5 Tips To Help Your Child’s Speech Speech and Language Therapy Articles by Sarah Alderman
To give your child a head start in developing their language, or to encourage a ‘late talking’ child, try out these 5 simple tips. They are easy to implement in your child’s daily routine, but proven to be highly effective in developing communication:
1. Observe, wait and listen- Often, as adults, we are keen to encourage our
children to talk by asking them questions about what they are doing or asking them to repeat our words. Speech therapists recommend that parents should sit back and firstly observe their child- Look at what they enjoy doing and the things that motivate them to communicate. Then wait! Give your child time to respond to what they are seeing and hearing. Listen to your child’s responses and copy the sounds and actions that they make to show that you are interested in what they wish to communicate.
2. Labeling and repetition- Throughout your daily routine, talk to your child about the things that you are doing. You might want to target specific words related to parts of the day and frequently repeat this vocabulary. For example, at bed time, you might target the phrase, “Night-night” by using lots of repetition in the routine saying, “Night-night mummy”, “Night-night daddy”, “Night-night teddy”, etc. Your child will become familiar with this routine and may begin to join in.
3. Simplify your language- Use short, simple sentences to communicate with your child. Children find it easier to follow simple instructions and are more likely to imitate key words from short phrases as opposed to long sentences.
4. Give your child choices- Try to avoid asking closed questions, such as “Do you want milk?” Instead, give your child a choice, such as, “Do you want milk or juice?” This encourages your child to actively communicate about what they want.
5. Nursery Rhymes and Stories- Simple nursery rhymes are a great way to
develop language skills. Use actions and encourage your child to imitate sounds and movements that you make. Similarly, use storybooks with lots of repetitive phrases so that your child can learn to anticipate what is coming next.
I have a 4 year old son and his words are not very clear.
Hi Melissa Many children under 6 years have unclear articulation as articulation is developing rapidly during these years. Not all unclear articulation is a sign that something is wrong or delayed. I suggest you have your son’s speech assessed by a Speech Therapist in your area in order to ensure he is developing age-appropriately and they will advise you how to help his articulation development. Kind regards Therapistsonline