Five Tips to Increase Your Child’s Language Skills

1. Keep Desired Objects Out of Reach

By keeping desired toys or food out of your child’s reach, you are creating a way for your child to communicate with you. This interaction could look like your child using eye contact, pointing, reaching, using sign language, or a verbal request. 

2. Commenting vs Questioning

As caregivers, it can be difficult to reduce questions when speaking with our children because we like to see what our child knows. However, this can lead to increased stress and pressure when a child is first learning to talk. Instead, focus on commenting and labeling actions, objects, and people without the expectation of a response. 

3. Wait

Waiting is a very powerful tool but difficult to do! Try waiting for about 10 seconds in order to give your child time to comprehend your language and formulate a response or initiate an action.

4. Add One Word

Always repeat and add one word to your child’s productions to help them learn how to expand their language. By two years old, children should be combining two words together. For example, if your child says “Doggie” you could say “Big Doggy”. 

5. Offer Choices

Giving your child the opportunity to make their own choices can increase confidence, engagement, and decrease frustration. Offer choices both visually and verbally if possible and allow your child to choose a desired item by looking, reaching, pointing, signing, or spoken words.

www.atozspeechandlanguage.com
atozspeechandlanguage@gmail.com

Rachel Ammon, M.A., CCC-SLP and Alexis Ellis, M.A., CCC-SLP

A to Z Speech Therapy
734-660-4661