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Encouraging your child’s language skills

At this age, your child’s use of language will be developing in leaps and bounds. It’s crucial to keep stimulating the development of your child’s communication skills and improve his grasp of grammar and the size of his vocabulary.

Keep talking

The great thing about talking to a toddler is that everything is potentially interesting. The world is brand new, and you can stimulate your child by talking about everything and anything in your environment from sunshine and grass to the shapes of animals you can see in the clouds.

Keep the commentary going all day, and if you find a particular subject that seems interesting to him, keep on talking about it. If he seems really intrigued by cats, talk about every aspect. Colours, fur, noises, sizes, and the sounds they make. The possibilities are endless.

Books

Collect books and encourage your child to become really interested in them. Read to your baby – he’s never too young to hear you read, and his future reading success is at least partially determined by the amount of time his parents spend reading to him.

Make sure that story time is eagerly anticipated; whether you’re reading from books or making up your own stories you’re stimulating your toddler’s imagination and getting him more and more interested in the world around him.

Making sounds and music together

Toddler’s love to hear music, and to get involved with clapping, playing instruments and generating music with you. If you repeat your toddler’s sounds and words back to him, it will help him to get the correct pronunciation and grammar.

Don’t ever criticise your child’s attempts at speech – this is a key time in his language development and you could put him off trying new things out. Instead, use lots of praise for all his efforts at communication.

Problems with communication

You need to be absolutely certain that your child isn’t experiencing any hearing problems, and act quickly to prevent any problems that could get worse.

So treat ear infections thoroughly, as they can put your child at risk of hearing loss and language delays. See your GP, and if antibiotics are prescribed ensure that your child completes the full course of treatment. Then make another appointment to see your GP, to ensure the infection is completely gone.