Learning and speech - 2 to 3 years
As your child grows older speech plays a more and more important role in communication and becomes more and more important in helping your child to learn. By now your child has got the hang of the basic rules of conversation.
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She knows, for instance, that people usually take turns at speaking; they know when it is their turn and they don't try to dominate the conversation. She also knows that instead of accompanying single words with gestures to explain what she means, she can vary the intonation of the words. She knows that an intonation that rises usually means a question and that a falling pitch indicates a statement. When your child was younger, speech was part of a simple pattern of communication telling you what she wanted or didn't want - it was used as a greeting or as a label. As your child's world widens she needs more sophisticated ways to express her thoughts.
One of the first expressions of this is her use of the possessive pronoun - “my doll, Mummy coat, Daddy nose”. Another is the negative. Your younger child would just have said “No”; now she says “Can't” or “Won't”. A little later she starts to express actions - “Dolly fall”, “Dog bark”, “Car bump”. Another characteristic is the increasing use of questions combined with statements. “Daddy sleep, why Daddy sleep?” “Mummy must go shop, why Mummy go shop?” “Daddy gone out, where Daddy gone?” By the time your child is three she will be asking quite complicated questions in parallel with the way her thinking is developing. When you consider the following sentences, they contain quite sophisticated ideas: “I go get pencil and draw.” “What that on table?” “See, this one better. But this not better.”
Don't “talk down” during your speech
The kind of language you use with your child is very important. It's well known that adults change the way they speak to children as they get older. Sentences become more complex, they contain longer words, they describe abstract ideas. Don't fall into the trap of talking down to your child and don't use baby language when it is redundant. Throw into your conversation the odd word that you know is unfamiliar to your child but that she can guess at from the gist of the sentence. This way she'll learn new words and will learn how to use them and how to express herself in an articulate way. Research has proven that the children of articulate parents who don't “tailor” their speech to their children, use words more easily and freely at an earlier age than the children of parents who persist in simplifying their language.
Early reading and learning
Some children have a natural bent towards reading early and writing before their peers. If yours is one of them, encourage and help but never push. Your child can only master these advanced skills when the brain and intellect are sufficiently developed. You are not to know whether your child's brain is capable of reading (and later writing) so take your lead from her. Until this happens, simply continue reading to her, point out and name objects in books and encourage her to repeat them.
I'm against using “flash cards” when your child finds it onerous and a bore. In this instance you're only doing it for your own satisfaction and pride. This should never be the reason for making your child do anything. But if your child is avid for new words and gets pleasure from remembering flash cards, do by all means encourage her as much as you can. Don't try to make her read. When she's ready she'll start pointing out words; only then should you start to help her.
New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard
Posted 30.06.2010
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