Baby Talk : Babies Learn To Talk By Hearing Baby Sounds New Research Confirms

Should You Use Baby Talk With Infants?

New Research from  Montreal confirms that young babies are more interested in the high-pitched sing song voices they hear, compared to normal adult speech levels parents and other adults naturally use when they are talking to young babies.  

Prof. Linda Polka of McGill's School of Communication Disorders and her team in the journal Developmental Science.Reasearcher says In the meantime, parents' intuitive knowledge to use a high, infant-like voice to speak to babies is "right on," 

The  experiments allowed babies to control a machine that gave out different levels of the sound "eeee" and babies showed they liked the high-pitched level better. But not only that, the researchers found that babies like to thear the voices of other babies. 

When the babies heard the high pitched sounds, they showed they preferred them and moved their mouths more.

In this video a 6 month old baby girl smiles and moves her mouth when hearing  a high-pitched "ee" sound. 

Using the high pitched " motherese" that comes naturally to adults has the effect of getting a baby's attention. And when you have  a baby's attention, the baby is learning, and his brain is developing.

So parents who mimic the way babies talk are giving their babies a head start in the process of speech development.

This confirms my own experience and supports the activities I describe in my e-book " How to Teach Babies to Talk" . It also shows that the mantra " don't talk baby talk to babies if you want them to learn to talk well" does not follow for babies under a year old. 

If you want to read more about how babies learn to talk and how to help them go to this page and read more articles of other research and what the parents who are already using the book have to say.

How to Teach Babies to Talk

The McGill University research was reported in a Science Daily press release 

Choosing a Baby Stroller - Top Tip and Not What You Expect

Choosing a Stroller to Help Baby Talk?

It may be just a bit unlikely but its true, the model of stroller or push chair you purchase can have an impact on the rate at which your child's speech evolves. Regardless of what you call them (parent-facing pushchair, rear facing stroller, backward facing stroller), when you look at what sort of stroller or push chair to purchase opt for one where the baby is facing you, or that is reversible. Reversible strollers and push chairs can have the child either facing you or facing forwards. The younger the youngster, the more essential it is that they are facing the parent or carer when out in the stroller for any length of time .

When the baby is facing you, you can speak to your baby about their environment. You can also see what is ahead of you before baby does and you can make short stops to talk about something exciting for your baby. You can also take evasive action if you see dogs ahead that may not be well-trained or under owner control, in case they bother or engage in unfriendly play with your child.

Young babies and toddlers need to be able to see you , to feel safe. It's a common sight in the streets to see a baby or toddler, often older than two years , sitting in a forward facing stroller, with a pacifier or soother, in his or her mouth. Presumably this is to keep the child quiet because they cry and fret and generally don't feel happy or secure in their stroller, or, maybe they are feeling bored having no-one to talk to and they quite naturally fuss about that. Think of all the opportunities those babies miss out on for talking with the parent about their surroundings. Think of all the conversation they miss and having the world explained to them. Of course, intelligent parents know that the more often you speak to a infant the more the child learns. So by having baby facing you in the stroller, you can help baby to talk

By facing the parent or carer and being spoken to in the course of a trip in the stroller, the baby will be more engaged, interested and focused on objects or events around them . Every thing in the outdoors that we take as ordinary is new to a baby and sometimes frightening. There is so much taking place in the world outside the home, that the baby needs the parent to focus on specific things, describe them, talk about them. This is how a child or toddler's vocabulary grows. Each new word learned and every new experience grows your baby's brain. Use every single chance during a journey with baby in the stroller to increase his or her word-bank and explain the world to your baby. So whenever feasible select a backward facing stroller and help baby talk.

Ella Jackson is a retired teacher and educationist who taught children in Nursery School, Kindergarten, all stages of Primary School as well as home tutoring numerous children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. During her career she was involved in educational research in primary schools and has a special interest in theories of learning, using the arts in education and language development. She is also the mother of three grown up children. Her ebook "How to Teach your Baby to Talk" is a 96 page, illustrated guide for parents and carers on a sure method of teaching babies to how talk

Age Babies Should Start Talking

Parents wonder at what age their babies should be talking. 

The age babies should start to speak and say real words differs a lot from one baby to the next and depends on how much encouragement to talk the baby gets from the parents or carers. 

The usual baby speech development follows a pattern where the first real words can be expected any age between ten months and fifteen months.  

A Lot to Do With Parents and Carers

Parents and caregivers need to realize that the age babies start talking depends a lot on what the parents or carers do to encourage their baby to start talking right from the day baby is born.

Many of the babbling sounds babies make before a real word is produced have a purpose. A baby makes the first cooing sounds at around six weeks to two months,  eh, ah, oo, then later will add a consonant to make, meh, bah, goo. These are the best sounds a baby can say with the strength of the muscles in the mouth, throat and face. And the baby is actually trying to communicate. He hears your voice, sees your mouth moving and thinks,  " Wonder if I can do that? ".

