/
RSS Feed
The first years of life are when the main phases of human development take place – among them, learning to speak. And, especially at this stage, parental attention and care is essential to contribute to this development.
After all, language development takes place in the context of social interaction, that is, in the adult-child interaction, with the adult serving as a mirror for the child to develop their social and communication skills. Thus, the more stimulating the environment in which the child is inserted, the better will be their language development.
- For those who are still breastfeeding, it is worth remembering that it helps a lot to stimulate the muscles used in speech and chewing.
- Play with facial expressions, exploring different types of emotion, such as sad, happy, angry, laughing, among others – this will encourage the child to try to react or copy each movement.
- Name the child’s body parts so that he can perceive and identify them; in this case, it is worth playing in front of a mirror so that the child can observe his image, and the image of other people.
- Use sound experiments such as making high and low voices, speaking loudly and speaking softly, changing the pitch of the voice. For this, always speak in front of the child, letting her observe and imitate the facial movements.
- During child care, such as changing a diaper or bathing, it is worth singing and talking to the little one.
- It is important for the child to try different smells and flavors during meals – it is worth playing with the names of foods and even utensils, such as cutlery, plate, etc.
- Practice reading aloud daily, either during the day or before bed.
- Teach the child to use gestural communication such as pointing, using speech support gestures such as saying goodbye, sending a kiss, among others.
- Games with rules and classic make-believe are also great for working on comprehension.
- Encourage communication with other children – they always have to add to each other’s vocabulary and learning.