Parents play an important role in a child’s speech and language development. Research has shown that children who are spoken to and read during early childhood have larger vocabularies and better grammar. All of us are doing the best job we can in raising our babies and helping their development. One of the most common questions I received while working as a speech and language pathologist was how to boost a child’s speech and language development.
Before you can even start working on language skills, your baby needs to interact with you. He/she needs to be able to pay attention to you, listen to you, smile/laugh and get excited when being spoken to. So for this first stage, encourage your baby to interact with you. Get down to his/her level and play with your baby. If he/she is interested in an activity, try to participate in it repeatedly. Teach your baby to imitate what you do/how you play with the toys. The goal is to connect with him/her. Sing, talk, tickle, be silly and have fun. Some of the things you are looking for are if he/she is showing you things, looking back and forth at you and an object, smiling at you, maintaining eye contact, and directing your attention toward something.
By the time your baby turns one, he/she will develop many of the necessary skills for speaking. Today, I am sharing with you 5 ways you can encourage your baby’s speech and language development.
1. Work on gestures
2. Work on receptive language
3. Work on imitating simple syllables.
4. Be a commentator – give a play-by-play.
5. Read to your baby
For more information on developmental milestones visit ASHA.