6 ways to encourage your child's speech

Language development is one of the most important aspects of growth for our children, so here are 6 ways to encourage your child's speech.

It's such a special moment for a parent to hear their baby's first words and in a way, language development never really ends.

As your baby grows and their speech becomes more advanced, they are better able to express themselves and communicate with you and the world around them.

Here are 6 ways to encourage your child's speech.

6 ways to encourage your child's speech

1. Start early: Experts believe that babies in the womb from around six months know their mothers' voices. Speaking to your baby while they are still in the womb is the place to begin. Be a talker, and your child will listen and remember your voice as an infant.
2. Maintain eye contact: Babies from three to t10 months old make facial expressions, smile, laugh, coo, and make different sounds as their way of communicating. Imitate your baby’s laughter and facial expressions. Cooing is your child’s language, and cooing back encourages them. Make gestures like clapping and waving to your child as you say the verbs for the action, like "Clap your hands" or "bye" as you wave, throw a kiss and say "I love you". Maintain eye contact as you talk to your child. This way, they learn to pay attention when being addressed.
3. Set a good example: Children learn from adults by imitating what they see and do, and speech is no exemption. Start by speaking slowly, use short sentences, speak with the right pronunciation, and one of our favourites is narrating. This includes talking about what you are doing, like ‘I'm washing the dishes’ or ‘you are building with your blocks’. Describing the activities you are doing helps your child develop phrases and also make sentences.
4. Listen attentively to what your child is saying: Do not interrupt when they are talking and give them a chance to respond. It's also essential that you don’t correct and criticize. This will damage your little one's confidence and make them less likely to practice their speech. Instead of pointing out mistakes, it's better to repeat the word or phrase with the corrected version.
5. Read with your child: Develop a culture of reading to your child on all different topics and use books with plenty of pictures. Point to words as you say them so your child can link written words to spoken ones.
6. Singing and playing music: A rich musical environment promotes communication skills. Nursery songs can be encouraged in your kitchen as you dance together with your child or can be played in the car as you sing along.