Here's a Youtube video showing a 3 month old baby and her mother " talking"

Repeat Sounds Back To Baby

When you repeat the sounds baby makes back to baby and smile, you are showing baby that talking is a very important skill to learn and that you appreciate the sounds baby is making and the effort he is making. 

With this encouragement, baby will realise that a conversation means taking turns and start to 'reply' by repeating the sound or making a different sound. This is great fun - baby and you watching each other, making sounds, wondering what sound will come next, smiling and laughing. 

At this point the actual sounds are associated with the baby's brain loving the stimulation and something to learn that is also enjoyable. If he could, he would say " Isn't  this a great game?"  

Baby's Brain Development

So something amazing and wonderful is happening inside baby's brain. The brain cells associated with the following things are growing and being strengthened:

• making the mouth muscles move
• listening
• copying sound and movement
• sharing pleasure
• recognising emotion in a face
• learning about caring and  love

Baby Speech 6-8 Months

Around six to eight months of age, when baby starts to babble it can sound very funny like a foreign language. Baby is practicing putting sounds together in patterns, changing the tone of voice to a rising and falling, like in a conversation. 

These sounds have no special meaning but powerful learning is taking place. Baby is learning how to make all the sounds he'll need to start talking with real words.  

Baby Babbling

So when babies are babbling it is like their talking exercise program for strengthening the muscles in the mouth that will be used for saying real words. 

At this stage baby is not attaching any meaning to the sounds, but generally she or he will be enjoying the sound of his or her own voice! 

Beware of Pacifiers, Soothers or Dummies

it is important at this stage not to allow a baby to use a pacifier (soother or dummy) during the day, but only when it is naptime or bed time.   Sometimes at this stage, babies learn how to shout,  and loudly. 

It may be tempting to stick a pacifier in baby's mouth if you find that annoying but please don't.  Anything that prevents all that babbling and practicing will cause a delay in the age baby starts talking real words. Better to do something distracting like play a hide and seek game or sing a gentle song, but you may need to put up with it until baby gets tired of his own game.

Baby Speech 12-15 Months

By the time baby is twelve to fifteen months you should be noticing he is repeating certain sounds to show he wants something or wanting you to do something like give more food, juice or milk, or to want to be lifted. 

He may be saying mama, dada, papa when he sees those important people in his life. At this point you can say your baby has started talking!

You can learn more about what age babies should start to talk 

Ella

Raising bilingual children: The infant and toddler years

It used to be that speaking more than one language in the United States was common only to diplomats and immigrants who arrived speaking their native language and learned English. Today, the ability to speak a second language is becoming increasingly important, and science has shown the younger you start learning the easier it is.

So says an article in the Washington Times and I heartily agree.

Parents wishing to teach their baby or toddler a second language can use "How to Teach Baby to Talk" with confidence as it provides a sure method of teaching a baby or toddler how to speak any language with ease. The principles are explained in clear easy to follow steps. And once understood they can be applied to the learning of any language.

The only additional materials needed would be knowledge of nursery rhymes and songs in the target language and if possible, the same type of children's books in the target language.

Read the whole article here:

Raising bilingual children: The infant and toddler years

Baby Talk Helps Babies Learn Words Faster - New Research

Baby Talk Helps Babies Learn New Words Faster 

New research by researchers at Washington State University have investigated whether " parentese" or  "baby talk" helped babies learn new words faster.

Like many scientists before them,  the researchers concluded that using " the special tones and repetitions of " baby talk" or " parentese" did help babies learn to say new words faster. But what is surprising is the difference - a whole 60%  difference.

And the importance of one-to-one parent-baby conversations is a big contributing factor too.

“What our analysis shows is that the prevalence of baby talk in one-on-one conversations with children is linked to better language development, both concurrent and future,”

So the benefits  are not just short-lived but are long-lasting.

In my book " How to Teach Baby to Talk" I describe techniques of using baby talk and one-to-one parent-baby interaction starting from the day they are born. This research confirms this is a better way to help babies learn to talk, than simply making sure babies hear a lot of adult conversation.

The focus of attention needs to be getting the baby's attention and making sounds that the baby is interested in.  A higher pitched voice and a sing song tone that adults find themselves using naturally is after all, the best course of action and it's so much fun!

When the babies were 2 years old, parents filled out a questionnaire measuring how many words their children knew. Infants who had heard more baby talk knew more words. In the study, 2-year olds in families who spoke the most baby talk in a one-on-one social context knew 433 words, on average, compared with the 169 words recognized by 2-year olds in families who used the least babytalk in one-on-one situations.

So don't let anyone tell you baby talk is harmful to babies. Share this article with anyone who tells you baby talk is bad for babies.

