Playing Together Helps in Language Development in Early Childhood.
Early Childhood is the crucial period for Language Development as in this period the children have immense capacity to learn new words, phonetics, semantics etc. Language Development in Early Childhood actually determines the overall development of children like cognitive development, social and emotional development and to be an effective communicator. Early Childhood refers to the period of birth to six years and in this period children’s vocabulary increases drastically. Research shows that, at age one, children recognize about 50 words; by age three, they recognize about 1000 words; and by age five, they recognize at least 50000 words. ( Shilpy& McAfee, 2015). So, we should build a conducive environment for maximizing the language development in this period.
Milestones in Language Development in Early Childhood
Table of Contents:
There are some milestones in language development of children at early childhood period according to their age..-
. (0-3 months)- Cooing sounds, Smile, use their body with voice to communicate.
.(3-6) months- develop of baby language- a range of sounds, gurgling sounds while playing, try to interact, eye contact
.( 6-12) months- trying to copy speech sounds, communication with gestures, can say a few words like ‘mama’, dada’, ‘ papa’ at the end of 12 months, can follow simple commands like ‘come here’, take it’ etc.
.(12-18) months-can say more than 10 words, know names of body parts, names of people at home, can follow commands with comprehension.
.( 18 months-2years) – can speak about 50 words or more, can use simple phrases like ‘ Go out’ or “more milk” etc. can understand simple questions and ask simple questions.
.(2-3) years- Begin to say longer sentences, conversation skills improve, can communicate with others.
.( 3-4 ) years- communication skills improve, can speak clearly even with strangers.
.( 4-5) years- can use complex words, can answer questions about a story, communication skills improve more and more
.( 5-6) years – more and more words are learned, can read and understand simple story, vocabulary increase to 10000 words and children’s language development reach in it’s peak.
Looking at the milestones of language development, one can understand that the importance of creating a conducive environment of Language Development in Early Childhood is mandatory.
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Useful Ways to Maximize Language Development in Early Childhood
Talk to Your Children
The best way to facilitate the language development in children is Talking with them even though they can not speak in the early stages of life. When the child starts to do coo, gurgle or gestures, you can respond to your child in order to communicate with him\her like cooing back, saying baby words etc. Later on, as the child grows you can talk with the child using different words from different context by treating him\her as an adult.
when the children start to say words, you can talk with them by repeating their words, telling them some simple commands to follow or by asking questions. By talking with the children really increase their vocabulary and introduce them to meaningful sentences to communicate and thus help in language development in early childhood.
Pay Attention to Their “Talk” and Respond
By giving attention to the ‘Talk’ of the children including the baby talks or gestures also, we can support the language development in early childhood. By listening to the sound produced by them, repeating to the sounds or words, playing with them by saying many words or telling stories to them etc. are really beneficial to foster language development. When you pay attention to your child and respond to their ‘Talk”, that will surely enhance the communication skill and vocabulary of them.
Use the Sing-Song Voice
It is very effective to attract the children towards you- the Sing-Song voice always make the children happy and they try to communicate with you by eye- interacting or showing gestures or simply trying to make some sounds. In case of 3-6 years old, the children repeat that song or voice after you and also try to make their own sing-song voice.
Telling Stories to Children
It’s just the excellent way to maximize not only the language development of children but also the imagination, creativity, cognitive development of them. The parents can make a schedule of storytelling in the daily routine of their children, they may tell stories to their children with actions or by changing the tone of voice to make that activity interesting and help children to learn many new words, sentence structures or the tone of voice in different situations. You should also encourage the child to tell a story to you and if they try to tell, appreciate it.
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Recite Rhymes Together
To support maximum language development in early childhood, we can choose the way of reciting rhymes with actions. Especially, the children within the age of 1-4 years old like to listen rhyming words and try to repeat those words. If actions are associated with recite a rhyme, it is very pleasant to children to repeat this and thus they actively participate in enhancing their language development. Nursery rhymes like’ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ or Baa Baa Black Sheep etc. can be used in initial stage to communicate with the children.
Reading Aloud Together
When the parents are reading aloud with the children the storybooks or any kind of books, they can point out and draw the attention of the children to the new words, phonetics or semantics and thus can foster the language development in early childhood to a great extent. Especially, when children are reading the picture books, they become excited to see the pictures and ask many questions to their parents regarding those pictures and thus they increase their vocabulary along with the cognitive development and imagination.
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Playing Games Together
Playing games with the children is also effective to maximize language development as playing together need the communication skills and vocabulary to communicate. Especially, when the children of almost same age group or little bit elder group are playing together, they can communicate easily with each other, hear to each other’s words and increase their vocabulary and communication skills.
Contact with a Professional
If you see that your child is lacking behind in language development as he\she is far from the milestones of their age or cannot communicate properly, you should immediately contact with a specialist to know whether your child has any impairment or not. You can also contact with a speech therapist if they child is suffering from any kind of speech disorder and help the child to overcome his\her problems.
Words from Wingsofwishes.in
The early childhood period is the crucial period for language development as the children can learn new words, phonetics, semantics etc. in this period very quickly. Within first 5 years of life, children has the ability to acquire about 10000 vocabulary words if they are exposed to an atmosphere rich in pleasant sound, caring people, print materials and freedom, the language development in early childhood will be maximum.
“Research has shown that Babies remember stories that they were read while they were in utero, as well as recognizing their mother’s voice.( Decasper and Fifer, 1980, 1986:; Kisilevsky et al.,2003)
References
1.Language development: Speech milestones for babies – Mayo Clinic
3.Language development – Wikipedia
4.Early Childhood | Psychology Today
5.Language development: children 0-8 years | Raising Children Network
6.Language acquisition – The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development
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