The early years of a child can and should never be underestimated. Communication is a crucial aspect of a child’s emotional, physical and cognitive development, the years 0 to 6 is when children go through different levels of development. His/her speaking and understanding well will directly impact his/her learning and reading.
More and more cases of delayed speech are being increasingly observed,
which is a matter of concern. This delay in language development may as well
lead to various other behavioral challenges, such as low self-esteem and
frustration not being able to express him/herself. This can be attributed to a
variety of reasons, from our busy lifestyle to changing dynamics of a family (from
joint families to a nuclear setup) to sadly the fact that now conversation has
been replaced with gadgets. Also, parents tend to lay more emphasis on feeding
and napping time of a child, instead of taking the time out to talk to the
child.
The following language activities, suggested by some of the best daycares New Jersey,
can help your child learn and model his language skills. Doing these simple
activities with your child will help develop their speech and language skills:
Reading- Nothing better than reading to encourage language development in
children. It’s time you brought back storytimes with parents and grandparents.
So make it a habit to read to your child every day and have conversations
around the story. Also, point at images
in the book and ask him to identify them. Encourage your child to repeat words-
all these will help improve your child’s vocabulary and they’ll also learn to
give accurate responses to the questions asked.
Complete the Rhyme- Singing lyrics of rhymes and songs to a child can
help him improve his language while having fun. Sing a rhyme and let your kid
complete it by filling in that missing word. For example, Twinkle twinkle ___ ___, how I _____ what you are.
Last, but not the least, be a good model. Even though your child may not
be able to immediately respond to you, he will be listening keenly so speak
clearly and slowly and face your child when speaking. Encourage the child to
express themselves. For example, if your child says a word or sentence incorrectly,
just say the word / sentence back to them correctly to show you have understood
instead of correcting them or asking them to repeat it, which can help him
express himself better and improve his articulation. This is how children learn
language.
