Category: Parenting

Learning how to speak is an essential milestone for babies and toddlers. It’s also a task that parents and guardians should prepare for and take seriously from the birth of their child and beyond. Now, kids pick up language skills at their own pace. There’s always a chance that a child will learn to speak sooner or later than their siblings, cousins, or peers.

At the same time, though, it’s still important to keep a close track of their language skills. This is because delays in this area can indicate child development issues, and acknowledging and addressing these challenges as soon as possible can be key to changing a child’s developmental trajectory and improving the outcome for the child, their family, and their community as a whole.

How Can Parents Help Toddlers and Young Children Develop Language Skills?

Teaching your child how to communicate through words is a long-term task for many parents, and lessons should start upon the birth of your infant. While your child might not be able to use their words until after they turn 6 months old, for example, they are capable of understanding your words and connecting what you say to what you mean. Here’s how you can encourage your young babies and toddlers to develop their communication and language skills:

Talk to Your Baby Frequently

Talking to your baby frequently will not only strengthen your bond with each other, but the act will also help expose your child to new sounds and words and learn how they are configured in sentences. In addition, it will also help them become more familiar with the world around them. Tell your baby about their surroundings, discuss the details of the clothes they’re wearing, or narrate what you’re doing when you’re around them, for starters.

Name the Objects around You

You can help your child pick up new words by introducing them to the items around them and the things that they use regularly. Introduce them to the feeding bottle every time you feed them so that they can connect it to the feeling of being satiated, for example. You can also do this with people by calling your partner, family members, or friends the names that you want your child to eventually associate with them.

Read Books and Labels Together

Reading to your child is a good practice, and research shows that children whose parents read them books as infants have larger vocabularies compared to their peers. Early on, show your infant how reading can be a fun activity by highlighting the pictures and words in the books that you read together.

Encourage Them to Repeat Words

If your baby is trying to repeat the words that you’re saying, encourage them. If they try to repeat the names of the people they interact with or the items they typically use, such as milk or ball, for example, this means that they’re getting the concept that these things have names. Support their progress and praise them for their efforts.

As soon as you notice an interest in a second language, you should equip them with the tools that will help them thrive. For instance, parents are often looking for the best app for kids to learn Spanish as they grow because they understand the benefits of being bilingual. Others enroll their children in classes to learn a new language or take them on trips that will expose them to different cultures, languages, and accents.

Cultivate Their Interests

What catches your child’s attention lately? If they’re interested in animals, dinosaurs, or trucks, for instance, how about using these items to spark a conversation with them? If you want them to practice speaking, ask them to describe their favorite toy, say what it can and can’t do, and what it might do if it gets in a particular situation.

Introduce Expectant Pauses

A pause that’s meant to give your child time to respond to a question is called an expectant pause, and many children’s shows use it to keep their young viewers engaged with their program. Use expectant pauses in real life as well to further encourage your child to say their mind and be a part of the conversation.

Give Your Child Options

Another way to encourage your child to use their words is by giving them options. Perhaps you can ask them if they’d rather wear clothes of one colour or another after taking a bath, or you can also ask them if they feel like eating a cookie or a cupcake as dessert.

Speak Slowly but Avoid Baby Talk

Allow your child to grasp the proper use of words by avoiding baby talk. Your child will inevitably mispronounce words that are not familiar to them or those that they have yet to practice using in earnest. Leave the baby talk to them, but use and pronounce the words properly so your child can follow your example.

When to Seek the Help of a Child Development Specialist

It’s important to talk to your pediatrician if your child has not yet started to talk by the age of 2, if they have trouble following directions or putting simple sentences together, or if their vocabulary is far smaller than is expected from someone of their age. It’s also a good idea to regularly share updates on your child’s language milestones with their paediatrician. This way, the specialist can address any concerns and questions that you might have about your child’s development and direct you to people who can help you and your child navigate challenges in acquiring verbal skills.

Reading Resources

Discover psychological strategies to encourage language learning in kids.

As parents, we want only the best for our children. If you’re looking for how to help your child do well in elementary school, you’re in the right place. We’ve collected a variety of tips and tricks to help your child excel in elementary school below. To start learning how to support your child, start reading!

Become Involved at School

If your schedule allows, it’s best to be involved in your child’s education. There are many ways to support your local school district. Consider joining the PTO to stay updated with the latest information affecting students.

