Speech and Language Tips from Sarah!

This week is all about the little ones! What are some tips and tricks for parents to keep in mind? Our very own Speech-Language Pathologist, Sarah, has the answer. Here are five easy ways to promote language development for our toddler and preschool-aged kiddos.

Expand – It is crucial for parents to realize they are the models for their child’s language development. Expanding on what your child says or tries to say will give them a more mature form and help to expand their vocabulary. Try and add one to two words to what our child says when responding back to him. For Example: Child says “daddy” and you say “daddy home.”

Respond – You will want to respond to your child, even when your child is at the babble stage. Help him or her learn the art of conversation. By responding, even to babbling, you are teaching your little one that their voice serves a purpose. It also serves as a beginning lesson for turn-taking.

Repeat – By repeating the question or statement that your child has said to you, not only does it reinforce the vocabulary or concept, repeating is a great opportunity to correct what your child has said. For example, “The trained felled off the table, mama!” Parent’s response, “oh my goodness, the train fell off the table. How did the train fall off the table?”

Praise – Respond to your child’s speech attempts with non-verbal and verbal praise. This will encourage his to try and communicate more.  They will see that mom or dad is proud of them for communicating.

Verbalize your actions – Talk out-loud about what you are seeing, hearing, doing and feeling when your child is in earshot, this will help increase receptive language.  This is known as self-talk. Also, talk out-loud about what is happening to your child. Describe what he is doing, seeing, hearing and feeling when he is in earshot.  This is known as parallel talk.