The Crucial Role of Parents in Accelerating Language Development
Language, speech, and communication are important developmental milestones in a child’s life. However, many children are unable to develop age-appropriate language skills, leading to problems with the child’s social and communication skills.
Parents are the child’s first teachers and they can play an important role in the development of language skills in a child.
In this article, we will be discussing the stages of language development in a child and the role of parents in accelerating language development in a child.
What is Language Development?
Language development is a process by which a child develops an ability to process speech and communication.
During this process, the child will expand his or her vocabulary gradually before getting fluency and also understanding the basic language patterns.
What Are the Different Stages of Language Development?
A child goes through various language development milestones in his or her life. The various stages of language development in children are as follows:
- Pre-linguistic stage (0 to 6 months): During this stage, the child does not have developed language skills and communicates using sounds like crying, babbling, and cooing. Infants are able to recognize sounds and voices, as well as understand voice tones and facial expressions during this stage.
- Babbling stage (6 to 9 months): The child starts making syllables and noises that are not yet words. The child’s teeth and mouth muscles start growing to prepare the child for advanced talking.
- Holophrastic stage (9 to 18 months): The child can now say single words to describe an object or identify basic needs.
- Two-word stage (18 to 24 months): During this stage, the child can say two-word sentences that have some meaning, for example, thanks mom, more food, small dog, etc.
- Telegraphic stage (24 to 30 months): The child can speak phrases that are longer and have more than two words in this stage.
- Multi-word stage (above 30 months): In this stage, the child can build complex sentences that help them communicate their ideas better.
Importance of Speech and Language Development in Children
Speech and language development in a child is extremely important due to the following reasons:
- Lays a foundation before starting school
- Improves social skills
- Improves interaction with peers and other people
- Helps the child communicate and express better
- Reduces frustration due to an inability to express himself or herself
- Helps the child understand other people properly
- Supports cognitive ability
- Improves child’s overall growth and development
How Will I Know If My Child Has a Language Problem?
If your child shows any of the following symptoms, it could indicate that your child has a language problem:
- Gets easily distracted and lacks attention when you talk to him or her
- Poor eye contact
- Fails to follow simple instructions
- Fails to perform simple, age-appropriate tasks and activities
- Has an unclear speech which is difficult to understand
- Does not show any interest when being read to
- Avoids communication
- Repeats the same things multiple times
- Makes the same speech and sound mistakes repeatedly
- Does not speak at all by the time he or she is 18 months old
- Does not understand speech by 18 months of age
- Fails to recognize and label objects
- Has difficulty learning simple songs or nursery rhymes
Not all children meet their development milestones at the ideal age. There is a huge range within the child’s normal development.
However, if you are worried about your child’s speech or language development, you should consult a child specialist right away.
How Do Parents Help in Accelerating Language Development in a Child?
Parents play an important role in accelerating language development in their children using the following important tips:
- Read books aloud: Parents can help toddlers learn new words and sentence structures by reading books aloud to them. This will improve the child’s language learning skills. The parents can also encourage the child to read certain words from the book during a book-reading session.
- Regular conversation: Communicating with the child regularly can also help improve the child’s language development skills. Even if the child is unable to respond verbally, listening to certain words or statements repeatedly can make it easier for the child to reproduce the same words later.
- Give appropriate support and encouragement: The parents can encourage and support the child during the language development process to help him or her learn at a quicker pace and increase his or her confidence levels. If the child makes mistakes, the parents should correct the child in an encouraging manner and him or her the proper use of pronunciation and grammar.
- Give the child some control: While conversing with toddlers, the parents should let the child take control of the topic of discussion and the flow of conversation. Engaging the child in such a conversation can help the child improve his or her ideas and sentences.
- Reduce screen time: Excessive screen time is known to reduce the language learning ability of the child. This is because electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and televisions lack interactions, which is an important factor in controlling a child’s language development.
- Take professional help: Most children will naturally go through the developmental stages of language, while some children could face delays in speech and language development. If parents notice problems related to their child’s language development milestones, it is important to consult a good pediatrician to evaluate the child properly and referral to an appropriate specialist, if needed by the child.
How Can Butterfly Learnings Help Your Child’s Language Development?
Butterfly Learnings is a chain of child therapy centers across India offering support and guidance to children facing problems related to their developmental, behavioral, language, social, or communication skills.
If your child shows signs of delayed or abnormal language development, you can contact our expert therapists and specialists at Butterfly Learnings for a thorough evaluation of your child to see if an underlying health condition could be causing the problem.
Our specialists will offer a personalized treatment plan based on your child’s condition and provide a holistic treatment approach to ensure that your child’s language development happens properly, as well as manage other problems that your child may be facing.
At Butterfly Learnings, we have some of the best speech therapists in India to manage children with language, speech, or communication disorders. Our language therapists, ABA therapists, developmental pediatricians, child psychologists, shadow teachers, and other specialists will work alongside the speech therapists to provide your child with comprehensive treatment.
Our therapists will work in coordination with another, as well as the child’s parent to accelerate the child’s language development and also improve the overall well-being of the child.
Conclusion
Parents play a crucial role in helping a child through various language development stages. Reaching the language development milestones on time can help a child feel more confident and also help in the normal growth and development of the child.
Reading out books loudly to the child, conversing regularly with the child, giving the child some control while conversing, reducing the child’s screen time, and giving proper support and encouragement to the child are effective ways in which a parent can help the child.
If your child’s delayed or abnormal language skills are bothering you, you can get in touch with our specialists at Butterfly Learnings for a thorough evaluation of your child.