Understanding language and talking are two different processes. Understanding is a sensory perception process, where children can understand words before they can start using them in speech. This is called receptive language, while speech itself is a motor process called expressive language. This process is where children are required to use the muscles of the tongue and mouth to function together to produce sounds.

Infants: Turn-Taking – Dr. Patricia Kuhl, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle stated that, “We now know that neural connections are formed very early in life and that the infant’s brain is literally waiting for experiences to determine how connections are made.” Infants develop more rapidly with caretakers who are not only loving, but also talkative and responsive, and that a more verbal family will increase their infant’s chance for success. One of the quickest ways to develop an infant’s vocabulary is by touching, responding and having mock conversations by mimicking the sounds that they make. This “turn-taking will drive their vocal development.

Toddlers: Pattern Making - Language structure includes the use of basic grammar rules including pronouns, plurals, possessives, regular past tense and questions. Toddlers should make pattern with object such as buttons, beads, and colored cubes. By putting thing in a certain order, young children gain an understanding of sequence. This helps them discover that the letters must go in a certain order.

Preschoolers: Encouraging Participation – Use props (toys, puppets etc.) to act out the stories you are telling or hand them to the child to mimic your actions. Ask the children for feedback about the story you are reading. Ask questions about the story. “What did the wolf do to the grandmother?” or “What did Little Red Riding Hood see when she came into the house?” Keeping children focused on the story: Let the children ask each other questions. Some examples might be, “What part of the story did you like best?” or “What part of the story made you afraid?” They can use the props to act out the answers.

Suggestions to Encourage Language Development:

1. Use laughter to reduce stress and to enhance the brain’s receptivity to learning. Laughter is known not only to increase white blood cell activity and to change the chemical balances that are needed for alertness and memory. Researchers also claim that it boosts the body’s immune system.
2. Communicating an attitude that reading is fun by smiling, laughing and touching when reading to young children.
3. Substitute children’s name for the main character in a story.
4. Play rhyming games (they don’t have to be real words).
5. Sing nursery rhymes, fingerplays and songs to develop memorization skills!

There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book. (Frank Serafini)