How can I help my baby or toddler learn to talk? In this episode, I'm going to share with you five tips of how can you talk with a baby or a toddler so that you boost their skills and you boost their language development. And as a bonus, you'll also get to help them in their thinking skills. If you would like this podcast and you're enjoying any of our episodes, don't forget to follow or subscribe in your favorite podcast app and be sure to also give us a five star rating so that we're going to be able to reach more parents who can help them.
Welcome to Discerning Parenting, the podcast for parents of kids age 12 and under who have learned the hard way that a one size fits all approach to parenting won't shift the needle for you, your child, or your family. Together, We'll explore intentional strategies that see both you and your kids thrive.
Parenting strategies based on well conducted research in the areas of child development, brain science, and neurodiversity need practical for you. What if you let go of perfect and embrace discerning parenting in your family instead? If you feel like you've been stumbling your way through. And you're ready to leave behind fight or flight mode parenting.
Then, this is the podcast for you. I'm Dr. Victoria Angolasco, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician and Positive Parenting Coach, on a mission to help you release your parenting guilt so you can become laser focused on what will truly work for you.
Okay, so now you've been told, yes, we need to talk with our babies and toddlers. What do I talk about? What do I say? Now, if you have a child who is already asking questions non stop, and I can tell you from experience, it really is non stop, this may not be a problem for you.
But many parents of babies and young kids who aren't talking yet, they may feel at a loss about how to have a conversation with their kids. And are we really supposed to be talking with our babies? What do we tell them? And the simple answer is, We can just talk about anything and everything, what is happening, what we're doing, and what's going on in our minds.
Like, did a leaf fall to the ground? Or, we're not sure which shoes to wear or what to have for dinner. Or, feeling that something is itchy and I wanna pick my nose. Nothing is too silly or too insignificant to be a conversation topic. And, in this episode, I'm going to share These five tips, and to make it easier, remember P Q R S T.
And remember...
Number four, the S, that is my favorite, and it's also my child's favorite. So, I can't wait to tell you about these five tips. If you have a tip to share, leave it in the comment, or head over to the Discerning Parenting Facebook page, and you can send us a message about your favorite tip, or if you have a question, we do answer listener questions on our podcast episodes.
So, P Q R S T.
P stands for point. Point to things around you and tell your child about them. When you see something, when you experience something, let's talk about it. This is real conversation, and this helps boost our kids language skills more than doing flashcards or doing rote repetition. Why? Because our kids learn not just from what we say, but from the entire experience of communicating with us.
From hearing what we say, watching how our lips move, our facial expressions, as well as correlating it with everything that is going on around us. Here are some examples. I'm sure You'll find that you have already been doing this. And if you've been doing that, then you can already rest easy knowing that you are stimulating your child's language development.
There's no need to worry about flashcards or rote drills or memorization. So here are the examples. Look at the beautiful clouds in the sky. You can see them moving. I'm going to make sandwiches for us. See how I can get the bread and put butter in it? Or look at my shoes. They're a nice color, see? And I'm going to show you how I tie my shoes.
Then you can also engage as many senses as possible. You let your child touch a glass of water, then you say, Hey, it's cold. I smell something cooking. It smells delicious. I wonder what it is. Why? Because all of us, including kids, learn and remember things better when they are multisensory experiences. And your child's different senses come together when learning language.
They will see the actual thing, whether it's a tree, a bulldozer, or a basketball, and then touching the leaves, smelling the flowers, or freshly cut grass or tasting a bowl of soup, or hearing a cat meow. And also our other senses that we may not recognize, like when your child is carried in rock, or when your child jumps up and down, and it stimulates their senses.
And that is why I discourage using flashcards or even apps for babies and young toddlers because they don't provide the context and multi-sensory experiences that your child needs when learning to talk. Well, if you really want, you can get a book or maybe one set of real physical flashcards, not the app version of the flashcards, maybe when your child nears the age of three, and then you can have a fun day like pointing it out with your child or letting your child point to the pictures. But there is no substitute for allowing your baby or your toddler to explore the environment in a way that is safe and age-appropriate. So that's the first tip. which is to point to things around you and tell your child about them.
