Make Your Kid A Genius!

How to Awaken Your Child's Innate Intelligence

Irene Helen Zundel, Editor, artwhiz@greenepa.net

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IN THIS ISSUE

Feature Article: Speech and Language Development from Birth to Age Five

Product Review: Little Language Music CD and the Companion Book for Parents

Coming up in the next issue

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Speech and Language Development from Birth to Age Five

by Irene Helen Zundel

The babbling of a baby. The first words of a toddler. The silly mispronunciations of an older child. All these things bring a smile to a mother's face, and joy to her heart.

Children seem to mimic and learn to speak so readily and naturally that the speech process at times seems mysterious. Eventually mothers begin to wonder if their children are developing speech and language skills at a "normal" pace. Or if there seems to be a speech problem, they are anxious to know if and how it can be corrected.

When do children begin to speak? What are the developmental norms for speech? How can mothers help their children develop good language skills? How can a parent spot problems in their child's speech and language development?

Generally speaking, speech and language development occurs in these stages:

birth to six months — babies begin to coo, vocalize, and babble.

nine to 18 months — the first intelligible word is spoken, and a vocabulary of up to 20 words is acquired. 18 months to two years - vocabulary really skyrockets. Toddlers have a command of 200-300 words, and can learn one or two new words every day.

two to three years — vocabulary has grown to about 1,000 words. Children can form simple sentences of three and four words, and can construct a sentence containing a subject and a verb.

three to four years — vocabulary should be about 1500 words. Sentence structure will be more complex. Children should be able to tell little stories and recount the recent past. They will typically struggle with negative words---no, not, can't, don't and won't --- and will attempt to add endings to words such as s, es and ed.

by age five — vocabulary generally exceeds 2,000 words. Children have mastered most sounds, and can construct sentences that are grammatically correct about 90% of the time. They should be able to express their feelings and follow three step commands.

Teaching a child to communicate well doesn't need to be complicated. In fact, many language building activities can be a regular part of your daily routine. Here are a few helpful suggestions from the book "Little Language For Little Ones" by speech-language pathologist Laura Dyer.

First, limit the amount of time your child spends watching television and videos.

Studies have shown that even watching "educational" programs puts children in a passive learning state, and can inhibit their early social, perceptual, motor, speech and language development. Children learn more effectively from active, hands-on learning experiences.

Second, get rid of your child's pacifier before the age of 12 months.

Children who use a pacifier past that age tend to have suppressed language skills, at least for a short while. Many children also have distorted speech from talking with a pacifier in their mouths. If a pacifier isn't present, children tend to take advantage of more opportunities to communicate, and their utterances are typically longer. Pediatricians have noted that ear infections are about 33% more frequent among children who use a pacifier often. Try to substitute a comforting blanket or toy around the age of five or six months.

Third, be a good speech and language model for your child:

Use eye contact, gestures, and simple demonstrations to make yourself understood.

Speak slowly, use short sentences, and repeat words often.

Use an uncomplicated and consistent vocabulary. For example, say "car" not "automobile" or "Chevrolet."

Be enthusiastic and encourage your child to interact with you. Give them sufficient time to respond. Also, it is important that you let your child initiate communication 50% of the time. If you always anticipate your child's needs in advance, they will learn they don't need to ask for what they want!

Use "self-talk" and "parallel talk" during your daily interactions with your child. Self-talk is explaining what you are seeing, doing, and feeling in a natural, conversational way. ( Now I am getting your towel and toys ready for your bath. ) Parallel-talk is describing what the child is doing, or what events are happening right around him. ( How nice that you are coloring a picture and your sister is reading her book. ) Both of these methods of communicating allow your child to hear good speech modeled, without pressuring them for a response.

Use prompting to encourage your child to respond to you. There are generally three kinds of prompts---questions, ( hold up an object and ask, "What is this?" or "Is this your book?" ) fill in the blank, ( point to a picture in a book and say, "This is a ______? and let the child answer ) and imitation ( the parent holds up an object and says " Say _____" .)

Demonstrate your expectations to your child. Model what you want them to imitate, make eye contact and pause, giving them a chance to respond.

Talk in the present tense, and describe what is happening right around your child. Talking about events in another place or that will occur in the future might cause confusion.

Fourth, read, read, and read some more to your child!

Finally, make learning language skills fun.

Use finger-play games such as Pat-A-Cake and the Itsy Bitsy Spider beginning around the age of five or six months. They help increase a child's attention span and aid in the development of listening skills. They help a child learn to follow directions and they teach order and sequence.

Around the age of nine months, sing songs and read nursery rhymes often. Use exciting toys like a jack-in-the-box to cause a verbal reaction from your child. Make silly faces in a big mirror. Use lift-the flap books to play a kind of peek-a-boo game. Add sound effects to toys you are playing with, such as toy animals, cars and trains. Play with a toy telephone.

