say!
And remember: Get baby-talking!
Be Nice!
Don’t you like it when people are nice to you? I do! And guess what? Babies like it when you are nice to them too!
Babies respond in particular to pleasant soothing tones. That’s why baby talk is so effective! A pleasant, high-pitched sing-songy voice will captivate and capture a baby’s attention like no other!
Baby talk doesn’t mean you are talking like a baby to your baby; baby talk means you are talking and responding to your baby in a melodic manner with clearly articulated speech!
So, you know what I’m going to say now…
Get baby-talking!
Good Job!
How many times as parent do you catch yourself saying to your toddler, “Good Job!” If you are like me, probably a lot!
Certainly there is nothing wrong with praising your toddler for a job well done, but the more effective way to praise your little one is being specific with them about what they did that you liked.
Maybe your toddler, after countless times of being reminded, is finally remembering to be gentle with his or her little brother. Instead of just saying good job, specifically tell them what you liked. For example, “Joey, I like the way you gently hugged Johnny!”
Kids responds to praise, but even more so to specific praise!
So parents, don’t forget: Be specific and get baby-talking!