Read the full report here:

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/01/06/babbling-babies-responding-to-one-on-one-baby-talk-master-more-words/

My First Baby Milestones -first words

According to many "my first baby" books and websites,  a lot is written about all the practical aspects of looking after a baby. These are very important  but sometimes the "my first baby" articles don't tell you that by talking to your baby you will have a happpier baby who frets and cries less.

As a first-time parent, you are probably wondering when your baby's cooing will develop into his or her first words. Other questions about communication will usually come up too . As soon as a baby is born,  the lips and tongue start to acquire the capability essential to form speech. Plus, the brain also begins to match things up with their corresponding names. You need to be patient, though, as babies normally pronounce their first real words at 11 months and onwards.

The rate at which babies acheive this milestone will vary. If you want your baby will get to this stagephase more quickly you have to make an effort to help him (or her) do so.  And there is nothing tough about it. As a matter of fact , there are many of uncomplicated and exciting things you can do to teach baby talk.

How Do Babies Learn to Communicate?

Really your little one is basically mastering the capacity to communicate day in and day out . Each and every time he or she cries , you typically do your best to make him (or her) feel far better. The way you react and the manner in which you react to your baby's noise-making generally set the groundwork for language and how you help baby talk

By two months, your child is already capable of responding to your cues. Your cues are the words you say. In addition, the higher-pitched way in which you speak keeps him/her entertained and encourages understanding of words and sentences. That's why each time you speak to your little one, he or she stares back at you and makes cooing sounds in response. It's in this way that infants talk with their parents.

By the time your little one turns six months old , he or she will normally begin to babble. This will be a sequence of sounds a little like words, but which don't necessarily mean anything . Baby babbling is the way babies love practising and  exercising  the muscles of the mouth which they will bring into use later when speaking genuine words.  At first, the sounds will only be made up of vowels like ah. ow, oh, ee, uh. After that, his or her nonsense words will then contain consonants like m,b,d, because these are the consonants infants find easiest to pronounce at first . Inside a few months, your child will attempt to mimic your words and other sounds.

How To Teach Baby to Talk

Match up things up with names. - At mealtime , forillustration, give the names for eating utensils like the plate, spoon, fork, cup and the like. Each time you say the word, point to or hold the item and repeat the word at least three times.

Have fun . - Playing games like "peek-a-boo" really reinforces listening, mimicking and taking turns -all of which are required facets of carrying out a conversation.

Read together. --In the beginning , your infant won't comprehend the words you say. Nevertheless, reading to your baby will encourage his or her senses and foster an everlasting fondness for books, which will be an outstanding foundation for later accomplishment at school.

Prattle back. -- Each time your child babbles, say something similar in reply. For instance, if he or she says "ba ba", you might copy him and say "ba ba" yourself, or reply with something like "Hey, boo boo." The fun you can have with silly sounds, in fact make learning a lot more enjoyable. Just remember to pause for a short time to let your little one babble back to get used to the pattern of a real conversation.

Sing. -- Babies, by nature, have a fascination for music. Singing, therefore, is a terrific way of introducing a wide array of sounds and words.   Songs with animal sounds are great because they will delight baby and you can have fun with the sounds long before baby can actually say words.

Your little one's first word is, definitely, an exciting milestone. Remember , though, that babies develop at unique rates. You may also find out more about how to teach baby to talk by reading the "language and communication" section of My First Baby books. Also, congratulate yourself when your baby reaches the first words milestone and appreciate that you helped to teach your baby to talk.

Newborn Gifts That Keep On Giving

Newborn Gifts That Keep On Giving

People love to buy baby gifts. Clothes, toys, the newest gadgets – they are all favorites of the savvy shopper. But a newborn quickly outgrows many of the gifts he receives, sometimes in just a few weeks. Some gifts, however, can keep on giving. Books, music, and infant massage or baby yoga classes are three newborn gifts that continue giving long after baby grows up.

The Gift of Books

Books of all shapes, sizes, and topics make the perfect gift to encourage a lifelong love affair with the written word. The joy of reading is learned early. When you read to your child regularly, you nurture a love of books. There is no better time to begin, than when your baby is born. Story time with your newborn is more about speaking, sounds, and sharing a special bond than reading, but this positive early experience may help your child develop a thirst for knowledge and a healthy attitude toward learning.

The Gift of Music

From gentle lullabies to classical compositions, early exposure to music may become another gift of a lifetime. When you play great music for your baby, he learns the beauty of musical sound and develops parts of his brain that are involved in learning to talk. Variety is important here. The more types of music your child hears, the more he learns to enjoy. Vocal and instrumental selections expose your baby to different qualities of music, as does playing a variety of musical genres – classical to calm, jazz to uplift, rock and pop to excite and so on. Who knows, your baby may even grow up to be a famous singer, musician or dancer someday.

