Beyond Books: The Easiest Way to Boost Your Child’s Language Skills
Books are one of the best ways to give your child strong language skills (and a host of other benefits) that will help them do well academically, emotionally, and socially throughout life. But there is one other great way to boost their vocabulary which will also help with their reading and understanding of language. And it’s completely FREE!
There is growing evidence that many parents these days are interacting less with their children than in previous generations. We know that this lack of interaction is having an impact on the development and well-being of children and that as parental interaction is decreasing, screen time is rising at an alarmingly fast pace. While screens have their place and can be valuable resources, we know that they can also be damaging to young people in many ways.
So, I wanted to share The Easiest Way to Boost Your Child’s Language Skills (other than reading), and it won’t take any extra time out of your day. If we put it into business speak, it would give you the greatest ROI (return on investment) that you could ever get.
So, what is this miracle way to increase your child’s vocabulary and set them up for success in life?
Drumroll, please….
It’s CHATTING.
Yep, that’s it.
Super simple. And FREE.
Here are some ways you can incorporate chat into your daily life easily and simply.
Next time you go for a walk with your child, whether you’re holding them or using a pushchair, talk to them about what you can see. Point out the clouds in the sky, the trees, the buildings, shops, cars, etc. Whatever you see, tell them about it. For example: ‘Can you see the clouds in the sky? Look at the big red bus. There’s a very small dog, can you see its tail wagging?’
When you are doing simple things like changing their nappy, getting them dressed, running their bath, making food for them, etc. tell them what you are doing. For example: ‘Let’s put on your socks. They are blue today. One sock on this foot, and one sock on your other foot. Two feet and two socks…’ or ‘Let’s fill up the bath with lovely warm water. We can add the bubbles and your yellow duck. Do you know what noise ducks make? They go quack, quack.’
Name the things you are buying at the supermarket as you put them in the trolley. ‘Here is the strawberry jam. In go the bag of apples. There are five of them. Let’s get some bread…’
This might take a little bit of getting used to, and you may feel self-conscious at first but your little one will LOVE hearing your voice and feeling you connecting to and paying attention to them. They will be learning new words, strengthening recognition of familiar words, and absorbing information on sentence structure, tone, pronunciation, etc. All from simple chatting.
As they get older they will be able to answer your questions and engage in conversation, all of which boosts their communication skills and cognitive abilities. No screen can give their brain the same connections that they get from talking and interacting with you. Not only will they be increasing their language skills but they will also be subconsciously picking up on non-verbal cues which help them build better empathy and social skills.
So, next time you are out with your child, chat away and know that you are quite literally boosting their brain power and creating a solid foundation for the rest of their life.
Want to take it a step further? Try these suggestions:
Baby Massage has a number of benefits, one of which is language development through the use of rhymes and songs.
Story Massage is a great way for toddlers and young children to enjoy the benefits of massage alongside the benefits of both listening to and creating stories of their own.
Sing songs - songs are a great way for children to learn words and language patterns. Choose nursery rhymes and/or age-appropriate songs that you can sing together in the car or whilst doing dishes, etc.
