Back in April 2021, the . So, it鈥檚 no surprise that young children are requiring more support with their language skills. The closures of early years settings, reduced access to vital health services and the changes in interactions with others, have all taken their toll.
We know that early language skills are the biggest predictor of later academic outcomes and success (Bleses, D., Markransky, G., Dale, P.S., Hojen, A. and Ari, B.A. (2016)) and early vocabulary skills can predict academic achievement 10 years later (Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(6), pp.1461鈥�1476). Therefore, the development of these skills is more important than ever.
But it鈥檚 not all doom and gloom! Parents, teachers and early years staff have done an amazing job at supporting young children during this time, with limited resources and reduced ability to expose their children to new experiences. And now (dare I say it) things are getting back to some sort of normality, we can start to focus on supporting our little ones even more.
As I say, we鈥檙e well on the way to getting back on our feet, so let鈥檚 see how we can build on those language skills at home using the 鈥榗ommunication pyramid鈥� as a guide. As a Speech and Language Therapist, I often get asked how language skills can be supported at home and I always direct parents to this communication pyramid.
It鈥檚 a really simple tool that explains how children鈥檚 speech, language and communication skills develop. Children typically develop their skills in a sequential pattern, starting from the bottom and working their way up. It鈥檚 important that children develop each skill and build on what they have learnt . So using the pyramid, here are my top tips for supporting language development at home:
Technology has become a central way to how we communicate, work and interact with each other. When used the right way, it has an essential place in developing children鈥檚 language and communication skills. Watching television or using devices such as iPads, provides children with opportunities to observe what other people are doing and saying. However, if noise is present in the background continually, . It鈥檚 all about getting the balance right! When interacting with your child:
Everyone loves bubbles! They are a key resource for all Speech and Language Therapists, as they are highly motivating and can do so much to support a child鈥檚 attention and listening skills, as well as develop their functional communication.
The ability to take turns is an essential conversational skill. When we talk to each other, we take turns to be the listener and the responder. Children start to develop this skill very early on through play. To support your child to develop this skill, consider playing games that encourage your child to wait, and where more than one person gets a turn. Have a go at some of these simple, yet effective games.
When we are interacting with children, it is so important to ensure our language matches the level of the child鈥檚 understanding. 'Key words' or 'information-carrying words' are the number of important words in a sentence that a child has to understand in a given instruction, in order for them to follow it successfully. Children don鈥檛 need to understand every single word in a sentence, just the ones that carry meaning.
|
Key word level |
Age |
|
1 keyword |
1 year old |
|
2 keywords |
2 years old |
|
3 keywords |
3 years old |
|
4 keywords |
4 years old |
It鈥檚 important to keep your language as simple as possible when giving your child instructions, always taking their keyword-level understanding into consideration. Children find it easier to process language when you chunk longer instructions into bite-size pieces, simplify and give them time to respond.
As adults, all we want is for our children to talk. To be able to express themselves and engage in conversations. However, it鈥檚 easy to think that we can help children do this by asking them lots of questions. In fact, this can have the opposite effect and can actually make a child say less, particularly if they don鈥檛 have the language required to respond. Questions can be really important and useful to ask but only when you really need to know the answer. Try commenting rather than questioning:
As children start to develop their use of speech sounds, you may find that these sounds are not always clear or easy to understand. Sometimes, children .
One of the key strategies that we give to parents is to model clear speech sounds and to try not to correct your child or make them produce a sound that they are finding difficult. By giving your child opportunities to hear the correct production of sounds in words, it enables them to store these sounds accurately, for example:
If you would like my advice about who would be a good fit for your child you can call and speak to me or one of my speech and language colleagues.