The Gift of Movement

Infant massage and baby yoga classes give the gifts of healthy touch and movement. The classes provide a superb bonding opportunity for you and your baby, but they may also do a lot more. What people experience as young children goes a long way toward establishing who they become as adults. Infant massage may help babies learn about their bodies and healthy physical feelings. It also facilitates a strong parent-child bond, which may improve your ability to maintain open communication with your child as he grows.

Likewise, baby yoga classes encourage healthy movement. When you learn to enjoy movement as a child, you carry that into adulthood. Your baby may learn healthier attitudes toward self-care, such as exercise and relaxation, as you model and share these experiences with him in class.

Whether you choose books, music, or infant massage and baby yoga classes, the best gifts for baby are gifts that provide a foundation for healthy growth and development. Not only are they fun to give, they give a little something back as you enjoy watching their benefits unfold in a child's life.

Gifts that Grow

One gift you may not have considered is giving the parents an important book that will explain how babies learn to talk. Knowing how babies learn to talk and how speech development grows a baby's brain is one of the most important things a parent needs to know.  A book that shows parents how to play  fun games that help babies to talk early is a great gift that will impact on a baby for the rest of his or her life. Give the gift How to Teach Baby to Talk

Teaching Babies to Talk - How We Talk to Babies Is Key

Recent Article on Babble.com confirms that how parents react to the noises and speech attempts a baby makes is key to baby speech progress.  When learning to talk babies need to learn what words mean and how mothers and fathers help them to do that is an important skill to learn.

The Science Of Talking To Your Baby 
A mom’s responsiveness to her baby’s talk and movements predicted the age at which the babies reached milestones like saying their first words, having 50 words in their vocabularies, putting two words together, and speaking in the past tense. Mom’s response predicted these milestones over and above the baby’s own vocalizations and gestures at those ages.

I followed this principle and other research findings closely when I wrote my ebook : " How to Teach Baby to Talk" and you can see the idea in use by a father here in this Youtube Video.
He begins trying to get the baby to copy him, then ends up copying the sounds the baby makes. But the important thing is they are having a conversation or interaction at the baby's level of development. The father is tuning in his baby talk to what makes the child happy and entertained.

My ebook " How to Teach Baby to Talk " gives tips and games to help with each stage of a baby's journey to learning to talk from birth to age three years.

Teaching babies to talk is getting popular

Reported in the New York Times that in Providence R.I. a " Talking to Babies" project is under way  thanks to a $5 million grand prize in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge. Bravely challenging the "no baby talk" myth, families will be encouraged by health professionals and social workers to talk to their babies in special ways.

"Another idea, however, is creeping into the policy debate: that the key to early learning is talking — specifically, a child’s exposure to language spoken by parents and caretakers from birth to age 3, the more the better. It turns out, evidence is showing, that the much-ridiculed stream of parent-to-child baby talk — Feel Teddy’s nose! It’s so soft! Cars make noise — look, there’s a yellow one! Baby feels hungry? Now Mommy is opening the refrigerator! — is very, very important. (So put those smartphones away!)"

The project is based on research by Todd and Risley which is also mentioned in my ebook "How to Teach Babies to Talk".

My downloadable ebook has been available since 2010 and the parents who have used it with children from birth to age three have expressed their delight in learning how to talk to their babies and report great progress in their child's responses. So  if you are not living in Providence you can still benefit from learning how to teach your baby to talk by reading my ebook.

Read the full article here

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/

Read about the ebook here
How to Teach Baby to Talk

Helping a toddler talk more

One tactic to use to get a toddler to talk more, is to place things he likes just out of his reach, until he asks for them by name. 

Maybe he was saying the word before then stopped for some reason. He will understand "milk" but will maybe just say " Ah Ah" and point to the bottle or the cup where the milk is. 
So you can show him the milk and say "milk" very clearly.  Then show him some juice too and say "juice".

But keep the milk and juice both out of his reach. Offer him the juice and say "Juice? You want juice?" then say " Milk? You want milk?" and keep them out of reach. 

Tell him "Say M...i..l..k."  until he tries to say "milk". If she says something  that is a better sound for milk than " Ah Ah ", maybe he'll say "ma" Mik" or "Ik" reward him by giving the milk. 

He may say 'oos" for juice and that is terrific, any move towards a better version of "juice" should be rewarded by being given the desired thing.

Your toddler likely can't say the words clearly yet, so you need to reward the effort of making sounds that are closer to the correct sounds. So " oo" is just fine at this stage.

Complete the pattern

Repeating an action and a word to create a pattern is very powerful way to help toddlers to talk more.  Humans have a strong inbuilt need to complete patterns and sequences. Use this to encourage your toddler to talk.

