How to support children's speech and language development

Written by Charlotte Hall, Speech Therapy with Charlotte

Did you know that a child’s experiences in the first 3-5 years of their life physically impacts on their brain development?  What we do with young children during this ‘critical period’ lays the foundations on which their future learning develops and grows.  It’s just like laying the foundations for a building.

One of the key things we can be doing for our children at this time is to provide them with experiences and opportunities that will support their speech and language development.  Speech and language development is so important because it really underpins everything else.  If a child is unable to express themselves or understand what others are saying, they will find it difficult to thrive academically, form meaningful relationships and achieve positive mental wellbeing.

But what can we do to support young children’s speech and language development?

As a Speech and Language Therapist, I get asked this question a lot.  So let’s look at what the research tells us…

Children who are frequently engaged in GOOD QUALITY INTERACTIONS with parents and other caregivers (including Early Years Professionals) have the best outcomes in this area.  This is because good quality interactions provide an opportunity for children to practise communicating and you know what…?!  PRACTISE MAKES PROGRESS!  Sure, all children progress at different rates.  So, some children will need more practise than others in this area.  But if we all made sure we knew what good quality interactions looked like, we could, as a collective, make sure that we are giving ALL CHILDREN the best possible start in life.

You know the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”?  Don’t underestimate the power of all grownups within a child’s environment to shape their future.  If you know any young children, this is the time to educate yourself so that you can make a positive difference to their future.

So here’s a few common myths when it comes to what helps:

TALKING MYTH #1:  ASKING QUESTIONS IS HELPFUL

We’ve all found ourselves doing this one- we pick up a toy car and say, “what’s this?”  Is this the best thing we can do to support speech and language development?  No! 

Why not?  Well… questions put lots of pressure on children.  They’re complicated.  And they don’t model the words we want our children to learn.  When we ask children questions, we already know the answer to, we’re simply testing them.  It would be better to hold up the car and simply say “car”.

TALKING MYTH #2:  MY CHILD CAN PROCESS INFORMATION AT THE SAME SPEED AS ME

WRONG!  Children need more time to process both what has been said and think about how they might respond than adults.  So we need to slow down when we’re talking to them.  It’s useful to slow down our rate of speech and use lots of pauses so that our children have time to process everything.  Try counting to 15 in your head after you’ve said something to make sure you’ve given your child enough time.

TALKING MYTH #3:  IF MY CHILD ISN’T TALKING, I SHOULD FILL THE SILENCE WITH LOTS OF WORDS

Not quite!  Modelling lots of talking is useful for young children but they still need to have the opportunity to take a turn in the interaction.  Interactions should be back and forth, like a tennis match.  One person does or says something and then the other person responds and then this continues.  Your child might not be talking much but they might take their turn in another way (e.g. by moving their body, making a noise or handing you something).  If we do all the talking then our children don’t get to take their turn, which means they don’t get the chance to practise or be an active participant in the interaction.  We can offer our child a turn by using pauses or offering choices.

TALKING MYTH #4:  ROUTINES ARE JUST FOR NAPS

Routines are helpful for so many aspects of child development and Speech and Language Development is one of them.  When we engage in routines with our children, we do and say things in a repetitive, familiar way each time.  This supports vocabulary development but also helps children feel more secure and ready for learning.  Children are more likely to take a turn and try to join in with a predictable routine.  Routines include daily routines (e.g. mealtimes, bath time), repetitive activities (e.g. singing, stories) and people games (e.g. peek a boo, tickles games).  Many families also have other little routines that are unique to them.

TALKING MYTH #5: IF I WANT TO SUPPORT MY CHILD’S SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, I HAVE TO DO THIS BY: LOOKING AT FLASHCARDS/READING/SINGING/PLAYING EDUCATIONAL GAMES/ [INSERT OTHER OF YOUR CHOICE!]

Speech and Language Development occurs naturally during activities that children enjoy.  They’re most likely to learn when they’re having fun and when an adult is playing with them.  Not all children (or adults) learn the same way or like the same things.  So the most important thing for supporting speech and language development is to let your child choose what they want to play with and how they want to play with it.  And then you play with them but without your own agenda.  Watch how they are playing and join in with that.

If you want to find out more about what makes a good quality interaction and how you can support your child’s speech and language development Charlotte has a number of online sessions on her website.

We also recorded a podcast episode with Charlotte where we talk to her all about speech and language development - you can listen to this and all other episodes of ‘Newborn to Teen and Everything in Between’ here.

While you are here you might be interested in our video guides (webinars) on various topics including behaviour, sleep, play, toilet training and more - click here.

If you are looking for 1:1 support with anything from sleep to behaviour take a look at our parent consultation packages. Details can be found here.