And if you're enjoying these tips, these are exactly in chapter three of my book, Toddler Talking, Boost Your Child's Language and Brain Development in Three Easy Steps. So I'm going to talk about these tips as well as other tips for language development, and you're also going to get chapters on Babies less than one-year-old, babies who are one year old, and two-year-old toddlers as well.
So tip number two, the letter Q. Ask questions even if your child can't verbally answer yet. Even before your baby learns to talk, start asking questions. This is true even for very young babies. So, Oh, is that a doggy I hear? I smell something yummy. I wonder what that is. Would you like apple juice or orange juice?
And while your child is playing, you can ask them questions like, oh, what is daddy doing? The important thing is, is to make it fun. So we don't do it like in a drill like you hold up a flashcard of an apple and then you say, what is this? But, We do it in a fun and natural way in a conversation. Then when we ask the question, wait, then listen, then you respond.
And I know I also have to remind myself to add that pause and to wait. Because I know it's so often and I do this too that I ask my child a question, and then I don't really let them answer. So after asking, let's stop and look and listen. And then your baby or your toddler may answer in different ways, whether it's gestures, pointing, babbling, or words.
Now as your child nears the age of three, she will constantly ask you a ton of questions, and I do mean a ton. They can ask you about anything and everything. So if you're tired because you are just facing so many questions a day, here's a tip that I can give you. Give yourself a break. You say, yeah, that's a great question that you're asking.
What do you think? Or maybe you can remind them of something you did recently that can answer that question. Now if you get my book, Toddler Talking, Boost Your Child's Language and Brain Development in Three Easy Steps, I have examples of real-life questions that can ask babies and toddlers at different ages.
So tip number three, letter R. Respond to what your child says or does. We can always take a cue from our kids about what to talk to them about and how best to stimulate their language development. And even if all we do is observe our kids, we'll never run out of things to say. So, when your baby makes a sound, gesture, or smile, notice it.
If your child says something, you look at him, then smile or say something in return. And when your child says something that is not clear, try repeating it more clearly. You do this by expounding on what your child says, or you can add words, or you can turn what they say into sentences.
So, for example, your baby says ta ta ta ta ta ta ta while playing with her trucks. You can say, oh, you want to play with the dump truck? So, you turn the T sound into the word truck and then you expand it. You can also narrate what they are saying. You're dumping up all the blocks. Oh, you put the blocks into the dump truck and you're dumping them out.
Then pause. Then you give an encouraging smile as your child babbles some more. Not only will this help their language development, but this will also help their behavior because while they're doing something Acceptable. When they are behaving in good ways, we are responding to them, and we're labeling it, and we're giving it a name.
Next, tip number four, S. Use songs and rhymes. And as I promised, this is my favorite, and this is also my child's favorite. Songs and rhymes, especially action songs, they're great ways to learn language. And babies toddlers and young kids love this. They're fun, they're easy, and they're no prep, and they're a great way to connect with young kids.
Now, rhymes may seem simple, but they actually set the stage for your child to understand the basic units of sound. Now, these basic units of sounds, we call them phonemes, and they are extremely important. In setting the foundation for your child's learning to read. So that's why a child who can't appreciate rhymes by age five may be at risk for reading disorders.
So several popular songs help kids learn to appreciate Rhymes like Hickory Dickory Dock, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and there are also many wonderful action songs that babies and toddlers like from Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to The Ants Go Marching or The Wheels on the Bus. There's also so many songs that help with different scales, like for example, body awareness.
If you move along with them, like I'm a little teapot or the noble Duke of York, and I'm sure you have your favorites too. And finally, tip number five, tell your child about what's happening and teach even about the simple things. So talk with your child as you go about your daily activities. You can do this anytime during the day.
