Increase your child's language
By: Maria Vera Martinez - M.S. CCC-SLP
Welcome parents, you are your child’s first teacher. Learning starts from the moment your child is born. A child learns everyday through daily routines. A child’s home is their first school and daily routines provide the best opportunity for learning. Between conception and age three, a child’s brain undergoes an impressive amount of changes. A child will undergo developmental changes and during each stage the development of the brain is taking place. A child is born with about all the synapses (connection between neurons) it will ever have in their lifetime. By the age of one, the number of synapses will double but will begin to diminish as the child grows depending on the input they receive from the environment. For example, if the child is expose to different vocabulary words then more synapses will activate. It is important as parents to facilitate listening, speech and language in the child’s natural environment (e.g. daily routines at home, like cleaning or cooking) because it is vital for their development (Urban Children Institution, 2016).
A child’s environment and the verbal interactions they have with individuals through out their daily routines have major influence in their listening, speech, and language development. As a parent you have the privilege of enhancing your child’s ability for language acquisition in their natural environment. I have included examples on how to stimulate your child’s speech, language, and listening skills. Take your time in doing the activity. You can do listening activities several times on different occasions. Remember repetition is key! Your child is like a sponge absorbing information from the environment and is constantly learning from every move your make.
Stimulating Language Through Cooking
By the age of two your child should be saying /b/, /h/, /m/, /n/, /w/, and /p/.
Try to find food that motivates and engages your child to participate in activities (e.g. banana pancakes). This food has different target phonemes for your child’s age.
Model and Allow them to Imitate!
Assure you model the correct pronunciation for your child and allow them to imitate what you say. Emphasize on the pronunciation of the phonemes. Allow them to finish your sentence or words. You can do this by creating songs that are related to the routine that allows you to emphasize on the articulation of targeted phonemes (e.g. “I get the pan, pan, ____ (pause let them say pan) and water. Then I mix, mix, mix the pancakes and bananas.”
Words to use to target sound production
/p/- pan, pot, cup, open, pour, put, spoon
/n/- nothing, no more, in, fun, pan
/b/- banana, batter
/w/- wonderful, water, wow, whisk
/m/- yumm!, more, mix
/h/- hot, hands, help
•When speaking to your child and pronouncing these sounds make sure you are facing them. This would allow them to observe your mouth movement and the placement of some of the articulators.
***You can also work on oral motor by modeling blowing and allowing them to blow their pancake.
Manipulate the environment and encourage them to communicate with you and request help. You can do this by simply putting the banana or bowl far from reach. This would given them a chance to request for help (e.g. I need help) or give them an opportunity to problem solve (e.g., they get their personal stool to reach the desired item).
Stay alert!! Look for any sign of gesture or vocalization as a sign of them attempting to communicate with you. If they do not initiate you can state “ Oh! It looks like you need help.” Assure you model to your child what they should be saying. If your child states “Help!” Praise them for using their words but model by helping them extend their words and form a sentences by stating “I need Help.”
Assure that you label every item you use and every action that you are doing with the child (e.g., we are going to open the banana, we are mixing, let’s pour the water, cup, bowl etc..). Engage in more commenting during the activity and less questioning. If possible, have a small and big whisk and work on discriminating size. You can also give your child a chance to request from the wo given options by asking them if they want to use the big whisk or the small one.
Use a recipe. It is a great way to practice sequencing and following directions, a recipe with pictures helps immensely! You could ask ,“what do we do next?” (as well as first and last). When the activity is done review! Incorporate descriptive words ( e.g., I see a yellow banana) and work on commenting by incorporating your senses in the activity (e.g. Wow! it smells so good?) Engage in more commenting during the activity and less questioning. If you do ask your child a question and he communicate with his gestures. He is understanding!! So validate his communicate and model the answer for him/her.
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