HOW YOU CAN ENHANCE YOUR CHILD’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

 

There is a lot you can do as a parent to help your child develop her language

At three months, your baby will smile back at you when you smile at her. Keep smiling at her. When they make sounds, copy them.  This will a great start to language acquisition Sing to your baby and play music, this will help with her brain development.

At six months, start reading to your baby from colorful picture books and talk about them. When she babbles, show excitement and say, “yes! That’s a cat”, assuming the picture in the book is a cat. Anytime your child looks at something, point to it and mention the name of the object.

At nine months, teach your child how to wave and say, “bye bye”. Shake your head and say, “no”, so she learns the meaning of that word.

At one year, talk or sing about what you are doing. For example, if you are bathing her, say “mommy is washing your hair”, or sing, “this is the way to wash your hair”. Build on what your baby tries to say. If he says “da,” say “Yes, a duck,” or if he says “duck,” say “Yes, that’s a big, yellow duck.” When she points at something, respond by mentioning the name of the item in a sentence. E.g., “that’s a cup. There you go” “

At one and half years, ask simple questions like, “what is this?” teach your child the names of some body parts by pointing at it and mentioning the name. Add to her words. If she says, “cat”, say, “cat, a white cat”. Your child will most likely be walking at this age. Go out on walks and point out new things to her and name them. You can point out cars, trees, and animals. Screen time is not recommended for children less than 2years. Avoid placing your child in front of a TV that is just playing rhymes. Children learn by talking, playing and interacting with others.

When your child is about two years, continue reading to her. Help your child learn how words sound or how they are properly pronounced, even if she can’t say them clearly yet. If your child says, “nanana,” correct them by saying, “banana.” Limit screen time to not more than an hour a day. Do more activities outdoors and continue teaching your child things seen outside Don’t forget to form sentences with the things you see.

At two and half years, ask your child simple questions beginning with who, what, where and why. Use descriptive words like, big, small, fast, slow etc.  Help her to name body parts, colours and pictures in books.

At three years, when you read to your child, ask her to describe what is happening in the picture. And what she thinks will happen next.  Engage in games that involve counting. Children learn better when you make it fun. Speak to her in longer sentences and help her to form longer sentences. Give her tasks to do by giving two or three step instructions. E.g. Go to your room, pick your shoe and wear it. Encourage her to tell you her name and age.

At four years, engage in longer conversations. Ask her to tell you what happened in the day. Ask her about the shapes and colours of items you see around. Teach her the order of things like first, second etc. Take time to answer her why” questions.  Answer truthfully. Children remember a lot of things at this age. If you teach her the wrong thing, it will be difficult to undo it. She may also start doubting you.

At five years, ask her about her activities. For example, if she is pretending to feed a teddy bear, ask her what she is doing and why she is doing that.  Ask “how” questions too. Try and engage in conversations for longer periods.

Remember that children build their speech by interacting with people and not by watching videos on rhymes. Screen time is not recommended for children less than 2years. For those above 2 years, it should not be more than an hour a day. Interact more with your child. Also remember that better language means better learning and better intelligence.

Dr Gloria Amponsah-Kodua

Specialist Paediatrician