Essay on Language and Child

Communication development in children and how you can help
“Does it matter if my three-year-old has a lisp?”
“My six-year-old sounds like he’s stammering.”
“Sometimes my 8-year-old can’t think of the right word – is this normal?”
By Liz Syed - 23/11/2009 4:34 pm - Published by: Families Cheshire - 15

Did you know that around 1 in 10 five-year-olds entering school have some type of difficulty with speech, language and communication skills? It’s not just about pronouncing words correctly: understanding language, putting sentences together correctly, speaking fluently, finding the right words, then being able to use your language appropriately in social situations – the list is endless!
So what should you look out for as your child’s communication skills develop, and what can you do to help?
Here’s a brief checklist for ages and stages of communication development in children, but remember that these skills develop at different rates, and this is only meant to be a guide!

6-12 months
Typically, your baby will listen and look with a great deal of interest to what’s going on around them, will start to babble (“gaga, bababa, mmmm”) using strings of different sounds, and will be understanding simple words in context (“Where’sMummy?” “Biscuit’s all gone”).

What can you do?
Talking to your baby through the day, telling them what you’re doing, and singing songs will all help your child’s language skills. Get down to their level and make eye contact with them as you talk to them, and copy the sounds they make. Use simple actions and gestures as you talk too, like miming drinking from a cup as you say “drink”, or waving as you say “bye-bye” – this will really help your child’s understanding and vocabulary development.

12-24 months
At this age, your child will be starting to develop first words, typically single words at around 1 year (“Daddy”, “doggy”), progressing to putting two words together at around 2 years of age (“Mummy gone”). The words might not be very clear though, and your child will be using gestures, pointing and reaching, along with different sounds, to get their message across.

What can you do?
When your child points to an object, tell them what it is. Be prepared to do this many times – repetition is how children learn! Play lots of action games and songs (libraries have plenty of books and CDs full of these), and remember to talk to your child as much as possible!

2-3 years
At this age your child will typically be understanding more, and have a larger vocabulary (using up to 300 words).
They’ll be asking lots of questions too! Their speech sounds may be well-developed, but it’s likely they’ll be having some difficulties with trickier sounds like “sh, ch, j, th, r” and others.

What can you do?
Add language: If your child uses a sentence like “big doggy”, you can help their language by adding a little to what they’ve said: “Yes, that’s a big, brown doggy. Woof woof!” If your child has difficulty with speech sounds, so that some words are unclear, don’t correct them or make them say it again: just repeat what they’ve said using the right sounds, and this’ll help them to develop those sounds themselves.

3-5 years
Your child now has a lot to say! They’ll be asking loads of questions, doing lots of imaginative pretend play, and learning to interact with their peers. They are starting to use much longer sentences too, although they’ll still make grammatical mistakes (“I breaked the

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