Teaching Baby to Talk

Teaching baby to talk is the first step you can do as a parent in the development of language skills. The earliest form of talk in your child as a baby is through babbles, coos and gurgles. As she enters toddler-hood, she starts using gestures and pointing. In a few months she may begin to try to speak by trying to repeat the sounds she hears. You can help her by repeating key words to her. As she grows, simple sentences with adjectives and verbs form a part of her speech.

Teaching to Talk – Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers

There are two key ways of teaching children to talk. These are as follows:

• Building conversational skills
• Promoting language skills.

Building Conversational Skills

There are some common activities that you can adopt to develop conversational skills in children - from babies to preschoolers.

• Talk to your child about her daily activities – such as dressing, feeding, bathing and so on. In the very initial days, she will not understand what you say. But, this helps her to hear the sounds of the language and to pick it up faster.
• Children love stories. When you read a story to your child, talk to her about the characters in the story. Discuss what the characters are, what they do and why they do it that way. If you use any new words, repeat them to her.
• Take your child for an outing such as a field trip, a visit to a park or the supermarket. Talk to her about all that she sees in her surroundings.

Promoting Language Skills

Babies

• Talk to the baby about her daily activities and each step involved in her routine.
• Use short sentences and pause in between.
• Use different tones to talk to your baby. Ask questions in one tone and reply to them in another.
• At times, use a bit of stretching to the words. For example if you show her a big bird, tell her “Beeeeeg bird”.
• Sing simple songs with actions to your baby.
• Acknowledge your child's coos and gurgles. Reply back to them with something that interests her.
• Read books with simple words to your child. These can be picture books with basic words such as names of animals, shapes, colours etc.
• Tell your child the names of everyday items and familiar people she sees around her.
• Maintain eye-to-eye contact when talking with your baby.
• Join your baby in imitating her facial expressions and help her to imitate you as well. These can be some simple actions such as clapping hands, peek-a-boo, catching a flying kiss and so on.

Toddlers

• Make the child know that you are aware of her attempts to communicate with you.
• Play games with your child that involve sharing. A good example is a ball game. Balls are a favourite among children of this age. Tell your child “Throw the ball to me”. When she does so and you throw it back to her, tell her “I threw it back to you.”.
• Assist the child in associating a specific sound with a certain meaning. For example, tell her “The cow says moo-moo.”.
• Expand on your child's conversations. If she shows you a house and says “Big house”, tell her “That big house has a red roof”.
• Help your child to use words to express her feelings. If she appears angry, teach her to say “Angry kid”.
• Play guessing games with your child. For example at bed time, you can give your child clues to help her recall what she did during the day. Sometimes, you may have to help her out with the answers as well.
• Allow your child to listen to recorded conversations of other children.
• If you know that your child is going to experience a new situation, talk about it as much as you can before, while and after she experiences it.
• Teach your child to identify basic colours and count up to a certain level.
• Give your child simple single step instructions for her to follow. An example of this is “Drink your milk”.
• When your child points at an object or gives you something, talk to her about the object.
• If your child appears interested in talking about a particular topic, stick on to it. Talk more about the topic to her and try to find out for how long you can make the conversation going on.
• Show your child how to associate a gesture with a specific meaning. For example, a waving hand can be used to represent good-bye.
• Repeating names of things such as household utensils and body parts helps her learn them faster.
• Read out simple stories to your child. Allow her to join the reading session by turning the pages on the book and asking you questions such as “What does the dog want?”. You can also ask her to name the pictures in her book.
• Encourage your child to name and point to familiar objects in her books and surroundings.

Preschoolers

• Preschoolers love asking questions on almost anything that they observe in their surroundings. Although you may feel that answering them takes up much of your time, do not refrain from doing so.
• Use simple, clear and short speech that is easy for the child to understand. Avoid using baby talk.
• Keep your child's toys in a cardboard box. Ask her to take out a toy and explain to you how she plays with it.
• Discuss with your child about what happens in her surroundings daily. This can be both about what she is doing as well as what other family members are doing.
• Sing simple songs to your child that help her understand various concepts.
• Ask your child questions that make her think for an answer. For example, you can request her to tell you about what she is drawing.
• Talk to your child about how some objects are similar while some are different. Encourage your child to join you in the conversation.
• Encourage your child to tell you which activities she finds interesting and why she finds them so.
• Make a scrapbook of your child's favourite things and group them into categories. Sit down with your child for discussion about a particular category.
• Give your child choices and ask her to tell you what her choice is. This can be as simple as “Do you want to wear a red shirt or a blue shirt?”.
• Tell your child to teach you how to play with her toys by giving you the necessary directions.
• Describe a common object to your child and give her clues to help her find out what you are talking about.
• Ask your child open ended questions that require her to answer in full questions rather than a mere Yes or No.
• Help your child to tell you the story while you read it to her. Also, encourage her to tell you one that she has made up on her own.
• Teach your child to follow simple two-step instructions such as “Bring a paper and draw me a picture”.
• Make conversations with your child that are similar to a dialogue kind of interaction. You can ask her what she saw at the zoo. If she answers with the name of the animals, ask her why she thinks they are kept at the zoo.
• Take your child for grocery shopping. Discuss with your child about what you will need and how much you will need of each item.
• Show her photographs of family members and encourage her to tell you about them.
• Talk to your child about spatial relationships such as first, last and opposites such as up and down.
• Continue reading to your child like in her earlier years. Pause in between and ask her to guess what she thinks will happen next”. This also stimulates analytical thinking. You can read stories that are slightly longer than the ones you read in her previous years.
• Pause in between as you talk to your child. This helps her to join the conversation.
• Teach your child how to talk on a telephone. You can have a “telephone game” with your child by calling her up and asking her to tell you all that she did.

Speech Delay

Some reasons for speech delay are:

• Adults fail to pay individual attention to the child. Children learn to talk faster when adults talk to them.
• The child pays more attention to other areas of development such as walking.
• The child may have problems like autism.
• There may be a fold beneath the tongue that can restrict the movements of the tongue, making speech difficult.
• A serious ear infection can make the child temporarily deaf. When the infection is completely cured, she will be able to hear properly.
• It maybe hereditary if the child's parents began talking at a later stage as well.
• The child is permanently deaf and so cannot hear others speak.