You say or sing a word pattern many times until you see your toddler is enjoying it and watching you closely and then start to leave off the last word and slowly begin to say it and your toddler will very likely try to say it with you.  

A simple example is waving and saying "Bye Bye".  Wave your hand and say 'Bye Bye'  " Bye Bye", stop and then repeat about 5 times, on the sixth time, just wave, don't say anything and see if your toddler will try to say " Bye Bye" to fill the silence.  Action rhymes and games that repeat the same sounds and actions are perfect for this.


Words fill the silence

You must smile while you are doing any of the following tips to feel the pleasure and not make it into a chore or a test.

Think of other things you can make your toddler 'ask' for.  For example, in the case of the milk and juice,  put only a little milk ( a few spoonfuls) or juice in the cup and when your child shows he wants more, say " More? " and pour a little more into the cup.

Repeat this around 5 times and then on the fifth time, don't say anything. Leave a moment of silence to see if your toddler will try to say " More" to complete the pattern. How long you wait, depends on your patience and your toddler's, but it's ok to just say it yourself after 4-5 seconds and try again later ( lots of times).

Put an apple on the table, let your toddler see you cut it into slices and say " Apple" , "Apple". Hold out a slice and say "Apple". Eat a bit of the apple yourself, saying "Apple" before you bite into it, but don't offer any to the toddler.  Eat another bit and say "Apple" . Hold a piece of apple out to your toddler and say nothing.  If he doesn't try to say " Apple" , you  say "Ah....." "Ah......pple". Then give him the piece of apple.

Repeat these activities several times a day and there is a good chance your toddler will start to talk more.

For more ideas of activities, rhymes and games to help a toddler up to age three years talk more Click Here

Baby Talk is Bad ?

Baby Talk is Bad for Children, but not for Babies !

The"baby' is often used to describe young children of various ages up to about 3 years. In terms of learning different skills and development it is better to be more precise, and talk about young children as:

1. "infant" - under 1 year old
2. "toddler" - 12-30  months
3. "child" - 1 and 2 above and everything else up to 16?

When people say " talk to babies like they are adults" they are correct, but under the age of 12 months, using "baby talk" in ADDITION, supplies infants with many benefits. It is not a case of  baby talk OR adult talk, but BOTH.

Infants need to hear different types of talk and each teaches babies something different about the human voice and talking.

Each type of talk could be called "baby talk"

1) Baby Talk - A way of talking to babies using a special voice- also called Motherese, Parentese, Caretaker speech,  - high pitched, lilting, sing song voice where the actual words are the same as in adult speech, but spoken in a different way.

Research has shown that babies like, enjoy and pay more attention to "parentese" than the normal fast, flat, joined-up speech adults use to talk to each other.

2) Baby talk for "practice" - repetition of sounds for the pure joy of baby discovering  his own voice and practicing how to make the individual sounds in words.

3) Baby Talk - Mirroring - where the parent repeats the same sound the baby makes to create a conversation. This video below is an excellent example of 'mirroring"

 term

This video below shows three types of talk
"Parentese" - adult words spoken with special lilting voice
Mirroring -  repeating the sounds baby makes
Entertainment - the joy of repetition

Infants (under 12 months) learn different things from each type of speech. In various cultures and many different languages, parents and family members use similar types of " baby talk" called " infant-directed speech', 'parentese" or " motherese" when they talk to their infants.

Infants Become Toddlers

The point around 12 months when a baby changes from being an infant to a toddler marks a big leap forward in language learning. At this stage first words, like mama, dada, cup, hat, cat, no,  appear and it becomes essential to say words clearly, show your toddler the shapes your mouth and lips make. It is also the time when Mirroring 'baby talk",  that copies how infants talk, should not be used with toddlers. Once they begin to actually say words, they need clear, correct speech to copy. They need "parentese" , " motherese" - normal language spoken slowly an clearly with short sentences and a musical lilt.

Before 12 months, babies speech development needs are very different from the later months and years.  Babies will learn to talk well without baby talk, it is true, but it is not BAD. It is beneficial for bonding for the adults and infants it seems perverse to withhold it in the mistaken belief  that it is doing harm before the age of one year, when in fact it is does a lot of good.

Below is a list of links to articles by professionals in the child brain, speech and language development spheres, and other sources where "baby talk" is explained and encouraged for the good effects it has.

"Beweave" it or not, baby talk helps babies learn language. Research shows that babies prefer to listen to our silly baby talk from birth.     

Baby Talk: Communicating with Your Child -- Roberta Golinkoff, PhD 

Adults may feel silly when they talk to babies, but those babies will learn to speak sooner if adults talk to them like infants instead of like other adults, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon University Psychology Professor Erik Thiessen

Carnegie Mellon Study: Adults' Baby Talk Helps Infants Learn To Speak 

For a complete program of activities stretching from birth to age 3 years, you can learn how to best use the different types of "baby talk" while you teach your baby to talk

Baby Development - Some First Words Tips

When parents or caregivers ask about baby development, and baby's first words in particular, it would be terrific to give a really simple standard answer, but that isn't possible when all babies and all parents are different.

