Speech is within reach!
Concerned or frustrated with your child's slow development of language skills? If your baby or toddler has been struggling with first words for a while now, it's time to help. These steps will help language development, self esteem, and general child development.
Instructions
1. UNDERSTAND THE ENORMITY OF SPEECH
Speech may seem simple to adults, but to a brand new person, it can be an overwhelming task. The first step to helping your child develop language skills is to appreciate what learning to speak entails.
For small children, everything in their universe is a lesson. You may be holding their favorite blue ball, repeating the object's name, and asking only that they repeat the word back to you, but the universe is much more demanding of their growing minds. While you repeat the word and hold out the object, they are simultaneously trying to recall all they have learned about the physical and emotional laws of the ball. The ball is round. It is a color they like. It is their favorite object. They want to play with the ball. The ball bounces. It rolls. All these basic facts about the object, ones you have had decades to master, are fresh and important details your child thinks about every time they see their favorite object.
For many children, learning the sound of the object's name, associating it with the object, and then struggling to reproduce the sound they hear is simply too much when combined with all else they need to remember about the object. This is a major obstacle to speech for many toddlers. The answer is to simplify the lesson they are try to learn by using useless object.
2. USELESS OBJECTS
Useless objects are anything you can present to your child that does not have any practical purpose in their life. When presented with the object, your child doesn't have to remember that it bounces, or breaks, or makes a noise. They can focus exclusively on the information you are presenting. The best useless objects I have found are letters.
3. THE ALPHABET
Children as young as 10 months (possibly younger) have the capacity to memorize the alphabet. It may seem illogical that the alphabet is within their reach after struggling with "ball" for months. However, when you consider the unique advantages of the alphabet, its success is understandable.
There are 26 letters of the alphabet. Each one offers your child to experiment with simplified sounds. Vowels, for instance, contain only one unique sound. Compare that to the three unique sounds required to pronounce "ball". Rather than jumping into the complex world of language in a single bound, you'll offer your baby the chance to take, well, baby steps. Vowels will lead to simple consonants like B and C, which eventually lead to W. Each unique sound must be mastered first.
Another advantage of the alphabet: the steps to accomplishment are fewer and the opportunities for praise are greater. This sense of accomplishment effects a child deeply in many ways we often don't consider. Of course, it builds self-esteem. Equally important, it maintains their interest and extends their ability to focus on the lesson. It also helps build the trust your child has in you... you were the one who started the lesson, and you were the one who told them they could do it. They trusted you and you were right.
The alphabet also has no confusing associations for your child. Because your child cannot read, the alphabet is only a series of shapes with names. They don't have to consider everything else the know about a letter because they don't know anything.
One of the greatest advantages of using the alphabet is that the lesson continues even when you are done teaching. Letters appear everywhere in your child's world, but he or she has probably never noticed them before. Suddenly everything from logos on their toys to captions on the TV become opportunities to practice what they have learned. It's truly self-perpetuating.
4. FREE ALPHABET LESSONS ONLINE
The best learning tool I have found online is available for free by Fisher-Price. Their ABC's Zoo Game for Infants (not the toddlers version) is an exciting, colorful introduction to the alphabet. Each letter is presented with an animated animal and a unique animal noise. A narrator announces the letter's name. One of this game's best features is the simplicity of controls. It requires no mouse to advance the game. A child need only be able to hit the space bar to see the next letter. This makes it a perfect tool for teaching young toddlers or babies. (A DIRECT LINK TO THIS GAME IS LISTED IN THE RESOURCE SECTION BELOW.)
If you haven't considered the teaching potential of YouTube, it's time to pay them a visit. You will find classic Sesame Street Teach segments, songs, independent teaching tools and more. I strongly encourage searching YouTube for the thousands of videos available. They will entertain your child and educate at the same time.
Tags: your child, their favorite, about object, alphabet Each, ball ball, favorite object