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Developing #Listening & #Speaking Skills week 4 – How to encourage your child to keep talking!

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Learning to the conventions of conversation start from birth, as parents we do not really think about it in this way but it is what we tend to do naturally.

Sometime though we all need a few pointers to help us, so here are some ideas to help you develop and encourage your child to talking skills:

From Birth to 1 Years Old

  • To encourage cooing and babbling. Get yourselves comfortable in a face-to-face interaction position, babies often like lying on their back or on your lap looking up at you.
  • Start by talking to your child while gently tickling their tummy or neck.
  • Anytime they make a sound you imitate or match the sound as best you can. It is best to wait until they have finished before you try (one of the conventions of conversation).
  • Try changing or adding a new sound to the one your child has made, so if they say ‘ah’ you might say ‘ah-ooh’, this will help to keep the game interesting.
  • Show that you are excited by the sound they make – smile and laugh, if you are enjoying the interaction, they will be excited by it too.
  • Vocal play works best when it occurs naturally, such as playing with farm animals, for instance sheep go baa, baa or cows make a moo, moo sound.

1 to 2 Years Old

  • Talk directly to your baby/toddler so they can see your facial expressions and how your lips move, as this is the beginnings of learning the conventions of communicating, listening and responding (something they cannot get from the TV, iPad or overheard conversations – indirect talk).
  • Talk through everyday events, such as getting dressed; what is happening, where you are going and what the plan is for the day.
  • Use your body language, expressions and gestures to help reinforce and develop your child’s neurological pathways to support understanding and comprehension.
  • Share books with your baby/toddler, they may not understand what you are saying to begin with but they will be listening to the different sounds that the words make. By reading aloud you are probably using words that will introduce new sounds that your child may not be picking up from your normal day to day conversations. As they get older you are developing and increasing the range of their vocabulary.
  • Babies and young children love to hear you singing and saying rhymes, this is because the language is slowed down, allowing them to hear the small units of sounds and patterns which are often repeated several times in a short time lapse. Again, the language used is often different from your day-to-day talk.
  • To encourage and help your child to generate and play with sound, repeat the sounds that they make.
  • Using familiar objects and toys make the noises associated with them for example a toy car, broom, broom or a toy bumble bee buzz, buzz.
  • When you are out and about talk about what you can see and about the sounds they make, a cat goes meow or a train Choo, Choo, for example.
  • You can use other onomatopoeic words to describe sounds, such as wooden spoons on saucepans could be bang, bang or blocks being knocked together could be click, clack.

2 to 5 Years Old

  • When playing, talking and sharing new words it is important to get down to your child’s level so they can see your face and how your mouth and lips move to form the words or sounds being explored.
  • Remember toddlers learn to listen best when they are taking an active role in what they are doing, especially when you or others join in eagerly with them to play the games.
  • Give your child thinking and response time, this may seem like a long pause but it is worth waiting, be sure your child has finished what they wanted to say before you respond.
  • Try not to finish off your child’s sentence, yes sometimes it may be quicker but just give them a little moment longer and they will get there. If it is clear they cannot think of the word they want then that is of course different.
  • Before a child can really take part in meaningful interactions with others, they need to learn how to take turns. It is one of the basic elements of communication, when we are talking to someone, we leave a gap/pause so that the other person has the opportunity to respond, taking turns. Turn taking skills need to be modelled and taught to help your child develop and understand this element of communicating with others.
  • To encourage your child to keep talking try nodding, smiling and using comments such as; wow, really or acknowledging something they have said by repeating rather than always asking them questions.
  • We are all guilty of half-listening, especially when we are busy trying to cook dinner for example. If it is obvious that what your child wants to tell you is really important then make it clear that you are interested by saying “Just let me finish this and then I can listen to you more carefully.”

Developing #Listening & #Speaking Skills week 3 – The Importance of Small Talk!

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Don’t underestimate the importance of everyday chatter or conversation (‘Small Talk’), children develop and learn a great deal through ‘Small Talk’ with adults and other children.

What do we mean by ‘Small Talk’?

With babies it is the kind of talk that explains what we are doing, what they are doing, where we are going and what we can see.  As they get older our verbal exchanges increase as we support their receptive and expressive vocabulary development. Through these exchanges we also support their general language development and understanding of how words are pronounced, basic sentence structure and using the correct tense.

