How to support your child’s speaking and listening skills

The Communication Tree

Why is speaking and listening so important?  Children learn to talk by listening  Communication is a life long skill  An essential communication skill

What does good listening look like?  Eye contact! Your child will watch your mouth movements and facial expressions, picking up clues to help them.

Listening development 1. Begins before birth: sounds from the womb, then from birth: listening and turning to familiar voices 2. Recognising common environmental sounds and looking in the direction of the sound 3. Distinguishing between similar sounds 4. Hearing rhyme, rhythm and pattern in language: the importance of regular story time and singing rhymes 5. ALL listening is important, not just to conversations, but stories, poems, rhymes, songs and music

Listening activities Sound lotto Singing Poems and rhymes Music- listening to songs and using instruments Simon says Instructions- board games ‘I packed my suitcase’ ‘Who am I?’

Listening activities Useful websites: years/speaking-and-listening earlyyears/soundgames/soundgames.htm

Speech development 1. Begins with babbling at home- finding their voice and realising how powerful it can be! 2. Naming objects and possibly pointing too 3. Phrases: “Me wee wee”- children are starting to put words together 4. Sentences: “I went to the beach”- children are beginning to use the correct language in order 5. Extended sentences: “I went to the beach with Mummy and made sandcastles”- children are communicating more and related to the same theme 6. Widening their vocabulary: practising using more words and the new ones they hear

The power of YOU! WE are the people who your children listen to regularly and therefore they are learning language from US all the time! Children repeat what we model so expose them to new words: don’t talk down to your child- they can do it! EVERY routine and job to be done is a chance to model and practise language

Speaking activities All of the listening games promote speech but you must encourage you child to talk and practise using the language they acquire. Busy families must allow their child time to talk…and we must listen! Don’t repeat a mistake- “No, not ‘goed’ to the park” but model the correction “Yes, we went to the park” Children need time to practise to improve. Show them the next stage by adding a word or idea, e.g. Child: I’m making a sandcastle. You: Yes, you’re making a very tall sandcastle!

Speaking activities Naming objects, don’t assume your child always knows the word because they see something everyday Sorting/classifying objects and pictures Action words are important too Using position words (in, on, under, next to, behind, in front) Using the language of size Using other describing words Singing and reciting familiar stories and rhymes Action rhymes- naming body parts as you complete the actions Encouraging your child to join in with repeats during stories