7 tips for your 1-3 year old to learn to speak
From 12 months, children usually develop the ability to speak, saying their first words. Find out how you can help your child with this important task.
When children are around the first year they begin to say their first words , although some children are more precocious and begin to speak even earlier . But it is also within the norm for them to start doing it long after. The pediatric community marks this period between 12 months and 3 years, dividing language learning into stages.
During this time there will be what is known as the explosion of spoken language, it is not possible to determine when this will occur. Each child has a different rhythm and different circumstances . The environment, the relationship with other children of the same age and the work of the parents, will be essential for the child to reach his final goal, to be able to express himself through speech.
As you can see, it is very important to dedicate time to work as a family with the child , since the little ones learn through imitation. Here is a list of tips that you can use with your child to help him learn to speak .
Index
1. SING SONGS
It is easier for children to remember words through songs , because they associate it with fun. When they are so young they only learn what catches their attention or amuses them . If there is a particular song that catches your attention, try saying the first word at any unexpected moment, your child will give you their full attention while waiting for the song to continue.
Many children’s songs include sleight of hand, such as the five little wolves, and this helps a lot for children to maintain their attention during the song and to imitate the movements.
2. LET ME ANSWER AFTER A QUESTION
When you ask your child if he wants something, like water or bread, give him enough time to respond . If necessary, repeat the question clearly and use the object itself so that your child can identify it and associate it with its corresponding word. Many parents tend to answer for their children without giving them time to think, this can cause them to lose interest in talking.
It is also important to emphasize the name of each object when the child asks for something, for example, if he wants a toy and points to it, remind him of the name of the particular toy in the form of a question, What do you want, the car? Give him time to process the information and repeat the question a few times. Then give him what he asked, even if he has not said it, there is no use frustrating the child.
3. USE AGE-APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
Talk to your child using short sentences and simple words that include objects from his environment. You can sit on the floor with your child and have a conversation with him, talk about the toys around, the characters in a book or the colors that decorate the room. Make sure there are no distractions such as television so that his gaze is focused on your mouth, a moment that you should take advantage of to vocalize very well exaggerating the gesture.
4. WORK ON POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
When your child says a word, even if it is wrong, congratulate him and let him know that he has done very well. Take advantage of this moment to remind him of the correct word , if the child sees a car on the street and says brum-brum, the positive reinforcement will be to say, yes, it is a car. But it will also be very important that in each sentence you apply the expansion by including one more word. It can be for example the color of the car, if it is a blue car, in this way the child’s knowledge will expand, since, even if he or she does not pronounce the word, it will remain in his brain.
5. USE THE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Learning to structure a sentence requires a lot of time, to facilitate the task for children instead of asking them what do you want to have a snack? He asks the question offering two options , what do you want to have a snack, a banana or a yogurt? In this way, the child will only have to decide between one of those two things and will have an easier time saying it. In an open question he will have to think about all the options he knows and perhaps he can block himself, getting frustrated.
6. ENCOURAGE PHONE CONVERSATIONS
Most children are struck by the telephone, it is a device that causes them a lot of curiosity. Something logical since they see how we have conversations with people who are not present, we laugh or get angry with a device to our ear. Make sure that your child receives calls from a family member every day , a grandfather, an aunt or his father or mother when they are not at home. It is about using short sentences, simple questions that the child can answer, what did you eat today? Or what have you done in the park?
With a few minutes of call it will be enough, yes, it is important that it is not a video call so that the child does not have visual distractions , just as you should try not to have other types of entertainment such as television, since the child will not maintain concentration in conversation.
7. READ STORIES TO YOUR CHILD FROM A YOUNG AGE
Encouraging the habit of reading in children is very important since they are very young. Reading will help you relax children so that they can better sleep, but it will also help you to stimulate speech for a few months. It does not matter if you have not read stories to him since he was a child, it is never too late to start, use children’s stories that have striking illustrations. Reading is essential for children to learn to speak.
All these tips are useful to help your child form increasingly complex sentences, but you always have to find a suitable moment to put them into practice. If your child is playing, or if they are tired or if they have a moment of tantrum, it will not help if you try to do any of these actions.
Do it when your child is rested so that he gives you his full attention and spend a few minutes a day having conversations with him . Soon your child will learn to speak and you will enjoy his funny rag language.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.