How to teach a child to speak?
Are you wondering how to teach your child to speak and how to effectively encourage your child to speak? Are there any ways to speed up my child's learning to speak? How to teach a toddler to speak through play? What should you definitely not do so as not to discourage the child from developing speech? Find out how children learn to speak and how you can help them.
Speech is an extremely complex activity. Its proper development depends on many factors: a properly formed central nervous system, peripheral speech organs, hearing organs, and proper mental development. A child's speech development is genetically determined, but it can only occur through contact with other people. Teaching a child to speak is a process that generally does not require significant support. On the other hand, parents eagerly, and often even anxiously, await their child's first words and sentences. It is understandable, therefore, to seek ways to support the emergence of the words "mama" or "dada ." So: how can you teach a child to speak?
Learning to speak a child
The development of speech in a child basically takes place from the moment of birth, and the foundations for this process are formed already in the fetal life. Initially, a child uses a scream to communicate with adults. It is after the scream that the mother recognizes whether the baby is hungry, whether it is cold or wet. The child, on the other hand, begins to associate that whenever he screams, mum or dad shows up. In the 2-3 months of life, the baby begins to deaf, that is, to make various sounds - they can be both consonants and vowels or vowel groups. This is not a speech yet, but an unconscious exercise of the articulation organs. Already at this stage, the infant begins to prepare to make basic speech sounds, so at this stage interaction in the form of vocalization on the part of the parents is important. It is worth talking to the baby, preferably by allowing the baby eye contact.
Expert advises
Every situation: cooking, cleaning, bathing is an opportunity to describe to the child in simple words, short sentences what is happening at a given moment. To get the baby's attention, you can include onomatopoeic words such as boom, knock, knock. It does not matter that your little one will not be eager to repeat it right away. Our words are recorded in his memory and there will come a moment when he will surprise us with his speech. Therefore, it is important to speak to a child as to an adult, i.e. without unnecessary diminutives or pampers.
The second half of a baby's first year is the babbling stage . A baby imitates both sounds it accidentally makes and those it hears in the environment. It often entertains itself with the sounds it utters. Babbling also provides auditory training for a baby. By the end of the first year, a baby usually understands a lot and can follow simple commands.
How to encourage a child to speak?
Reading books is an excellent way to stimulate your child . Initially, books with simple illustrations work best, such as one animal per page. This is a great opportunity for auditory play, for example, by introducing onomatopoeic words (asking your little one what a dog or cat does). You can point to where a dog's eye or ear is, encouraging your child to do the same.
This is also a time when it's worth introducing poems and rhymes . Short text won't bore a child, and the rhythmic and melodic nature of the lyrics will capture their attention. Rhymes often contain words and phrases that appear multiple times in the same poem . This makes it easier for the child to remember them, and repeating them with a parent becomes part of the fun.
Expert advises
Nursery rhymes and counting out games combined with finger games are also very helpful: "she was cooking a magpie porridge", "there is a poor man's cancer". When reading to a child, it is worth making sure that the child can freely observe the face of the speaker. Poems, rhymes spoken by the mother with variable intonation, enriched with facial expressions, and most of all with touch, provide excellent auditory and sensory stimulation.
Listening and reacting is an encouragement to speak
Conversation is a dialogue, so it's important to give your little one time to speak and listen to what they're saying . This teaches your little one to listen carefully and makes them feel important. If they say something incorrectly, repeat it correctly or ask, "Did you mean...". Respond to your child's speech, even if you don't understand what they're saying. Showing interest motivates your child to continue talking.
How to teach a child to speak while having fun?
Speech can also be stimulated through everyday play. Breathing games (e.g., blowing bubbles, drinking through a straw, or blowing on a mirror) are very useful and popular with children, as are drawing, painting, and sensory play with modeling clay, clay, sand, and water. Puzzles, blocks, and crossword puzzles are also suitable for slightly older children . Sorting and matching shapes stimulates the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for speech development. Playing together will be a great opportunity to develop your child's language skills.
Proper feeding and the development of a child's speech
To ensure your little one articulates the sounds they produce correctly, it's important to ensure the proper functioning of their articulatory organs: lips, tongue, and soft palate. Initially, their function is improved through basic feeding activities. It's not just what your little one eats, but how it's presented. Initially, liquid and pulpy foods should be introduced, but as their diet expands, they should be supplemented with solid foods. Chewing, biting, and biting off are excellent exercises that prepare the muscles for correct pronunciation.
It's also important to pay attention to the method of feeding. According to pediatricians, the sixth month of a baby's life is the best time to start spoon-feeding. Spoon-feeding introduces new foods with different consistencies to the child's diet, which is also important for stimulating speech development. It's also a good idea to combine the introduction of solid foods with an open cup or water bottle with a straw. Drinking from a cup, as well as sucking through a straw, activates the muscles of the tongue and lips. Breathing and swallowing coordination improves. A baby may not immediately like a change in food consistency or a new method of feeding, so patience, understanding, and, of course, calm are key.
What can hinder or interfere with a child's language learning?
Brain development is particularly intense during the first two years of life, and the proper course of this process is determined by the stimuli a child encounters daily. Recent scientific studies have shown that modern, so-called high technologies have a significant negative impact on speech development . Nowadays, in homes, we often have radios and televisions playing in the background, and we use tablets, phones, computers, and smartphones. Children eagerly reach for their cell phones, closely observe changing images, and watch cartoons on TV. Unfortunately, the excess stimuli provided by these devices negatively impact a young person, contributing to disruptions and even stunting their normal development. Pediatricians and speech therapists recommend that young children not watch television even until they are two years old, as this is a time when speech development is particularly rapid. For older children, up to five years old, it is recommended that television or computer use be very limited and always under parental supervision.
Supporting and rewarding, without pressure
To encourage your child to speak, it's worth rewarding every attempt at verbal communication . However, you certainly shouldn't pressure your child and overwhelm them with exercises . Expanding daily activities with auditory, visual, and tactile play, introduced in an atmosphere of calm and mutual acceptance, can prove incredibly helpful in your child's development.
Źródła:
Dmochowska H: Thematic play is an important factor supporting the development of a small child [in:] Early intervention and support for the development of a small child (ed.) Cytowska B., Winczura B., Impuls, Kraków 2008;
Rodak H .: Therapy of a child with a speech impediment, WUW, Warsaw, 1997;
Sadowska L .: Early diagnosis of psychomotor development disorders in infants and the basics of their rehabilitation [in:] Propedeutyka Pediatrii, (ed.) Jankowski A. Wrocław. 2001;
Wituk-Światłowicz L .: Early communication of a child. The birth of love. [In:] Early intervention and support for the development of a small child (ed.) Cytowska B., Winczura B., Impuls, Kraków 2008.
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