In other words, instead of teaching words, use them.
Also, children understand and use pronouns earlier when they are modeled. Never doubt for a moment that babies know who Mommy, Daddy and Johnny are. Why speak differently to a baby or toddler who is immersed in the process of learning our language than we would to an older child or adult? This makes no sense to me. Using first person rather than “Mommy loves Johnny” is a minor detail, but it is another way to remind ourselves to talk person-to-person with our baby. The children I know who aren’t used to being talked to in mother-ese feel disrespected and talked down to when adults speak to them that way. The more they hear language spoken properly, the sooner they will learn and try speaking it.Ĭhildren sense inauthenticity a mile away. It models for babies the natural tone and language we want them to adopt. It’s easier and not as likely to induce headaches (which I know, because I talk to my dog in mother-ese). Many believe in using mother-ese, so I realize this is controversial, but here’s what I’ve found… Talking to our babies in our regular, authentic voice (but a little slower) reminds us that we are talking to a whole person. Use your authentic voice and first person.
Only we can open this door and wholeheartedly welcome our baby’s communication.Ģ. We believe you are capable of communicating with us, and we will do our best to understand you.” Meanwhile our children hear our profoundly important message: “We want you to tell us what you need and feel. We won’t always be successful in the beginning, but we’ll improve with each try. We make every attempt to understand what our babies might be communicating. We ask, give the child time to take our question in, and listen again. If we’re unsure, we wait before reacting. Two-way communication from the beginning.įrom the time our babies are born, they need to know that we not only tell them what’s happening (“ I’m going to pick you up now”), but also that we pay attention to their non-verbal signals and listen to their sounds and cries. Comprehend this simple truth, interact, engage, and converse naturally, and we’ve got the language lessons nailed.ġ. The great news is that both come naturally when we perceive babies as whole people - able communicators ready to be informed about the happenings in their lives, and in turn share their thoughts and feelings. While it’s true that children need to hear an abundance of words to develop healthy skills, encouraging language is about the quality and quantity of the words we speak. Honestly, can you think of anything more off-putting than someone blabbering for the sake of blabbering? Even our adoring babies, the captive audiences they are, will tune out (because they’re unable to throw something or ask us to stop). First, let’s clarify something that will hopefully bring relief: Encouraging our children to talk isn’t about chattering incessantly to them in order to expose them to as many words as possible.
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