Now that you’re done with a major portion of parenting as a new mom, it’s time to move on to certain unexplored horizons. Till now, you probably had to worry about your baby’s diet, his diapers and his seasonal cold; but now, it’s time to help him learn to speak, understand and react.
The first year of your child is crucial when it comes to language development, and you need to be extremely motivated and committed during this period while helping your child hone the skills. It is believed that babies develop the foundation for language development as early as first 12 months, and the process keeps on going till around 3 years of age, where the child begins to understand and speak.
Language is the basis of your child’s ability to communicate with others, express his feelings and supports problem solving and thinking. Make sure you know everything about your child’s first step into developing language skills.
As your kid progresses into the third month, you will start noticing signs of interaction from his side, which is the first sign language development in your kid.
Here we have outlined the stages of language development in early childhood.
During this period, your baby is more likely to laugh, coo and try to communicate using gestures. Remember that babbling is actually an important part of language development, and you need to encourage it. If you find that your baby’s babbles resemble a particular actual word, encourage him to speak that word often in order to master it.
By this period, your baby will begin to try and speak out one-word utterances. It is during this period of time that you will find your baby attempting to speak and communicate a lot, and if you find your baby strangely quiet, you may need to visit your pediatrician.
As your baby approaches his second year, his vocabulary will have increased, and he may now be able to speak around 300 words, and will also try and speak short sentences. The language development at this stage varies in children; so if your baby is speaking a lot more than you expect him to, doesn’t worry- just give him some time.
At this stage, your toddler will be able to speak longer, complex sentences and will start answering your questions easily. Most strangers will now be able to understand what your child speaks during this age, and he may also play and talk at the same time, multi-tasking.
Your child is now a preschooler, and you can now expect him to speak longer, complex sentences. He will now be curious and may start asking you questions about different things. This is the right time to help him improve his grammar and vocabulary by encouraging him to read out simple sentences and words from a picture book.
These are the early years at Primary School for your child and your kid will now understand a good number of words and how to put them together. He will now be able to start sentence construction better.
Now, that you understood the ideas of language development of a child, let us help you with the same. Here is a list of some of the best ways where you could encourage children language development.
Even if he just babbles or makes funny sounds, he is attempting to speak. It is a good sign.
If he himself starts with a conversation, allow him to speak out and explain himself, and reply him with a little pat on his back. A little appreciation matters a lot deal to your baby.
If your kid successfully says a word and pronounces it correctly, repeat that word a few times again to help your child to understand it even better.
They help your kid understand things and create interest in pronouncing the words.
It is now a good time to get some simple picture books for your kid and help him speak out and pronounce simple words like ball, tree, etc.
Even if your kid doesn’t understand anything, it doesn’t matter. Eventually he will learn the right usage of the word that you’re trying to teach him.
If you’re out at a park and find an event that excites your child, describe it to him.
Teach him about activities such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and sleep time.
If you’re noticing all the signs and symptoms of your kid carrying on with his development, that’s great. But what if your child is not developing as he should? Here are a few warning signs that may help you detect your kid’s development problems early.
1. Your kid doesn’t utter phrases like ‘mama’ or ‘dada’.
2. He doesn’t babble or try to talk.
3. He doesn’t point out to interesting things.
4. He doesn’t say single words.
5. He doesn’t use hand gestures like waving, shaking or point.
6. He does not communicate when he needs help with something.
7. He does not imitate actions.
8. He does not respond to simple directions.
9. He does not use pronouns or speaks in short phrase.
10. He has difficulty interacting with other kids or people.
11. He stutters frequently.
12. He does not use pronouns properly.
If your child is affected by developmental delays, don’t lose heart. There are a good number of therapies and options you could turn to handle language disorders.
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Article written by Enozia Vakil