So when people ask when a baby will say his first words, I'm tempted to say - well it depends how many words he's heard spoken to him. It's not enough to just have heard words spoken. 

The words need to have been related to the baby's needs and experiences.  It also depends what exactly we mean by words. If a baby looks at a cup and says " up", is that a word? We know he means cup, and that his mouth just isn't mature enough to say the "c" , Or early baby babbling from around 6 months is full of many "words" but we have no idea what they mean.

This Youtube video shows some baby babbling. Sounds a lot like dadadada!

So when we say "first words" it seems we mean a combination of sounds that we recognize and understand that are related to something we know. 

So here are a few tips to help baby get to the point of  babies saying " meaningful words"

1. Turn off your mobile phone
   'hearing' you talking to your friends on your mobile phone are only a tiny bit useful to a baby learning to talk.  He needs you to be focused on him and the words you are using need to be focused on an activity he or  you are doing. You need to be talking in clear short simple words and repeating the words and the actions. Talking on your mobile phone doesn't help here.
2. Turn off the TV
   often TV's are just left on in a room when no-one is watching it and the sound becomes a background for what other things are happening. As adults we have developed the great skill of being able to focus on what we want to hear and blocking out other sources of sound, so it fades into the background. Young children haven't developed the same skill and the sound from a TV can interfere with hearing all the separate sounds in the words you are speaking. So all that is heard is an even more meaningless jumble.
3. Play simple games
   Playing games is the heart of learning to talk and I use 'heart" deliberately. Joy, humour and laughter speed up learning. When a baby smiles and laughs we know his attention is focused. So the kind of games to play in the first few months that make babies smile and laugh is repeating the same action over and over along with repeated sounds and words. At least 10 minutes of every day should be spent doing action play.
4. Be aware
   When your baby is awake, try to put yourself in his place; imagine what its like to be him,  and ask yourself every two minutes, what would I be experiencing and learning?  Try doing that for a period of 30 minutes. 

If you found this post helpful, share it or leave a comment below.

Help Toddler to Talk - Activites for Toddlers

Teaching Toddlers to Talk - by doing

Teaching toddlers to talk becomes a fun and pleasant activity if you look for opportunities to DO entertaining things WITH your toddler in active play and repeat the same activities over and over. 

Choose household objects to play with as well as toys. Toddlers don't know the difference between a manufactured toy and a pot lid. Toys are just "something to play with". Ordinary every day household objects that are not sharp or too small, are safe to play with give many more chances for useful words to be learned. And make no mistake, babies will learn what is most useful or most fun to them. 

You can use pots, pans, lids, plastic bowls, empty plastic food trays and tubs , wooden spoons, metal spoons, whisks, ice cube trays.  For 'ingredients" to mix you can use cooked and cooled pasta ( shells, spaghetti, bows, tubes)  or dry rice. You can use food colouring to make it more exciting. For any other kitchen ingredients you need to make sure it can't cause choking.

While your toddler is playing with a spoon, you can say "spoon" several times. Hold the spoon in front of you and make sure baby can see the spoon and your face at the same time. Say "spoon" and wiggle the spoon about to focus the baby's attention on it. 

Do this several times. Then look straight at baby and say "spoon" very slowly and exaggerate your mouth movements "sssssss....P...ooooooo...n" . You will notice he looks in your eyes the first time you say it. Then as you repeat it slowly like that several times, his eyes will flick back between your eyes and your mouth. He may make a sound - trying to say the word. Now if he tries to say the word, regardless of any errors, this shows your toddler is learning and is producing the best sounds his skill level allows. You should give a big smile and give lots of praise. Then it is important to say the word correctly again so you are showing the best model of how to say it.

Now do some deliberate playing with the spoon.  You can put some dry rice grains in a cooking pot. Tell baby it is "rice" let him play with it with his hands, then show baby how to "stir" with the spoon, and say "Stir the rice" several times.  Start to do actions with the spoon. Say " Give mummy ( or daddy or carer name) the spoon". 


Toddlers love "Hiding " games. So you can simply put the spoon under a towel to hide it, then ask your toddler , "Where's the spoon?". He may pull the towel away to show the spoon, so you can show how pleased you are he found it. 


You can play many variations of this. Hide two things - the spoon and  a cup under two different towels and ask " Where's the spoon"? Be happy and pleased when he guesses right.  When he is wrong, shake your head  'Uh-oh, no spoon, It's the cup!". 

Making sure your toddler has somewhere in the house to play is crucial. Toddlers need a place they can do messy playing,  like painting, water play, handling messy squishy textures like pasta, paint, modelling clay and generally able to make a mess while they are learning about the world.  

