Libraries Rock!: 2018 SLP: Helping to Expand Your Child's Vocabulary

From a child's very first cry, he is learning to communicate!  Parents quickly learn that their child has more than ONE cry!   There's the "I'm scared" cry, the "My diaper needs changing" cry, the "I'm hurt" cry, the "I'm frustrated" cry,  and many more!  Your responses to Baby help form his understanding of the power of communication.  When he is developmentally ready, words will take over as the primary way to communicate.

We are all aware of the complexity of our language and the nuances that allow us to express ourselves clearly.  There is much we as parents can do to encourage language development in our youngsters.  Modeling good language use and sentence structure are easy ways to support our child's language development.

* Instead of correcting your child, try rephrasing your child's response:
Child: "I seed a rabbit in the yard!
Parent: "Oh really?!  You saw a rabbit in our yard?!"

* Be a color commentator:
Child: "Pretty flower!"
Parent: "Yes, that is a pretty flower!  It grew from a tiny seed buried in the ground.  It has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 yellow petals!"

* Have fun with words:
Point out words that rhyme as you and your child talk.
Preschoolers love silly words :
Parent: "Are you sure that block is purple?  I think it's GLURPLE!"
Child: "Or maybe it's SURPLE!!"

Here is an article on helping toddlers expand their language skills.


Here is a short article from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.


And here's one more, from ReadingRockets.org