First Observations...Learning To Talk

How many mothers do you talk to on a daily basis? I talk to a lot. I regularly interact with children and their parents, and so it’s very easy to me to spot the trends..from the latest TV programme (In The Night Garden) to the must have toys and outfits…

The latest trend has shocked me a little. No, it’s not high heels for three year olds, or hammer sets for preschoolers…it’s parent’s not teaching their children to talk.

From the age of two months, a child in nursery will be being measured on the Early Years scale. This means they will have a keyworker who will monitor them, and set activities which will promote their development. For the first few months, this tends to be pretty simple stuff, such as listening, and engaging with objects.

From 4 months, however, the scale starts to look at speech. Obviously it doesn’t expect the baby to get up and have conversations, but by four months, most babies are making an attempt at conversations. By eight months, they can indicate what they want in a way that parents and other close people will understand, and at around nine months they hit that beloved “No” stage.

So meeting children who are over a year old and cannot say anything is a shock, and one that is becoming more frequent. Let’s imagine, for a second, the child is at nursery. Nurseries have criteria which allow the children to move through the rooms. It is commonly presumed that the names “Two to Eleven Months”, “Two’s” etc mean that this criteria is age based…in fact it is almost always based on ability.

The baby rooms criteria is low, as the child won’t have much ability at eleven months. However, the child should be mobile, whether crawling or walking, and be well settled at nursery. They should also be able to communicate, and to understand rules. In the second room, children will be expected to share, and to say please and thank you. A surprising amount of children are being toilet trained at one, so they are expected to say when they need the toilet. They are also expected to be able to make friends, and to communicate feelings, such as being poorly.

So when a child of one year three months cannot say “Ta”, they are disadvantaged. They can’t progress to the Ones room, as they don’t meet the criteria, and the toys in the Baby room aren’t stimulating enough anymore…

The thing that bemuses me, however, is that it is very easy to encourage most children to talk. Talking to the child from a young age allows them to listen to which words are common, and pick up on pronunciation. Once they get to five/six months and are beginning to be more vocal, encourage them to ask for things, by making any sound.

By eight months, your child should be learning “Ta”, “Ma”, “Da” and most likely, “No”. These small words should be spoken as much as possible, and encouraged. Obviously helping your child to understand their meaning is helpful, but life will help with that, as long as your child can talk.

By nine/ten months, if your child isn’t talking, it might be time to enlist some help. The medical professions probably won’t be interested yet, as it isn’t the sign of a serious problem, so you’ll have to be proactive. Take the child to different relatives, play groups and places, so that they hear a variety of people talking. If they can hear children of their own age talking, that will be even more helpful. Play the radio, or have the TV on while they play. Sing nursery rhymes, and make sure everyone who talks to them uses the ‘key’ words.

The next good idea is to invest in your baby’s communication. My favourite is:
This will encourage your child to talk in a fun, and very effective, way. While most parent’s will believe they can do it themselves, the amount of endless repetition will quite possible drive you mad, and investing in a decent toy will give you five minutes peace and have good resale value when you stop needing it.

If your child does attend nursery or a childminders, ask their opinion on their linguistic development. They should be able to give you tips, and tell you what they are doing to encourage further development, which you can then build on. You can even read through their Key Skills folder, to see how they are getting on.

While children shouldn’t be pushed and made to feel pressured to talk, they should be gaining this ability, as it is a huge disadvantage to them if they can’t. Giving them a helping hand is invaluable, and the best start in life.

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