If you can provide an area in your home that is dedicated as your kid's playroom or play space then you will find that they will really benefit from this. Your children will be really happy if they have their own play area and not have adults shouting at them all the time to clear up their toys or projects, especially if they don't have their own room. A playroom with washable area of floor and some storage will give them somewhere to keep their toys on a permanent basis. This means that the adults don't have to worry about tripping over things all the time and the kids have a fun room in the house. 

Most homes have an area that they just don't utilise; basements and attics are just used as storage space. These spaces can become part of the home with some conversion work. And if you choose to add heating then this is another area which can be used all year round even on cold or rainy days when boredom can peak if you have to stay indoors.

But you will find that toddlers won't play much in their own playroom, on their own. They want you to be there to play with them and teach them, and that is just as it should be. THe playroom shouldn't become a place to park the toddler and expect him to play quietly for hours on his own. It won't happen. Try to make their play area as interesting as possible with toys and everyday objects that spark their interest.  Then you have the ideal place for doing activities for teaching toddlers how to talk.

Reading To Your Child

Reading To Your Child

One of the best things you can do for your child is to read to them.  Right from the first weeks of life, every day if possible, reading to your child has huge benefits.

In the first month or two the baby will not understand any of the words you are saying but he will begin to recognise patterns in the way you read and the words will be embedded in his memory ready to be matched with a meaning in future months and years.

Reading to a young baby is very calming for a baby who keeps crying for no apparent reason. The sound of ريدينغ , especially poetry or nursery rhymes can even send a baby to sleep! It is a strategy worth trying by an exasperated parent faced with a baby who keeps on crying and you feel you've tried everything else..

As babies grow into toddlers, reading to them helps them to understand what books are and how to handle them; that they have pages, that the pages get turned, the pictures relate to the story. As your child grows one of the benefits of reading to them is that they hear words we don't often use in daily life. It's not every day you can walk down the street and point out a zebra or a camel crossing the road!

But the main point of all this reading to children is that it is great fun, a terrific bonding experience and also helps with a baby's learning to talk. The more words babies hear every day, the more words they will learn. The more words a child can say makes learning to read so much easier. And it only takes five or ten minutes a day.    

How you read to your child will depend on your child's age. The books you choose will differ too. This excellent book "Baby Read-Aloud Basics" gives really useful tips on the books to choose and how to read with your child at different ages to get the most fun and pleasure out of reading to your child.

Speech in children

Speech in Children

It is true that almost all children learn to speak eventually. Mainly speech in children develops simply by the child copying the parents, other family members and people the child meets on a daily basis. Some children learn to talk much earlier than others.  This can be because of differences in how the parents and adult caregivers talk to the child. 

Several research studies have found that the use of a special way of talking to babies called " parentese" or "motherese" or "child directed speech" helps babies to learn new words faster. "Parentese" appears to be a natural way for adults to talk to children; a kind of sing song, high pitched voice that concentrates on long drawn out vowel sounds. 

Sometimes this way of talking is referred to as "baby talk" but sometimes the term "baby talk" is also used for the way some adults talk to babies and toddlers using the immature words babies use when they are still learning how to speak correctly. The difficulty is that it isn't made clear which "baby talk" people refer to when they state whether it is useful or beneficial.

This way of talking to babies is found in countries around the world so it seems to be instinctive. From this it can be judged that "parentese" has been useful for the species as a way to develop speech in children. 

Researching speech in children is becoming easier with the development of hi-tech brain monitoring equipment which lets scientists monitor brian activity in very young babies. It has been shown now that babies prefer to listen to "baby talk". they prefer the higher pitched voice and focus on it in preference to normal adult speech patterns. So not only are parents hard-wired to use baby talk, babies and hard-wired to pay attention to it and that it is an important part of the development of speech in children.

Learn the best way to use baby talk when teaching babies to talk in the ebook Teach Baby to Talk

Teach Baby to Talk - Review

A favourable and detailed review of my ebook appeared on another blog.
Quote
"I was very pleased with the way it was written, as if I was having a conversation with somebody and they were answering my questions as i read through this book, and they reinforced some of the harder to grasp parts. Yes, I can honestly say there were a few things I found that shocked me! "     Read the whole review

Baby Speech

Baby Speech - is all about practice

Baby speech is a topic that interests all parents and baby carers. They all are madly keen to hear a baby or toddler say its first words and most are keen to know how they can help this process. Some parents however have no idea that they play a role in helping their baby's speech to develop.

There is a frantic activity going on every second of the day and night in a baby's brain that organises the brain cells, grows new connections and lets some brain cells die.  Babies are learning something almost every second of the day. Recently I came across the expression " a baby learns what it lives" and I thought that was a brilliant and simple way to express how babies learn and gives a huge clue to parents and carers what they should be doing to help a baby learn anything, not just speech.  At a simple level we can apply the principal to any skill learning and get very specific.