Another option is chaperoning on school field trips for your child’s class. What can be better than creating fun memories that will last a lifetime?

Tutoring your child and other students is another avenue you may want to pursue. This approach lets you understand your child’s studies and how best to help them.

Encourage Habits That Promote Learning

One way to help your child do well in elementary school is by encouraging habits that promote learning. You can try games that develop helpful skills for the classroom, such as math, spelling, and reading. Many apps promote education, including:

• HOMER
• Endless Alphabet
• Prodigy

Alternatively, you can take an active approach to more traditional means of learning. For example, to encourage your elementary student with reading, you can ask your child to clap when they know the meaning of a word. This game will help them become a better listener, which will help them with their overall comprehension skills.

Start the Day Right

Starting each morning before school on a positive note will help set your child up for a good day. Begin by waking them up with an early, nutritious breakfast before school. Healthy foods will help them pay better attention in the classroom.

Ensure you get your child to school on time so that you can set them up with good habits. If they take the bus, help them get to the stop with time to spare so they don’t have rush. Pay attention to the clock if you drive your child, and always leave early. You want them to they arrive before the first bell rings.

Set Up a Good Bedtime Routine

Sleep is an important part of functioning well, so it’s no surprise that our children need to get their hours. Medical professionals recommend that students in elementary school get around 9-12 hours each night. Without getting enough sleep, your child is bound to feel irritable and less motivated for school in the morning.

To help set them up with some healthy habits, try implementing the following activities in your routine:

• A bath shortly before bedtime
• Brushing teeth
• Using the restroom
• Reading a bedtime story
• A goodnight kiss

When it’s time for bed, it’s best to keep children away from screens. Also, avoid sugary foods or drinks that might keep them up longer. Staying consistent with your child’s bedtime routine will help them develop healthy habits they can carry into adulthood.

You play a crucial role in helping your child’s success. Try your best to place emphasis on education by getting involved in school events and field trips. Structure your weekdays with plenty of fun learning opportunities. Finish days right by establishing a bedtime routine that lets your child recharge.

Recycling is something that all students learn about in school, but to make sure that these positive habits stick with them, you may need to follow up with additional lessons at home. Here are some tips on how to teach your children about the importance of recycling. Learn how to pass on these important habits to your kids.

Get Them Involved at Home

Your home is the perfect space to teach your kids to recycle because it allows them to apply what they’ve learned at school in a no-pressure environment. Consider creating kid-friendly sorting bins that are easy for your kids to understand. Teaching kids to use colors to sort different recyclables can be helpful for kids who are just learning how to read.

Sort recyclables by paper, plastic, glass, and compost if your family participates in composting. Even if your waste collection or rubbish removal service doesn’t require separation, this process helps children understand the differences between recyclable materials.

Teach Them How To Reuse Things

We all know the three Rs of recycling: reduce, reuse, and recycle (though some education systems teach as many as nine Rs, including repurposing, repairing, and more). Let’s focus on reuse for now. You might be wondering how to teach children to safely reuse the items they use every day.  Children can reuse items in the same way adults do.

For example, teach your children to avoid single-use plastic items and instead utilize a refillable water bottle, thermos, or lunch box. Carefully choosing the materials you use to pack their lunches can have a significant impact. Instead of using a disposable paper bag, choose a lunch box for them to take to school every day and stock it with reusable containers.

Don’t Forget About E-Waste

There’s no doubt about the impact of technology on students’ ability to learn while at school and at home, but this technology won’t last forever. When discussing recycling, you should also tell your children about the impact that electronics can have on the environment. After all, when we throw away electronics like old smartphones and computer parts, these pieces typically end up as e-waste in a landfill, which is particularly harmful to the environment.

It might be difficult for your child to understand that the smartphone in their hand or their school laptop could one day end up in a landfill. Do your best to explain to them that everything has a lifespan. Hang onto old electronics such as flip phones and old computer accessories to show them that even items that were considered high-tech at one point won’t last forever.

When their electronics do start to show signs of age, teach your kids responsible ways to dispose of them, such as taking them to a local e-waste collection facility or sending them to the manufacturer for repairs or refurbishing.

There are many distinct recycling guidelines and details that children don’t always learn in school. Knowing how to teach your children about the importance of recycling will help supplement the basic lesson they learn in school. These tips will help solidify the concepts and practices of recycling; hopefully, your kids will go on to teach the next generation as well.

