From the moment your baby is born, they begin to learn language
skills from the people and environment around them. They slowly go
through various stages of language development from babbling to
gesturing until they finally develop speech. This final stage of
language development is acquired through your baby listening to people
talk, talking to others and also playing with sounds and words.
So how can you as a parent help your baby on the road to talking?
By
introducing baby sign language into your home you can assist with your
baby's language development and vocabulary building. Baby sign language
helps bridge the gap of communication for parents by enabling pre-verbal
babies to communicate using basic sign language.
Baby sign
language can help your baby's receptive and expressive language skills.
Receptive skills are where your baby begins to understand what they are
hearing. These receptive skills then later develop onto expressive
skills or speech.
To help encourage speech:
- Talk to your baby.
Talk
to your baby frequently and make sure that you speak slowly as this
will allow your baby the opportunity to listen to the words you are
saying and the sounds you are making.
- Focus on single words from your baby's everyday life.
Baby
sign language can help as you introduce one key word and sign at a time
from your baby's environment such as eat, drink, milk, more etc.
- Use a variety of other words.
While
focusing on the keywords that are important in your baby's life don't
forget to use a variety of other words around your baby to help expand
their understanding of their environment.
- Wait for responses from your baby.
Give
them a chance to "talk" back, listen to the sounds they make as they
try to communicate. Also watch for those early gestures as they try to
imitate signs you have introduced to them.
- Encourage their efforts.
As they begin to express new sounds imitate these sounds back to them and praise them for their attempts.
- Listen to your baby.
When
playing and talking with your baby listen to them and what they are
trying to communicate to you, the same as you would in an adult
conversation.
- Play with your baby.
Use games such as hiding games or peek-a-boo to encourage actions, facial expressions and sounds.
- Read to your baby.
Use
books with bright colours and pictures. As your baby develops, their
interests in books change. To find out more information on early
literacy visit http://www.australianbabyhands.com/baby-sign-language-articles/earlyliteracy.html.
- Sing to your baby.
Have
a list of songs that you sing regularly to your baby. Singing
traditional nursery rhymes that make you repeat words over and over may
be a tedious task for you but it is great for your baby's learning.
- Develop your baby's hearing skills.
Point out sounds to your baby as they occur such as a dog barking, the doorbell ringing, a car starting or a plane flying by.
Most
babies' begin on the road to talking between 12 and 18 months of age.
Once this occurs, your baby will be constantly adding to their
vocabulary and by the age of two and a half, will begin joining words
together. Baby developmental guidelines for baby's from one month to 24
months can be viewed here http://www.australianbabyhands.com/baby-sign-language-articles/development.html
So When Should I Seek Help Concerning My Baby's Language Development?
As
highlighted by Speech Pathology Australia on their website, here are
some pointers to look out for if you are considering seeking help
concerning your baby's language development:
- your baby does not seem to listen to you, enjoy sounds or respond to them
- your baby has difficulty sucking, chewing, swallowing or biting
- your baby isn't using real words by 18 months of age
- your toddler is frustrated by not being able to speak to others
- your toddler has trouble understanding what you say
- your toddler stutters
- your toddler has an unusual voice, for example it sounds husky
- your toddler isn't trying to make sentences by two and a half years.
As
a parent you play a very important role in your baby's language
development. By using any of the points mentioned above you can actively
assist in your baby's language learning and help your baby on the road
to verbal communication.
Jackie Durnin has helped thousands of families reduce frustration with their pre-verbal babies around Australia using simple baby sign language. For more information on bay sign language visit http://www.australianbabyhands.com
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