Example
A child will learn to play the piano if it

1. has hands mature enough to move on the keys 
2. gets lessons
3. has an instrument to practice on -  a piano
4. has the time to practice every day and, most importantly -
5. the interest and encouragement of an adult, to practice every day.

You may see that we can apply that recipe to a child's learning anything.

To apply it to baby speech learning we could say the baby needs

1. ability to hear and make sounds
2. lessons in speech - being shown how
3. an instrument to practice on - the mouth and voice (without a soother or pacifier in the way)
4. time to practice every day
5. the interest and encouragement of an adult, to practice every day

We know from research that babies start to develop language skills while they are in the womb because by 21 weeks, hearing has developed and they can hear the voice of the mother and anyone else close by. So through the fluid surrounding it, the baby hears the rhythm of speech and it's tone. We know babies can recognise their own mothers voice just after birth compared to other women's voices. Also, researchers at Leicester University in the UK discovered that at the age of 12 months babies can recognise  a piece of music that was played to them in the last three months while it was in the womb.

Babies' brains are also hard-wired for speech learning so the moment baby is born and discovers his crying reflex, he learns that ( if he has caring parents)  crying will result in getting the attention of the carer, being fed, carried, cuddled, changed, spoken to or ( really nice!) sung to. This last point, being sung to, shows how pleasure and entertainment are key ingredients in babies' learning. Parents need to be aware that boredom is a principal cause of crying and is as important to deal with as hunger or a dirty diaper or nappy. So a crying baby may just be saying " I need entertainment. Talk to me! Sing to me! Make a funny face! Tell me a nursery rhyme! "

Human beings in general repeat actions that bring them pleasure. So babies will begin their speech development by making short little cooing sounds; if those sounds get a reaction (like a smile, or mirroring of the sound back to them) they will repeat them over and over until they eventually develop, over a period of months,  into words.  Its worth repeating "babies learn what they live". It is a really useful thing to make a mental note say, ten times a day - "What is my baby learning right now?". Parents and carers do deeply influence what a baby is learning just by taking an action or not taking an action. Learn strategies for making baby speech learning a daily and entertaining part of your day.

How babies learn to talk

Scientists can now see and measure what is going on in a baby's brain as they learn language.

This video presentation from the TED series shows how the critical time for babies learning the sounds of their native language is the first 12 months of life.

Points made by the scientist Patricia Kuhl that have real significance for parents is that the babies didn't learn any new sounds from watching the teaching sessions on TV, but the babies who took part in the sessions with the live presenter did learn to recognise the new sounds. Apparently babies learning is being controlled by the social brain. So babies need to learn language form a human being not a computer or TV screen.

Another really enjoyable part of the presentation is the two mothers - one American and the other Japanese who are filmed talking to their babies using "motherese" ( also called  infant-directed talk, or adult baby-talk) that sing song, smiling, exaggerated way of talking that babies enjoy. I talk about using " baby talk" or "motherese" in my book "How to Teach Baby toTalk".

If you have any thoughts about the film, I'd love you to leave a comment. Enjoy!

Baby Gifts Delivered

If you don't have time to visit the new baby and parents, you may be looking for baby gifts that get delivered.

A recent article in the Huffington Post reported on a new survey in the UK that shows one-third of parents don't see themselves as important in how their child's speech and reading develops. Another UK survey also revealed that a large and alarming number of children do not possess a single book.

Friends. family and work colleagues looking for a baby gift that gets delivered can really help here. When giving a newborn baby gift, give a book!  There are special soft books and board books for babies - like these  eight book packs from Amazon that can be delivered direct to baby's home.

This adorable collection of very first books will tickle all of baby's senses, helping baby to learn to talk. Baby can feel, cuddle, and turn the pages, playing with each book in its special way. The colorful plastic rings can be used to attach the books onto a crib, a stroller, or a high chair or a car seat. A great baby shower or christening gift - and it gets delivered!

Teaching babies to talk - Vitamin D may play a role

It recently emerged that vitamin D may play an important role in child language development. Scientists in Australia conducted tests over  many years - monitoring vitamin D levels of mothers during pregnancy and their children's language levels at various ages. There were significant differences in that the children of mothers with least vitamin D had less well-developed language abilities.

The authors of the report caution that the results need to be replicated in other populations before firm conclusions can be drawn. However, their findings may indicate vitamin D testing in pregnant women and vitamin supplementation are advisable. The UK department of health  already has taken steps to ensure that mothers have access to vitamin D supplements through their Health Start scheme

So as well as using strategies to actively teach baby to talk , making sure your vitamin levels are at a good level may impact on how well your child learns to talk.