Gabbing Can Help Your Baby Babble
How much you talk to your infant within the first 18 months has a significant effect on whether he or she will succeed in school.
It might be the normal thing to talk to infants and toddlers in baby talk. Your goal is to get them to say their first words and those will likely come out as baby talk. However, speaking with an elevated vocabulary is more likely to help your child than emulating the type of language you expect from him or her.
While it may not seem like an infant can understand what’s going on around them, now is the time when they are constantly soaking in their environments. Their brain absorbs every word you say. The way you talk to your child as an infant will ultimately dictate the vocabulary your child has when he or she enters Pre-K, and it will, eventually, affect the way your child’s vocabulary grows throughout schooling.
How Can I Positively Influence My Child’s Vocabulary?
You have the power to improve your child's vocabulary. The best part about it is that it is free. People with any socio-economic standing can positively affect their child's vocabulary by talking. The following tips can help.
Talk to your child as you would talk to a grown-up.
Obviously, you shouldn’t expect your child to respond back the same way until he or she is older, but your child will pick up on your vocabulary. Remember, you are your child’s greatest role model. He or she will want to be like you, especially, at a young age. If your child sees you using a large vocabulary, he or she will want to do the same.
My daughter Natalie would use very impressive words in her vocabulary when she was in elementary school, and she would use them correctly! Though she didn’t always know what they meant, she had heard others use them and she used them in the same fashion.
She would say things like, “I am trepidatious about reciting the poem in front of the class.” I would respond, and, then, she would ask, “Mom, what does trepidatious mean?”
Read to your child.
It may feel like a story before bed is the most you can read to your child. We all have busy schedules, but it is possible to work your child into them.
Read recipes to your child and repeat each part as you cook. Read instructions to your child as you put together furniture, fix a broken electronic or open up a new toy.
While you walk around the grocery store, read your grocery list to your child. Narrarate yourself walking around the store and show your child the food you put into the cart and state its name.
Have constant communication with your child. Have you ever noticed you're talking to yourself? Narrating your day? Having a child gives you an excuse to do that all the time, and it is all for your son or daughter's benefit!
And, of course, read stories as much as you can and whenever you can.
Today's technology allows you to access stories from anywhere! While you're waiting in line at the grocery store, you can read Rapunzel. While you're waiting at the doctor's office or for your food at a restaurant, you can read Humpty Dumpty straight from your phone!
Give your child the opportunity to listen as much as possible.
You don't need to do all of the heavy lifting. You can order books on tape and play them while you're in the car with your child. It can even be something you're interested in!
If you're a history buff and want to listen to information about the French Revolution, it will benefit your child. A podcast about losing weight or about vacation destinations can improve your child's vocabulary.
Even if you're interested in learning languages, language tapes can help grow your child's vocabulary! It doesn't matter if it's Spanish, French, German or Portuguese!
The bottom line is the more words that your child hears, the bigger his or her vocabulary will be.