Are you eating together? Is it bath time? Is it time to change your diapers? Time to clean up the mess? These are all great opportunities for conversations, and these are actually among the best toddler activities that you can have. A lot of people may think that toddler learning or toddler activities happen only when you specially prepare and set up an activity, and this can stress out many parents Let's face it, we're so busy we really don't have a spare moment of the day most days, and now to add on to that we have to set up activities, but the thing is, many of the best learning and activities can come with the things that we are already doing anyway with our toddlers without adding on extra.
So we can comment on what's around you. So for example, we hear a bee buzzing, there's a bee outside. Or we hear a bird chirping, there's a bird outside. Can you point to it? Can you hear it? Or if we're busy doing the dishes, we can still connect with our kids. Oh look, I'm using the sponge to wash the plate.
And I'm pretty sure that your toddler is going to want a piece of the action so you can Let them handle something that cannot be easily broken. Like you can help let them handle rinsing the utensils depending on how old they are. And this is something that we do with our parents at the Discerning Parents Club.
We help them with age-appropriate activities. So for example, we have lists of age-appropriate chores. and also how to know whether an appropriate activity is age-appropriate and we also have several activity guides that can help you without adding on to your day and with definitely without adding on to your stress.
So head over to discerningparenting. com slash club and sign up so that you'll be on the waiting list of the Discerning Parents Club when it opens again. Now, we might feel that nothing is happening, or there's nothing really worth talking about, but that's not true, because for your toddler, everything is interesting.
Now, I'm sure at some point, you've had a toddler throw a tantrum because they wanted to grab the toy. A rag you're using to wipe the table, or they wanted to grab a broom that you were using. So you know what I mean, that everything is interesting for a baby or a toddler. So there's no need to stress about baby or toddler activities or about doing something special for them.
I know a lot of us, we want to create these core memories with our kids. And if you remember the movie Inside Out, what is their core memory? Their core memory was actually in the living room chasing each other. So this shows that core memories don't need to be a lot of work. They don't need to be these big things that take up a lot of our time and energy, but these everyday moments when we choose to connect with our kids.
Then, when we're talking with our babies and toddlers, we don't need to worry about whether they're using things that are words that they already understand. So, we don't need to be afraid about talking naturally. We don't even need to be worried about using perfect grammar. We can just show up, be present, and be ourselves.
And that is what matters. That is what will boost. Your baby and your toddler's brain development.
Why is it important for us to do these five things? PQRST, which is pointing to things around you and letting your child experience them. Asking questions, even if your child can't verbally answer yet. Responding to what your child says or does. Using songs and rhymes and telling your child about what's happening and teach even about the simple things.
Why are these five things that you can remember using PQRST, why are they important? Because this is how we work with our kid's brains and not against their brains. Because the part of our brains responsible for creating long-term memory and learning is called the hippocampus. Now this part of the brain called the hippocampus, it gets activated and it remembers things better when something is relevant and necessary for our survival.
So that means it has to be relevant to your child's everyday experiences. If you just use an app or you just use a flashcard, it's not necessarily related to your child's everyday experience, so it can be a struggle for your baby or your toddler's brain to remember it. But if it is part of an everyday situation, like let's say it's snack time and then you show them an apple and then you eat them together and then you tell them, oh this is an apple, it's yummy and it's healthy, it's going to activate your toddler's hippocampus way more than simply showing a flashcard of an apple.
And before you know it, they will be learning those conversational skills, and it's not just going to be all about rote memory, but they will actually learn how to use them appropriately in everyday situations, and you'll be building your child's holistic development, because it's also about building their social emotional skills and helping their behavior.
So there you have it, five strategies to boost. your child's language skills. This is how you will do language stimulation at home, whether you're, you're, you have a baby or you have a toddler, or you may have an older child, but you want to enhance your child's skills. speech therapy program, or you want to boost their conversational skills.
If you enjoyed these tips, don't forget to check out my book, Toddler Talking Boost Your Child's Language and Brain Development in Three Easy Steps. 📍 I talk more about this throughout the book, but especially in chapter three, and you also get three different chapters, one for each of your child's ages.
So don't forget to head over to your favorite podcast app and follow or subscribe to the Discerning Parenting podcast and give us also a five-star rating so that we'll be able to reach and help more parents who need this. Thank you.