“But, Mom! Everyone else has a cell phone!” Are you getting a bit tired of hearing this complaint? Giving your child a cell phone is a big decision that you shouldn’t have to feel pressured into making. But when it seems like your kids are the only ones without cell phones, it can be hard to stand your ground.

Common Sense Media discovered that 43% of 8-to-12-year-olds in 2021 owned their own smartphones. Yet, these phones are an obvious distraction at school and home, creating mental health issues and symptoms of addiction.

What can you do, though, when your kids continue to beg and plead over the phone issue? How can you include your children in the decision process and prepare them and yourself for the ensuing peer pressure?

1.  Let Your Child Present a Case

Your kids are much more likely to accept your decision about having a cell phone if you’re willing to give them a little respect first.

Next time they beg to have a smartphone like the rest of their friends, ask their reasoning. Ask your child to present a case for why they should be allowed to have one. You can even offer to give them a while to prepare before they talk to you about it.

They may have some valid reasons for letting them have a phone:

• You could reach each other in an emergency.
• They’d be able to contact their friends and stay in the social loop.
• It could help them learn responsibility.
• You get the ability to check in on them when they’re exploring increasing freedoms.

It may be a good idea to take some notes while they talk to you, so you can seriously consider their ideas before reaching a decision. After they finish, repeat what you wrote to make sure you understood them correctly. Then, no matter what you decide, your kids will know you took the time to hear them out and you listened carefully.

2.  Take Time to Think and Research

You took the time to actively listen to your child’s thoughts on the phone issue. Now you need to be willing to think it through from all angles and talk it over. Come to a decision as a parental unit before taking your decision to your child. No matter your decision, you’ll want to present a united front with no room for them to work on the other parent in secret.

While you talk it out, discuss your opinions and dig into some research so you can make an informed decision. What are some reasons to prevent your child from owning a phone?

• On average, kids spend between six and nine hours a day in front of screens.
• Phones are too expensive for kids to be responsible for keeping in good condition.
• Exposure to cyberbullying and social media on phones increases the risk of mental health problems in kids and teens.
• Social media and countless other apps leave kids exposed to contact with inappropriate content and predators.
• Having your smartphone in your presence reduces your cognitive abilities even if it’s turned off.

3.  Explain Your Reasoning

Once you’ve decided, you should sit down with your child to let them know your answer. If you’ve decided to let them have a cell phone, you should include your house rules for phone ownership and use. Then you can move on.

Parents who’ve decided not to allow their child to have a cell phone right now should be prepared for backlash in all directions. Luckily, your child will be likelier to listen to your reasons because you listened to theirs, but they’ll still probably do it with a fuss.

Ultimately, as a parent, you don’t have to explain your decisions to your children, but understanding the “why” usually makes it easier to swallow.

4.  Offer an Alternative

If your child is in activities or spends any amount of time at home alone, you may need a way to get a hold of them or vice versa. Also, you’re not entirely deaf to your child’s desire to interact with their friends when they’re not around.

Many companies make smart watches or “dumb” phones designed to limit what type of contact your child can have. Typically, the parent gets to set boundaries on the device.

5.  Introduce Phone-Free Activities

Reducing your own smartphone usage is an excellent example for your kids and will give you more time for all of you to spend together. Instead of a room full of zombies starting at screens, limiting phones allows you to truly enjoy each other. Get out the board games, go for a hike, plant a garden, and just soak up every moment.

6.  Hold Your Stance With Naysayers

Finally, you’ll want to discuss with your kids how to deal with criticism from peers. Talk to them about how you plan to deal with other parents’ questions and comments. At this point, you’ve had a very clear discussion about the reasons for not getting a phone, which you can share with naysayers. Your kids can either share those reasons with friends or simply blame your no-phone rule.  Eventually, their day will come at the appropriate age and they’ll finally have their own cell phone.

Be Willing to Revisit Your Decision

No decision ever has to be set in stone. Every year will bring new developmental changes for your kids, and life circumstances frequently change. Keep an open mind to changing technology and the needs of each child individually. Be upfront with your children that you mean what you say, yet you’re willing to be flexible if the need – not any amount of begging – arises.

Author bio:  Cora Gold is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She strives to live a happy and healthy life with her family by her side.
Follow Cora on Facebook and LinkedIn.