This post will deal with the practical applications of laying the foundation for all literacy instruction in infants and toddlers. Building language skills begins at birth. Many people do not realize how important it is to lay a good solid foundation for future language acquisition in the infant and toddler years. The information presented will be applicable for all children, but I will explain how all of these activities help children develop phonemic awareness and build speech fluency.
Talk to the Child
For infants and toddlers the most important activity a parent or child care provider can do is talk to the child. Children must hear language in order to learn it. When we talk to infants, we expose them to the various sounds in our language. I am not talking about "baby talk," either. Use normal vocabulary with your infant. Let them hear a wide variety of words from you. Research has proven that children who hear a wide variety of words talk sooner and even read better latter in childhood. Much of the poverty gap with our public school children actually comes down to a language gap more than a money issue. Turns out that children from middle and upper class parents hear more words in early childhood. This can come down to a multitude of factors, but talk is free. When you have an infant or toddler in your care, talk to that child as much as possible.
Read to the Child
The second most important activity for infants and toddlers is related to the first. Read to that child. Even infants benefit from exposure to books. For infants word picture books offer the most benefit. Pointing to pictures and naming them helps build that child's oral vocabulary. Toddlers also benefit from word picture books, but the delivery needs to change with age. As the child grows, the adult needs to change strategy from naming the pictures for the child to letting the child name the pictures. This gives them practice using language. Also, make sure to repeat the word pronouncing it correctly after the child says it. I know it is adorable how the child pronounces some words, but you do not need to reinforce that. It is extremely important for that child to hear the word pronounced correctly for the child to develop speech and phonemic awareness skills.
Play Babble Games
The third most important activity flows from something the child does naturally - babble. These babble games give parents and caregivers a marvelous opportunity to develop phonemic awareness and speech. Most of the time when a child babbles, we simply copy what the child is doing. However, the adult can take the lead and change the babble to a different sound. Often, the child will stop and listen to you, and then try to copy you. In this way you can expose the child to every consonant sound in our language. Many speech issues in young children that stem from a lack of exposure to language sounds can be eradicated with rich babble game experiences. Also, many speech issues that stem from physical problems will show themselves earlier when an adult plays these babble games with children. Early detection is always a good thing.
Stories with Repetitive Phrases
As the children reach older toddlerhood, it is time to start exposing the children to real stories. The best stories for this age involve stories with repetitive phrases. After just a few readings, this age group will pick up on these repetitive phrases and begin to "read" the books to themselves. Again, the goal is language exposure at this age. Choose books that also have rich vocabulary intertwined with the repetitive phrases. The more a child hears a word, the sooner that word will find its way into that child's working vocabulary. Research has proven over and over that children from parents with higher education are exposed to richer vocabulary at an earlier age. This really does give these children an advantage when they reach school.
The Great Divide at 2
As children approach two years old, they truly start to diverge according to experiences and abilities. Some two year olds still are not talking much at all, and some talk in sentences and even paragraphs. This is the point where I begin to apply individualized instruction. For those children with little oral language skills, I will concentrate on babbling games and word picture books. For those children with more oral language skills, I will move on to the repetitive story books. For those with advanced language skills, I will introduce more advanced stories, easy rhyming activities, and other activities that allow the child to play with the sounds of language. It is extremely important for a child to understand and hear the sounds that make up our language. This lays the foundation for being able to decode words and spell words when that child reaches "big school."
Two Year Olds with Advanced Language Skills
I diverge from my colleagues greatly when it comes to two year old children with advanced language skills. Many early childhood experts consider what I do as developmentally inappropriate. However, I say what I do is individually appropriate, and I never hold back a child because of their age. One of my biological children is gifted. She taught me the importance of letting her spread her wings when she was ready not when some "expert" said she ought to be ready. I apply that to the other end of the spectrum as well. Children who struggle need extra support not pressure especially when those children have developmental delays and issues. They will spread their wings when they are ready and not before. I really wish our educational system in this country could be designed around ability rather than age. Our children reach school age at such varying places when it comes to experiences and abilities. We do most of them a disservice by trying to apply a one-size-fits-all curriculum for a particular age group. They would benefit so much more from a curriculum set for their particular ability level so that they will be able to experience true progression in education. This is why my program provides one-on-one instruction rather than group instruction.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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