Communication skills are very crucial in your child’s development especially between the age of three to five years. Whatever your child hears has a great impact on his language development. Some things might be boggling your mind some times like, “how should I talk to my child?”, “should I talk to him like I’m talking to an adult?” or “should I talk to him like I’m just going to pretend that I’m his same age?.”
It is actually a usual scenario when you happen to see a baby or when you are talking to your child, and you start talking to him in a high-pitched tone and start stretching out your vowel. We call it “parentese”. Parentese is when you pronounce words precisely and clearly. Study shows that babies prefer hearing these way of talking because it catches their attention better than the normal talking way of an adult. On the other hand, parentese is far different from “baby talking”. Baby talking uses sounds and nonsense words, in which, according to the experts is a very big NO NO for your child. Between the age of three to five, your child enjoys the art of talking and exploring his language through using different words. He likes sharing and expressing his own thoughts. His non-stop talks might require your 2 ears or 4 more if you can, to hear them.
Here are some tips that you can do to help your child to develop well in their communication skills.
- First of course, is to discourage your child to use baby talking. So, what could that be the first move to make it possible? Simple. Do not baby talk him.
- Ask your child some basic things like, what they are doing or how his day was after spending his time with his playmates.
- Try levelling up the words you are using when talking to your child. This stimulates his language and vocabulary skills.
- Let him watch children shows on television. This also enhances his skills and understanding of some simple things. You can also provide him with expanded information about what he sees in the television.
- Try creating stories and make your child contribute in doing so. This doesn’t only develop their communication skills but also their thinking, creating skills and a sense of humor.
Baby talking is considered to be harmful, for your child has a very high chance of adapting that way of talking which will result him to have a poor language skills. Your child’s early development is in your own hands. So let’s avoid using baby talk. When you find your child baby talking, do not encourage him, teach him the right way of talking.
If you think there is something wrong in the development of your child’s communication skills, like he cannot at least complete a sentence, consulting a certified speech-language pathologist might be necessary.