Through all developmental stages, introduce your child to the joys of music. Children as young as five months of age can distinguish changes in pitch. Between nine months and one year, they can remeber the melody of a song. Played in the background, music can have a soothing and calming effect. More lively music can be used to engage children in participating in activities that help them develop their physical bodies and motor skills.

Overall, studies have shown that exposing children to music from an early age can have many beneficial effects. It can improve their memories, enhance their cognitive, speech, and language abilities, improve their motor development and coordination, and even increase social skills and reduce stress.

What are some warning signs that a child might be experiencing difficulty in learning to communicate and might need the help of a professional?

Here are some indicators of both receptive ( listening/understanding ) skills and expressive skills, by age:

one year — your baby doesn't look at people when spoken to, and doesn't point or make sounds to get a desired object.

two years — your toddler can not follow simple commands such as "come to mama" and never links two words together.

three years — your child doesn't answer yes or no to simple questions when asked and never asks questions. Unfamiliar people have difficulty in understanding your child ( speech should be intelligible 75% of the time at this stage).

four years — your child doesn't seem to understand what you have said, doesn't make sentences using 3-4 words, and doesn't try adding suffixes like ing and ed, or plural forms by adding s or es to his words.

five years — your child can not carry out complex commands of three or more steps, and can not recount a simple story, placing events in logical sequence.

To learn more, I would encourage you to visit the website of speech-language pathologist Laura Dyer at http://littlelanguage.com. You can order her excellent book there and also a companion CD of fun songs that help children develop their speech and language skills. I have provided a review of both products on the following page.

Also visit The Speech Ring at:

http://www.bungalowsoftware.com/webring.htm.

There you can surf 74 different sites full of excellent information from professionals in the speech and language development field.

This is an entire chapter of my new book: Make Your Kid A Genius: Tools to Maximize Your Child's Potential from the Womb through College

For more info go to: www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/ebook.htm

REVIEW: Little Language Music CD and Companion Book

Here is a complete review of Laura Dyer's products, posted on the website of AllStar Review at www.allstarreview.com/littlelanguage.html. Visit their website to find helpful evaluations of numerous educational and family oriented software, videos, CDs and tapes.

Product Title: Little Language Songs For Little Ones

Publisher: M.A.S. Venture

Website: http://littlelanguage.com

Ages: Birth to 5

Suggested Retail Price: CD $14.95 Tape $9.95

Rating: not yet rated

Synopsis: This is a musical CD of 20 songs designed to help children master important speech and language skills before they start school. The tunes are short, fun, and designed to be both sung and acted out. While the songs are used to aid children with speech difficulties, such as lisping or mispronouncing of key sounds, they are great for all children in my opinion. The songs teach a myriad of useful things, such as expressing your emotions, holiday words, manners, counting, letter sounds, foods, and animals. By doing the dances that accompany some songs, children learn to follow commands and develop their coordination.

Along with the CD, I also read a companion book, "Little Language For Little Ones" written by speech- language pathologist Laura Dyer. It contains a wealth of helpful information, written in easy to understand language for the average parent. She gives a crystal clear synopsis of what children should be able to pronounce and what concepts they should know at various ages. She also gives great suggestions how to encourage kids to communicate with you and others. Also included are the lyrics to all the songs and a brief introduction of what speech problems the song corrects, or what language skills they teach. The book sells for $12.95. You can utilize and enjoy the CD without the book, but I would highly recommend that you purchase them both.

Age Appropriateness: through age 5

Replay Value: very good

Educational value: very good

Sound: clear and pleasant to the ear. The song arrangements are simple, and the melodies are nice and easy for children to sing along with.

Pros: The book is a quick and easy reference that enables parents to assess their children's progress, and easily spot language delays.

Cons: none

Conclusion: I think this is an educational product of great value to ALL children, not just those who are having speech difficulties. The entertainment and replay value is excellent, and it is a wonderful educational tool as well.

This review is in the Educational Product Reviews section of my website. Check it out at: www.fadco.net/~artwhiz

COMING UP in the next issue:

Coming up next month: Educational Kinesiology or "Brain Gym"

How movement affects learning

How simple exercises can balance brain and body, facilitate learning, and even help overcome "learning disabilities" WITHOUT the use of drugs.

For a sneak peek on the subject, visit this link: www.braingym.org

You won't want to miss it!

Tell your friends to subscribe ;-)

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Little Language: Give your child a great start in the new year with a 40 minute fun and educational music CD produced by a speech and language expert that is designed to enhance communication skills in children birth to age 5. There is also a resourceful companion book for parents and animal castanets for kids. To learn more, visit our website at http://littlelanguage.com, or call 1-877-755-5402.

These products are reviewed on my website at www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/littlelanguage.htm.

This article will appear soon in Wonder Years magazine. Visit www.partnershipforlearning.org for information about this excellent publication, and their other magazine, Michigan Learning.

Online issues can be found at http://www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/archives.htm

Irene Helen Zundel

Freelance Writer

artwhiz@greenepa.net

www.fadco.net/~artwhiz

©2002 Irene Helen Zündel