12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers
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By: Julia Luckenbill
When you talk to your child, you support her language development.听 Think about what you are saying from your infant or toddler鈥檚 point of view. 听If she could talk, she might ask you...
1.听听When I point to something, tell me what it is.听While you are telling me, look at it and point to it too.
2.听听Use a gesture along with the word you say, so that I can say it too.听听If you tell me it is time to eat, tap you lips.听 I can imitate the gesture and tell you when I鈥檓 hungry.
3.听听Talk to me about what you are doing.Tell me what will happen next, so I will know what to expect.
4.听Talk to me about what I am doing.听Using words to describe my actions and feelings helps me learn those words too.
5.听Take turns chatting back and forth with me.听 Listen to what I am saying 鈥搕hen imitate my coos or babbles.听 If I鈥檓 older, you can reply to my questions and ask your own.听 I like open-ended questions that don鈥檛 have right or wrong answers.
6.听Model bigger and better sentences.听 If I say, 鈥淭wo cat,鈥� you can say, 鈥淵ou have two cats on your shirt!鈥澨� I learn a lot from you.
7.听听Sing with me.听 It鈥檚 easier to learn words in songs.听 I can learn about rhymes, the ABC song, the colors of my clothing, and the names of my friends.
8.听Take me to the library. 听Read me a book, let me decide how you do it and when we are done. Let me mouth board books, handle them and decide which to explore. Check out the thrift store and buy me a few board books (wipe them with a damp cloth). At home, attach felt tabs to them, and I will be able to turn the pages more easily, all by myself.
9.听Make books about me.听 When I see myself in a book, I will learn that books can be about things in my life.
10.听Show me the words on things.听 When you point out words in books and on containers, I begin to understand how printed and spoken words are connected.
11.听Be playful while I learn:听 I like to ask you what shape the cookie cutter alphabet has made. 听You can say,听"You made the letter L," or ask, "I wonder what letter you made?"听It鈥檚 less fun to be asked, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 this?鈥澨�
12.听听Give me time to learn and explore.听听There鈥檚 no rush to learn the names of colors, letters, and things.听 I will learn them in my own time.