Research says that your baby can hear you while he/she is in your womb. Some research says that not only does your baby hear you but also understands your language. This is where, in the last few weeks of pregnancy, he develops the foundation and basics of language.
It is said that a baby starts to say words like ‘mama’ ‘papa’ and other familiar words by the age of one. It understands simple instructions and recognizes familiar people and objects like ‘cars’, ‘toys’, etc. By the age of 2, the child already has learnt about 10-20 words, combines 2 words and plays simple games like ‘peek-a-boo’.
Being a Counselor for a Pre-school, I am asked for guidance by anxious mommies of 1-2 year olds who are not yet talking as much as they should. They often worry about the language development of their child and want to start a Supportive therapy soon. I always recommend the parent to start with a few tips at home before getting professional help for the child. Some of the simple ways for encouraging language and speech development for the child are:
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Talk to them: You should keep talking to the child about various things through the day even when the child is about 1 month old. ‘ Mama and baby shall go shopping today’, ‘ mama is wearing her new blue coat’, ‘You are laughing, its making you feel happy, isn’t it?’, etc.
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Make eye contact with your child while talking: Babies look at your lip movements while you talk and that is how they try to respond themselves. Hence it is important to remember that when you talk to your child, make sure he is looking at you and you are making an eye contact with him. It also tells them that you are interested in them and hence the baby will want to interact more with you.
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Read to your child: This is a very helpful way for developing skills of language in the child. You can read rhymes and colorful story books to the child. This will also instill a thirst to read in your child which is a very good habit for later.
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Respond to them: When your little one is babbling and cooing, you might as well respond to his goo-goos and gaa-gaas. This motivates the child to attempt to speak more.
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Music and Rhymes: Play music and sing rhymes and lullabies to your child.
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Names the objects in sight: When the baby is looking at something, make sure you name the object that the baby is looking at. Babies love exploring and learning about new things. It helps the baby give a name to things.
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Point out and name familiar objects: Whenever you are with the baby, point out the objects already familiar to the baby so that the name of the object is reinforced.
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Repeat the sounds: Babies love listening to the sound again and again. Hence it is important to respond to their sound, replicate it and repeat it again and again.
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Listen to them: Like adults, children also appreciate when you listen to them. Give your talking a break sometimes. Don’t make your baby an anxious one by always talking. It is important to know when to stop.
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Avoid baby words: Use real words with the baby instead of words like ‘da-da for daddy’, ‘ta-ta for saying bye’
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Use words: Using many words, rhymes, synonyms and antonyms with the baby will help the baby develop a good vocabulary. This is a big part of language development skill.
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Play dates: Let your child play with other children. There are chances that your child will learn to talk faster with others his age.
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Appreciate: Never fail to appreciate and notice his positive efforts. At the same time correct his faults when it comes to pronunciation, recognition.
Obviously it is not going to be easy. You will have to put conscious effort to promote development of your baby’s language skills. But at the end of the day, it will be worth it, right?