DEVELOPING LANGUAGE SKILLS IN A CHILD

★ Give your child opportunities to play. Play is how children learn. It is the natural way for them to explore, to become creative, to learn to make up and tell stories and to develop social skills. Play also helps children learn to solve problems—for example, if her wagon tips over, a child must figure out how to get it upright again. When they stack up blocks, children learn about colors, numbers, geometry, shapes and balance. Playing with others helps children learn how to negotiate.
★ Support and guide your child as she learns a new activity. Give puzzles or cross words to your child as activity.
★ Talk to your child, beginning at birth. Your baby needs to hear your voice. The more you talk to your baby, the more he will learn and the more he will have to talk about as he gets older. Everyday activities provide opportunities to talk, sometimes in detail, about what’s happening around him.
★ Listen to your child. Children have their own special thoughts and feelings, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears. As your child’s language skills develop, encourage her to talk about her thoughts and feelings. Listening is the best way to learn what’s on her mind and to discover what she knows and doesn’t know and how she thinks and learns. It also shows your child that her feelings and thoughts are valuable.