Fantastic Four: #4
Let’s conclude my fantastic four ways to enrich, enhance, and boost your child’s developing speech and language skills!
First, a quick review:
And now…..for the fourth one: Use strong body language! I bet you are wondering, “What in the world does she mean by that?” I didn’t say strong body odor, I said strong body language! 
I simply mean that you should use your body language to emphasize your spoken word! Gesture, point, smile, and use eye contact.
Did you know the young babies prefer to look at the human face above all else? The shape and contours of the human face draw the infant’s gaze to yours. Use your eyes to obtain and maintain their attention as much as you can!
Another great way to use body language is to hold your little one close to you when talking to them. This physical touch also engages their developing brain and gets the wiring going in the right direction!
So, that’s it for the fantastic four…super easy,aren’t they? And I’m telling you these go a long way in helping those communication skills become all they can be!!
We’ll talk again soon!
Fantastic Four: #2
Yesterday, we discussed #1 in my fantastic four ways to boost your baby and toddler’s speech and language development. Today, let’s move on to #2…
Read, read, and read some more! Reading is so important on several different levels. Relationally, it helps you build a stronger bond with your little one as you hold them and read to them. Developmentally, it helps expose your child to more language and wire that brain for words and talking! And finally, it’s just fun to do!
Stay tuned tomorrow for #3!
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…
Thank You Sarasota MOPS!
Just wanted to give a big shout out to all the mommies that were at the Sarasota MOPS meeting tonight…you are an awesome group and I had so much fun sharing my fantastic four with you! I’ve never met a savvier group of mommies…you taught me some things and made me laugh…thank you!
Remember everyone, stayed tuned tomorrow for my fantastic four ways to enrich your little one’s speech and language development…
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!!
Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words!
If you’re like me and any other parent in the world, you take lots and lots of pictures of your children! Here’s a great tip for putting those photographs to good use.
Children, particularly toddlers, love to look at people and pictures of people. Use your own family pictures as way to build language skills.
How?
- Name who is in the picture
- Talk about where the picture was taken
- Talk about what was going on when the picture was taken, i.e. birthday party, family reunion, etc.
- Make up a funny story about the picture
- Talk about various items also seen in the picture
- If your toddler is old enough, ask them questions about the picture
The list could go on and on. One thing to keep in mind is that you want to tailor this activity to fit the age of your baby or toddler. If you have six month old, keep it simple. If you have a two and half year old, you can do what’s listed above and more. Also, even if you have a little one who’s not talking yet, give them a chance to babble back. It’s never too soon to learn turn-taking!
So, get those photo albums or digital frames out, and get talking, rather get baby talking!