Practical Steps for Language Development by Dr. Kyle Pruett

Practical Steps for Language Development by Dr. Kyle Pruett

• If your child is not talkative, pay close attention. Quiet toddlers mean something with their quietness. Is your child engaged in work, needing to remain verbally still to focus her effort? Are they not enthusiastic enough about conversation in general? Are you? Are they temperamentally quiet? Are you doing too much talking, or not enough? Get yourself to think about it. It generally helps quiet kids to gently encourage them to converse. Humor is especially helpful for the shy ones, but never mock or shame their attempts at speech.
• Follow your toddler’s lead, and get on his bandwagon when he’s on a roll. Narrate the scene and describe his own behavior back to him; “Sam loves to…,” or “Sam is sad his Mommy has to leave…,” or “Sam is so happy to play with his blocks.” Don’t overdo, but do. It shows your toddler that you understand him and appreciate his inner world, not just his blue eyes. Soon enough it will be dialogue.
• Funny as early speech may sound, don’t exploit the humor of it at your child’s expense. Whenever a new skill emerges, it is at its most raw and tender (remember your first public poetry recital?). Stuttering and stammering are normal when children are learning to speak. Treat early language with the respect it deserves. It has taken tremendous effort to get here. Say it back correctly if you figure out what it is, but don’t “correct” too much. Be patient. She won’t be saying much if her first words always are being corrected.
• Allow quiet play. This may seem paradoxical when language is the goal, but rest and reflection that are restorative and interesting become important when so much effort is being expended in new skill.
• Talk about your own feelings and how they got that way in a simple and straightforward manner. Children who have never heard their parents talking about how or what they are feeling on a day-to-day basis face an uphill climb to develop useful understandings about language and emotion. Say things like, “I felt happy to get that nice letter from Grandma…” or “It scared me when the truck got so close.” Simple, clear, and to the point. The feeling in your voice will capture your toddler’s interest, so don’t be too surprised to see her staring at you at first. It gives her the words to match the emotion she reads in you and will eventually identify in herself.

• Read, read, and read some more. To them, to yourself, to each other. Then talk about what you read. It is the organic garden where new words grow.

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D., is an advisor for The Goddard School®. Dr. Pruett is an authority on child development who has been practicing child and family psychiatry for over twenty-five years. He is a clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale University's Child Study Center.The Goddard School has become the first preschool program to join P21—a national organization championing 21st century skills. Through the fusion of reading, writing & arithmetic with the 4Cs—critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—Goddard School graduates are well equipped and ready to succeed in school and in life.Visiting our School is a great way to see our programs in action, introduce you to our teachers and answer your questions.

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