From the Mouths of Babes
It's never too soon to begin conducting language lessons — within the context of daily interactions, that is. By understanding the fine points of human communication, parents can provide a rich learning environment and better verbal stimulation. Acquiring speech is a two-step process that involves (1) listening to language being spoken, and (2) practicing talking. You can engage your youngster in her first conversation by placing your face close to hers and alternate between talking to her and mimicking the noises she makes. This is the time to giggle, tickle, tease, snort, crow like a rooster, quack like a duck, moo like a cow, and make every kind of funny noise you can think of!
The give-and-take of sounds encourages your youngster to mimic you, thereby engaging in the work that is essential for good language development: listening carefully to sounds and trying to reproduce them. When she's had enough, she'll signal her desire to stop by turning her head away. When she wants to continue, she'll again make sustained eye contact. Be sensitive to your child's readiness to play language games, as well as to her desire to quit. Failing to at least back off for a while leads to overstimulation and toddler stress.
Talking Hands
To speed communication, many parents now teach some basic sign language to their toddlers. And they're having great success! Baby sign language started as an experiment at Ohio State University's laboratory school. It was so successful that children as young as nine months old were able to communicate some of their basic needs by signing, thereby eliminating a lot of crying on the part of the little ones because the staff could more readily determine their needs. Some older toddlers could sign up to thirty words.
You don't need to conduct any kind of special drills to teach sign language. Simply make the sign for “more,” “down,” “potty,” “stop,” and so on, while
However, a definite advantage to using the standard signs is that toddlers can then readily communicate with people other than their parents. It is becoming increasingly common for toddlers and the adults who work with them to know some sign language. And if caregivers don't know sign language, you can facilitate communication by providing them with a photocopied page of the signs your toddler knows, right along with the list of emergency numbers and other important information.
FIGURE 2-1: All gone/Done
Right hand, palm down, sweeps across top of left hand.
FIGURE 2-2: Down
Point index finger down.
FIGURE 2-3: Drink
Shape right hand as if holding a glass, bring to mouth.
FIGURE 2-4: Eat
Pinch right hand fingers together, bring to mouth.
FIGURE 2-5: Go
Hold hands at chest, with index fingers pointing up. Rotate hands forward, so index fingers point out.
FIGURE 2-6: More
Pinch fingers of both hands, then bring hands together.
FIGURE 2-7: No
Hold right hand with thumb out and index and middle finger straight up. Bring fingers to thumb in pinching motion.
FIGURE 2-8: Now
Keeping hands palm up and bent at fingers, lower hands slightly.
FIGURE 2-9: Please
Move hand over heart in circular motion.
FIGURE 2-10: Share
Hold left hand palm open and thumb up. Sweep right hand, also palm open, along side of index finger of left hand.
FIGURE 2-11: Sit
Tap index/middle fingers of right hand on index/middle fingers of left hand.
FIGURE 2-12: Stop
Right hand comes down on palm of left hand in “cut” motion.
FIGURE 2-13: Thank you
Open palmed right hand starts with fingertips at mouth, then moves forward.
FIGURE 2-14: Tired/Bed
Right hand, flat palmed, is alongside tilted head.
FIGURE 2-15: Toilet
Make a fist with right hand, thumb between index and middle fingers, and shake right to left.
FIGURE 2-16: Yes
Make a fist with right hand, thumb across fingers. Bend up and down at wrist.
Fine-Tuning Listening
Seize opportunities to encourage your toddler to tune in to the world of sound. For example, when you're in the car, point out the shriek of a police siren, the blare of a horn, or the whistle of a train. When you go for a walk around the neighborhood, help your toddler notice the tweet of a bird, the rustle of leaves, or the whoosh of the wind. In the house, listen together to the crackle of a fire, the hiss of a kettle, or the ring of a kitchen timer. Use your voice as well; hum, whistle, and sing to your little one. She won't care if you can't carry a tune. And, by all means, play music.
Careful listening helps toddlers to reproduce the sounds needed for speech today, to recognize the subtle differences in sound needed for speaking tomorrow, and to sound out words when they're learning to read in the years to come.
Words, Words, Words
Besides normal hearing and listening in general, children need to hear words spoken in context. I hope you've been uttering streams of them since Day 1, so by twelve months your toddler has had continuous exposure to millions of words. Otherwise, begin now to make up for those lost months.
Unfortunately, the TV won't provide the kind of exposure to words that toddlers need. Pediatricians warn that TV dialogue drifts by in a blur. The crucial ingredient is missing: the association of the sounds of language with the objects to which those sounds refer. In fact, the TV shouldn't even be playing in the background since the noise can keep toddlers from hearing language that is being spoken. For young toddlers, the TV really is a squawk box!
