raisegoodkids

I believe that everyone knows that infants and children learn skills through practice, imitation and modeling. A parent can teach a child many things without the parent even realizing it. That’s a scary thought, how many times have we done something embarrassing or said something without thinking about who was listening? I have to say, I have a problem with the word “crap” and Sam has picked up on that a few times already. Little ears have very good hearing, he can hear me say that word three rooms away and when Max is crying! Not exactly a positive way to promote communication skills, but here are some good ideas!

 Birth - 2 years

* encourage and imitate sounds like ma-ma, ba-ba, da-da

* imitate baby laughing and facial expressions that go with various feelings

* make eye contact when you’re talking to your baby

* teach baby to imitate actions like clapping hands, blow kisses, and peek-a-boo

* talk to your baby & toddler all the time, talk to them about what you are doing when you give them a bath or change their clothes

* label colors and objects and count for your children during play

* use gestures, like waving, while saying bye-bye

* introduce animal sounds

* read to your baby and toddler

2-4 years

* model good speech

* repeat what your child has said so they can hear the proper way to form sentences and make sounds

* talk about books, pictures in books, categorize items (like all things you can eat), count items in books

* help to understand questions by playing the yes/no game - ask your child simple questions like “Are you a boy?” and give them the chance to answer appropriately; also, ask your child questions which require a choice “Do you want a banana or graham cracker for snack?”

* expand your child’s vocabulary by naming everything you see and give a short description of the object - “This is my nose. I use it to smell. I can smell flowers and cookies.”

* sing and teach rhymes to your children

* place objects and toys into a container, remove one object at a time, name it and tell one thing about it

* use photographs of familiar people or places to encourage conversation

4-6 years

* give and get attention when speaking

* teach spatial relationships (first, middle, last) and opposites

* play guessing games like I Spy - describe an object and have your child guess what you are talking about

* what doesn’t belong in set categories

* introduce 2 and 3 step directives

* continue to describe and talk about everything you do and see

The more you use these techniques the easier they will become to incorporate them into your daily routine. I probably sound like a broken record some of the time. Whenever Sam hands me something I’m always saying something like, “You gave me a spoon. I will eat cereal with it.” Then again, he does know what most objects are and what they are used for and he’s learned his first curse word. What more can a mother ask for, right?

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