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Infants were once thought of as passive and unknowing. It was commonly believed that until they mastered language, young children were incapable of thinking or forming complex ideas. Today, we know otherwise. From the very start, young children are aware of their surroundings and interested in exploring them. Scientists from several fields have shown that from the first weeks of life, babies are active learners. They are busy gathering and organizing knowledge about their world.
Long before children can say words or join them into sentences, they are active language learners. Within a few short years, young children go from newborns without language to excellent communicators and lively inventers and tellers of stories.
Young children have many ways to communicate, including sounds, gestures, facial expressions, and body language, but once they begin to master language, they can more easily let parents and other caregivers know what they want or need, what they feel, and what matters to them. A good command of language appears to go hand-in-hand with the ability to think logically and creatively. All of the important adults in children's lives, and especially parents, play an important role in helping young children develop verbal language skills and build a good foundation for later reading and writing.
Babies love to be talked to. Exchanges of sounds, gestures, or expression not only lay the groundwork for conversation, they also help babies develop the sense of mutuality and give-and-take that underlies secure relationships. By listening to and watching children with real interest and responding in a way that continues the exchange, you let them know that they will be attended and responded to.
Once children begin talking, be sure to allow them time to formulate what they want to say. Waiting patiently for your child to formulate his thoughts or answer a question is one of the most important things you can do to encourage language growth. You can also ask open-ended questions that require more than a yes or no answer, including questions to which you don't already know the answer.
When parents talk to babies, they often speak slowly and melodically, using a form of speech that experts refer to as "parentese." This is exactly the kind of speech that is best suited to helping babies learn to talk. To engage your baby's attention, it is helpful to be lively and to vary the tone and pitch of your voice. It is also helpful to speak slowly and distinctly, and to repeat words and phrases. However, don't underestimate your baby's grasp of what you are saying. Well before they can respond with words, babies and toddlers can understand a lot of what is said.
Look for opportunities to give children something real to talk about that interests them. Children's attention can wander when they are expected to talk about something abstract or something they have never experienced. They are more likely to respond when the conversation is based on real, concrete, lived-through experiences. For example, asking children to discuss ways they might transport water over to a sandbox or flowerpot challenges their problem-solving abilities while keeping the subject both real and relevant to them. They can make the conversation even more real by trying out their ideas to see if they actually work. Encourage siblings or playmates to ask each other questions and to have conversations. In that way, children learn that talk can be fun, satisfying, and helpful in building relationships.
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