How to Enhance Early Language Development
Your child's education begins long before you register him for preschool or kindergarten. Instead, some of the most important schooling he'll receive at home through early language development. As you talk, play and reinforce his skills, he'll begin to create the building blocks required for effective communication and literacy -- even before his 1st birthday. Enhance this learning period as you focus on language skills and your talkative tot can better learn to express himself long before you send him to school.
Instructions
Read to your child regularly, suggests KidsHealth.org. Everyone from babies to toddlers and preschoolers to grade-school-aged kids can benefit from reading. Of course, your baby or toddler can't read along with you, but he can listen to the words and sounds you make while looking at pictures of familiar objects. You can even encourage your child to name some of the objects himself as you read. Talk to your child all throughout your day, narrating the things you're doing and pointing out some of the things that you see. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association suggests that you tell your child what you're doing, where you're going and whom you're seeing. This helps your child become more familiar with language and the words you use often. Sing nursery rhymes that have familiar melodies and encourage your child to join in as well. Writing for the University of Minnesota college of education and human development, Anitra Budd points out that singing songs and nursery rhymes creates a sense of familiarity with certain words and encourages your child to test out his own language skills by singing along. Ask your child questions where he needs to say something more than "Yes" or "No." You can ask him if he'd rather wear a red shirt or the blue shirt to help him vocalize the color he prefers, or have him choose between lunch options. This helps encourage your child's vocabulary and helps build confidence as you give praise and follow through with his choice -- giving him the red shirt after he says "red," for example. Stop, listen and repeat when your child begins to talk. By stopping, you show him that his communication is important. Listening allows you to decipher what he's trying to say. Then, repeat his words back, correcting any words he may have said incorrectly, such as, "Oh, you'd like juice? I can get you some juice." This reinforces his language while teaching him the correct words for everyday objects, places and things.
