|
Foster your child's language skills
Some of the ways we can foster language development are to: 1. Read or say nursery rhymes to your child so they can hear the rhythm and flow of our language. 2. Sing simple songs with them. 3. Use body language in songs, stories, and in everyday activities (shrug your shoulders, shake your head, etc.) 4. Name objects as you both look at them and... • Set out a group of common objects and have your child name them and discuss different attributes (size, color, weight, shape). • Name and touch body parts using rhymes, games, and songs. • Group and name objects that go together. • Ask your child riddles - children love to guess the answer. 5. Introduce new words... • Through stories. • Through looking at magazines together and discussing them. • On neighborhood walks. • By making word cards with a word and its picture. • Through lotto games (picture Bingo games found at children's gift stores). • On signs in your environment. 6. Engage in one-to-one conversations between you and your child in which you... • Model correct pronunciation and grammar • Model using complete sentences. • Model listening and responding to each other. • Model how to ask a question and how to answer. 7. Engage in conversations about their likes and dislikes. 8. Tell simple stories which involve the children responding. 9. Read favorite stories over and over and then let your child tell them to you. 10. Ask lots of open-ended questions (questions which cause them to think and which require more than a yes or no answer). 11. Play with your child and talk as you play... • In the house. • Outside. • Using objects you have found to stimulate imaginative situations. • Fill a box with objects and ask the child to tell who might own them, and then play with them. 12. Encourage writing activities. • Record your child's favorite color, shape, animal, activity and reread their answer to them later. • Begin writing a poem and have them help you rhyme it. • Have children predict what will happen in a certain situation and record it later, follow up and see if the predictions came true. • Encourage your child to "write" a story with your help. 13. Model using words with sounds your child has a problem saying. • Play word games using the sound. • Each time you hear a word with the sound, you both repeat it. • Notice when the sound is used correctly; do not notice incorrect usage.
Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development Birth to 2 Years • Encourage your baby to make vowel-like and consonant-vowel sounds such as "ma," "da," and "ba." • Reinforce attempts by maintaining eye contact, responding with speech, and imitating vocalizations using different patterns and emphasis. • Imitate your baby's laughter and facial expressions. • Teach your baby to imitate your actions, including clapping you hands, throwing kisses, and playing finger games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and the itsy-bitsy-spider. • Talk as you bathe, feed, and dress your baby. Talk about what you are doing, where you are going, what you will do when you arrive, and who and what you will see. • Identify colors. • Count items. • Use gestures such as waving goodbye to help convey meaning. • Introduce animal sounds to associate a sound with a specific meaning: "The doggie says woof-woof." • Acknowledge the attempt to communicate. • Expand on single words your baby uses: "Here is Mama. Mama loves you. Where is baby? Here is baby." • Read to your child. Sometimes "reading" is simply describing the pictures in a book without following the written words. Choose books that are sturdy and have large colorful pictures that are not too detailed. Ask your child, "What's this?" and encourage naming and pointing to familiar objects in the book. 2 to 4 Years • Use good speech that is clear and simple for your child to model. • Repeat what your child says indicating that you understand. Build and expand on what was said. • Use baby talk only if needed to convey the message and when accompanied by the adult word. • Make a scrapbook of favorite or familiar things by cutting out pictures. Group them into categories, such as things to ride on, things to eat, things for dessert, fruits, things to play with. Create silly pictures by mixing and matching pictures. Talk about what is wrong with the picture and ways to "fix" it. Count items pictured in the book. • Help your child understand and ask questions. Play the yes-no game. Encourage your child to make up questions and try to fool you. • Ask questions that require a choice. "Do you want an apple or an orange?" • Expand vocabulary. Name body parts, and identify what you do with them. • Sing simple songs and recite nursery rhymes to show the rhythm and pattern of speech. • Place familiar objects in a container. Have your child remove the object and tell you what it is called and how to use it. • Use photographs of familiar people and places, and retell what happened or make up a new story. 4 to 6 Years • When your child starts a conversation, give your full attention whenever possible. • Make sure that you have your child's attention before you speak. • Acknowledge, encourage, and praise all attempts to speak. Show that you understand the word or phrase by fulfilling the request, if appropriate. • Pause after speaking. This gives your child a chance to continue the conversation. • Continue to build vocabulary. Introduce a new word and offer its definition, or use it in a context that is easily understood. • Talk about spatial relationships (first, middle, and last; right and left) and opposites (up and down; on and off). • Offer a description or clues, and have your child identify what you are describing. • Work on forming and explaining categories. Identify the thing that does not belong in a group of similar objects. • Help your child follow two- and three-step directions: "Go to your room, and bring me your book." • Encourage your child to give directions. Follow his or her directions as he or she explains how to build a tower of blocks. • Play games with your child such as "house." Exchange roles in the family, with your pretending to be the child. Talk about the different rooms and furnishings in the house. • The television also can serve as a valuable tool. Talk about what the child is watching. Have him or her guess what might happen next. Talk about the characters. Are they happy or sad? Ask your child to tell you what has happened in the story. Act out a scene together, and make up a different ending. • Take advantage of daily activities. For example, while in the kitchen, encourage your child to name the utensils needed. • While shopping for groceries, discuss what you will buy, how many you need, and what you will make. Discuss the size, shape, and weight of the packages. Social language There are several ways parents and teachers can help children use language appropriately in social situations. Use of Different Language Functions • Ask questions or make suggestions to help a child use language for different purposes:
• Respond to a child's intended message rather than correcting the pronunciation or grammar; but provide an appropriate model in your own speech. • Take advantage of naturally occurring interactions to increase use of different language functions. Adaptive Language Use • Role play conversations that might occur with different people in different situations. • Encourage use of effective persuasion. Discuss different ways to present a message: Polite ("Please may I go to the party?) vs. impolite ("You better let me go."); Indirect ("That music is loud.") vs. direct ("Turn off the radio."). Discuss why some requests would be more persuasive then others. Conversation and Narration Skills • Comment on a child's topic of conversation before introducing a new topic. Add related information. This will help a child say more about a particular topic. • Provide visual prompts such as pictures, objects, or a story outline to help a child tell a story in sequence. • Encourage a child to rephrase or revise an unclear word or sentence. • Show how nonverbal signals are important to communication. For example, talk about what happens when a facial expression does not match the emotion expressed in a verbal message.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
