How to teach your child to speak: top 10 Simple Tips

Tanya's baby started talking when she was a year old. And in the car, the Twins immediately started talking in sentences of one and a half. And Sveta... Dear parents! Comparing the pace of speech, and, in fact, any development of children, is a thankless task. In any case, your child will lag behind others at some points, and this fact will only upset you or even worse-make you think that something is wrong with the baby.

All that is required of you is a reasonable approach and care, as well as regular consultations with a pediatrician and a visit to a speech therapist in 2-3 years.

Delayed speech development is not difficult to diagnose, but it is done by specialists. We will also give you tips on how to teach your child to talk — at an individual and convenient pace.

How the language develops

Let's take a closer look at the gradual development of speech, starting from the first months of the baby's life.

Up to a year

At the age of 1-3 months, the child pronounces vowel sounds reflexively — in response to external factors. For example, when mom/dad appears in the room or while bathing. After a few months, babbling begins — pronouncing syllables. The meaningfulness of speech reactions continues to develop, and already at 10 months the child has about 10 simple words to his credit.

Motivation for further development is an interest in the outside world. The child understands the relationship between tactile, visual and auditory sensations and speech addressed to him.

Recommendations for parents: talk to your children from birth. Mother's words, poems and songs directly affect the speech centers in the child's cerebral cortex, stimulating them for more active development.

From one to two years

It is then that children realize the importance of language when interacting with their environment. They are willing to make contact with adults and other children and use their still meager vocabulary to exchange information. By the end of the second year, it will be about 50 words.

Recommendations for parents: to increase the number of words in the child's asset, pronounce the names of objects that are in their field of vision. Current classes on Doman cards - with images of animals and objects. The child looks at the card, and the mother clearly pronounces the name of what is drawn on it. You can also point to any objects from the environment and name adjectives: bright sun, transparent glass, warm sea.

The development of fine motor skills is of great importance, since the communication centers of the brain are involved during finger games, "ladushki", etc.

From two to three years old

The child literally expands his vocabulary before our eyes. She is good at simple sentences, easily memorizes songs and poems. It's time to develop articulation — the correct pronunciation of sounds. Training sessions such as simulating noises, household sounds, and birdsong will help you do this.

Correct your child if they say something wrong. But do it gently, positively, so that she doesn't worry that it's not working out yet.

Recommendations for parents: track when the baby speaks better — in a calm state or vice versa during increased activity? This will help you choose a more convenient time for classes.

From four to six years old

Every year the child learns verbal communication skills better and better. In the preschool period in its asset:

• 3000 words;
• correct pronunciation of sounds;
• correct sentence construction;
• active interest in books and possibly the ability to read;
• memorizing large (up to 3-4 stanzas) poems and songs by volume.

Recommendations for parents: it's time to read and discuss books together. If the child can't read yet, let their parents do it for them. Then you can discuss the plot, view the pictures and share your impressions. Try to choose unusual epithets, talk about your impressions in colors, with emotions. The child will subconsciously copy your speech style.

You can play games — crocodile, nonsense, Scrabble. They develop the skill of quick word selection, Train Memory, ingenuity, and attention, which will inevitably affect the richness of the language.

When to see a speech therapist

There is a theory of energy saving, when the dependence of the rate of speech development on the total energy reserve of the child is traced. Simply put, if children have little energy, they are sluggish, sedentary, apathetic — then they start talking later than their peers.

In addition, children may have problems with the perception of information during training. For example, if the ability to imitate is reduced, then the child will be reluctant to repeat songs, phrases, and animal sounds after you. There are also hearing problems that are detected only when trying to teach the child to speak. The most common disease is alalia. When the baby has a late appearance of speech reactions, violations of sound pronunciation and syllabic structure, poor vocabulary.

Other medical causes of delayed speech development:

• abnormalities and metabolic disorders in the central nervous system;
• mental illnesses, epilepsy;
• hydrocephalus, cerebral ischemia, increased ICP;
• Cerebral palsy, pathologies of brain vessels, etc.

To exclude these diseases, you need to undergo a comprehensive diagnosis. First, you should visit the following doctors: pediatrician, speech therapist, neurologist, ENT.

Then they will be sent for laboratory and instrumental studies: blood tests, ultrasound, CT, MRI, audiometry, etc.

If the examination showed that the child is absolutely healthy, try to find the psychological reasons for the delay in speech development:

1. Overprotection of parents.
2. Lack of socialization of the child.
3. Increased anxiety.
4. Low self-esteem.
5. Negative psychological environment: rigidity in upbringing, physical punishment, intimidation, etc.

Identifying the cause of bad speech in a baby and eliminating it is already half the battle. Next, Parents need to make every effort and time to catch up and bring the level of speech development to age norms.

10 tips to teach your child to talk

1. Remove the smock. Studies have shown that the longer a child uses this device, the later they start talking. The lobe negatively affects the bite, slows down the growth of teeth, and can disrupt breastfeeding – there are many reasons to give it up.
2. Learn songs and rhymes with your child. First, rhyming lines are much easier to pronounce. Secondly, the child will learn to understand the rhythm of the text, intonation shades, semantic accents. All this will make it more diverse.
3. "I don't understand you" - say this every time the child says something in their own language, incomprehensible to others, or shows gestures. Until she clearly expresses her request, parents should not respond to it. At first, this exercise will irritate the baby, but he will quickly get used to it — to get something, you need to call it correctly.
4. Play guessing games, puzzles, and charades with children of all ages. There is also a wonderful game that develops thinking and the ability to choose the right words – "10 Questions". You are planning an object or movie character, and the child must use 10 Questions with a monosyllabic answer "Yes/No" to guess what exactly you have made a wish for.
5. Use speech therapy techniques. For example, exercises for the tongue, cheeks and lips. do it together – it's easy and fun. Inflate your cheeks, tap your tongue, and try to reach them up to your nose or chin.
6. Activate the game form of classes. During the game, the child remembers new words, phrases, and pronunciation much faster and more efficiently. Try to master finger theater: mini-performances will provide a double effect that develops speech and fine motor skills. Finger toys for such a theater can be purchased at a children's goods store or made independently.
7. Confuse the child. Play this game: an adult says a sentence with an error, and the kid tries to correct it. For example:" the car is driving in the sky " - the child corrects:" not in the sky, but on the road"," the dog is flying towards me " - "it is not flying, but running". This exciting game forms the perception of speech well, as a means of transmission.
8. Get creative. Let your son or daughter find something to do: drawing, singing, playing instruments, performing theater. Any creativity stimulates the brain.
9. Down with gadgets. Pediatricians and speech therapists are sounding the alarm: the total passion for smartphones reduces the pace of speech development. Scientists in the UK conducted a study with a sample of 900 children aged 0.5 to 2 years. Every day, they spent half an hour with a smartphone, tablet, or electronic game. A fifth of respondents experienced a 49% decrease in speech. Conclusions are not difficult to draw. Therefore, if you want your child to talk on time, down with gadgets.
10. As A. S. Pushkin said, " reading is the best teaching!». Read a lot, read with your child, read for yourself, read every day. Books not only develop the imagination, but also replenish the vocabulary, form the ability to draw logical conclusions, memorize plots and characters. It is difficult to find a more useful tool for the overall development of a child than a book.

Summing up the above, I would like to reassure parents a little: 25% of preschoolers have certain problems with speech. By the end of Primary School, the situation is significantly leveled — violations are observed only in 7% of children, and by adolescence — even less.

If you actively work with your child, visit a speech therapist, and follow their appointments, all speech problems will be a thing of the past. Good luck!