We've all heard in the news that supersized portions of food and sugar-laden drinks are bad for our health.
There is something, though, that should be supersized -- that is the amount of speech parents provide daily to their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
If you are into research, there is plenty to show that the more parents talk directly with and to their young children, the more quickly the children will learn to talk and the larger their vocabularies ultimately will be.
One study in particular demonstrated that children's language skills measured before the third birthday were directly influenced by the number of words their parents had spoken to them each day.
The words were actually counted, and the total numbers made a difference.
The differences in the children's language abilities at age 3 years then were found to correlate highly with school performance in later years.
This study proved that strong early language stimulation has long-lasting positive results.
Unfortunately, the opposite was found to be true.
Limited or weak early language stimulation resulted in reduced language abilities and lower performance in school.
If you are not into research, then just consider this issue from a common-sense perspective.
Language in -- language out.
More in -- more out.
More words in the child's brain -- more words available for reading, understanding, and building knowledge.
If you share my belief that young children benefit when they are able to build strong language skills before being exposed to the concepts needed to learn academics, let's consider what helps young children to learn language most readily.
If a child's language-learning system is properly "wired" for efficient language learning, that child will soar when input is supersized.
If a child's language-learning system is not "wired" for efficient language learning, that child will require input that is supersized in quantity and in quality.
That parent's input will need to be sensitive to and make adjustments for that child's specific developmental needs.
This will be true for at least 15% of all children.
I have learned over the years as a speech-language pathologist that the way parents say things is as important as what they talk about.
So, it isn't just about talking a lot.
It is about shaping the presentation of what is said so the child's system can make good use of the input.
We have also learned that passive exposure to language does not count in the number of words a child needs to hear everyday.
That knocks out television and hearing parents and other family members talking around them but not to them, on the telephone and to each other.
Parents can learn how to help their children learn to talk, if they want to make that a priority for their children.
It will take some conscious work and effort, but it can be done, and the process will become automatic and natural with practice.
The first step is learning how.
Let me help you get started with the information and techniques I share in my eBook.
There is something, though, that should be supersized -- that is the amount of speech parents provide daily to their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
If you are into research, there is plenty to show that the more parents talk directly with and to their young children, the more quickly the children will learn to talk and the larger their vocabularies ultimately will be.
One study in particular demonstrated that children's language skills measured before the third birthday were directly influenced by the number of words their parents had spoken to them each day.
The words were actually counted, and the total numbers made a difference.
The differences in the children's language abilities at age 3 years then were found to correlate highly with school performance in later years.
This study proved that strong early language stimulation has long-lasting positive results.
Unfortunately, the opposite was found to be true.
Limited or weak early language stimulation resulted in reduced language abilities and lower performance in school.
If you are not into research, then just consider this issue from a common-sense perspective.
Language in -- language out.
More in -- more out.
More words in the child's brain -- more words available for reading, understanding, and building knowledge.
If you share my belief that young children benefit when they are able to build strong language skills before being exposed to the concepts needed to learn academics, let's consider what helps young children to learn language most readily.
If a child's language-learning system is properly "wired" for efficient language learning, that child will soar when input is supersized.
If a child's language-learning system is not "wired" for efficient language learning, that child will require input that is supersized in quantity and in quality.
That parent's input will need to be sensitive to and make adjustments for that child's specific developmental needs.
This will be true for at least 15% of all children.
I have learned over the years as a speech-language pathologist that the way parents say things is as important as what they talk about.
So, it isn't just about talking a lot.
It is about shaping the presentation of what is said so the child's system can make good use of the input.
We have also learned that passive exposure to language does not count in the number of words a child needs to hear everyday.
That knocks out television and hearing parents and other family members talking around them but not to them, on the telephone and to each other.
Parents can learn how to help their children learn to talk, if they want to make that a priority for their children.
It will take some conscious work and effort, but it can be done, and the process will become automatic and natural with practice.
The first step is learning how.
Let me help you get started with the information and techniques I share in my eBook.
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