Language Development: Talking With — Not Just To — Your Child
Published on in Health Tip of the Week
Published on in Health Tip of the Week
Parents already know that it is important to talk to their child — even when they are infants! Research shows this helps children develop language skills and vocabulary, which are predictors of future academic and social success!
A new research study takes that idea a step further.
Researchers recorded every word children 4 to 6 years old and their parents said for two days and analyzed recordings. Then the children listened to a story during a functional MRI, which tracked brain activity, and afterward took standard language tests.
It turns out that the child-parent pairs that had more back-and-forth conversations — vs. parents just talking TO the child — showed increased activity in the language center of the brain and better overall scores on language testing, no matter the family’s socioeconomic status. The study was published in Psychological Science.
While talking to your child is still the right thing to do, you will also want to include opportunities for taking turns. Here are some ideas for turn-taking activities with different aged children.
Infants and Toddlers:
Preschoolers, 3 to 5 years:
When reading to your child:
Remember to make it natural and fun while you practice turn-taking with your child in play, reading and during conversations. The reward for your patience will be improved language skills, cognitive abilities, and academic success.
Contributed by: Angie Stinson, MA, CCC-SLP, Kristin Greene, MS, CCC-SLP
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