When we talk with a child we demonstrate and model the use of language in real time so that it has meaning. For instance, a child may point and say “cat” and we would respond with “Yes, the cat is sleeping.” Or we may correct the child and say “That is a dog.” If we could we would point to a cat and explain the difference. We also correct mispronunciation of words and correct tense issues in the same way; repeating the word or sentence using the correct pronunciation or tense back to the child.

The Communication Trust is now part of the I Can organisation and has a great range of information and guidance for parents and professionals: https://www.icancharity.org.uk/

Developing #Listening & Speaking Skills Week 2 – Different Types of Talk

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There are different types of talk:

  • Business Talk – this is when we use more everyday instructional and informational kinds of vocabulary and sentence structures.
  • Play Talk/Rich Talk – this is more conversational, informal and descriptive.
  • Small Talk – this is everyday chatter or conversations, informal and often less descriptive and more factual.
  • Parentese – this research has shown is how babies prefer you to talk to them using regular words (normal adult vocabulary) in a slightly higher pitched and more sing-song way.

It is important that a child is exposed to the different types of talk as it helps them to build their vocabulary (word awareness – receptive & expressive language) this is vital if they are to continue to develop good communication skills.

The Difference Between Receptive and Expressive Language

Receptive language is how we take in and understand language; it is what we hear, see and read. This also includes body language and environmental clues. All these elements help us to interpret a situation and give it its meaning, so that we can understand what is being communicated. We do not need to be able to produce language to receive and understand it, so infants and toddlers understand far more than they can express (expressive language).

Expressive language is our ability to put our thoughts, needs and wants into words and sentences in a way that makes sense and is grammatically correct. A baby’s expressive language to begin with is based on cries and gestures and then moves to sound making, gestures and body language signals. We use this expressive language when we speak and write. When babies and toddlers move to speaking words, they have a limited vocabulary which is why they can get frustrated when we do not understand them.

Good word awareness (receptive and expressive language) is a key pre- phonics skill.

Click the link for ‘Tips to Help Develop Word Awareness (Receptive & Expressive Language)’: https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/word-awareness.html

Developing #Listening & Speaking Skills Week 1 – Turn Taking Skills – Conversation

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This week we will look at turn taking in conversation a skill children need to learn to take part in meaningful interaction with others. These interactions are a vital part of children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and wellbeing.

Children need to learn that in conversation they need to take turns listening and speaking.

This is more complex process than we often give it credit for as often we, especially in our busy lives, can be guilty of only listening to reply rather than listening to understand.

Children need to learn when to talk and when to listen; for this to happen they need to do the following:

  • Actively Listen to the other person. This means:
    • Concentrate on the words being said, by blocking out other environmental noises and voices.
    • For most children and adults this also means looking at the person, watching their facial expression and body language.
    • Listening for the verbal cues and/or changes in the tone of voice that signifies that the person has finished speaking.
    • Recognising that it is either your turn to respond by formulating a reply or not.
  • Formulate a Response. This means:
    • Extracting meaning – taking understanding from the words that have been spoken.
    • Mentally searching for words to compile a grammatically correct set of sentences.

In young children this can take time, not because they do not have the answer, because they just take longer to recall and formulate their responses. This is due to the constant acquisition of new language and understanding of the grammatical conventions that need to be applied.

  • Communicate Response. This means
    • Speaking clearly, pronouncing words correctly in coherent sentences.
    • Using socially appropriate facial expressions and body language to accompany the response.
    • Using the appropriate verbal cues and/or changes in the tone of voice that allow the other person to understand it is now their turn.
  • Wait. This means giving time for the other person to formulate their response.
  • Actively Listen to the other person.

Learning these skills takes time and needs to be taught as well as modelled by those around the children. It begins very early on for instance, when we talk to a baby, as if expecting an answer. As a baby starts to make cooing and babbling sounds, they begin to respond to you in those gaps, their first conversations.

Something that is worth remembering:

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” (Dalai Lama)

Developing a Child’s Speaking and Listening Skills is Vital!

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It is not just the key to literacy success but an essential social communication skill.

Sadly, although the covid lockdowns are well behind us schools are still reporting ever increasing concerns over the decline in young children’s speaking and listening skills. So, over the next 8 weeks, we are looking again at the different developmental elements of speaking and listening; providing practical games and activities to help build a child’s skills. 

Week 1. Conversational Turn Taking Skills

Week 2. Different Types of Talk

Week 3. The Importance of Small Talk

Week 4. How to Encourage Your Child to Keep Talking

Week 5. What is Listening?

Week 6. Games to Develop Listening Skills – Sound Screen Games

Week 7. Games to Develop Listening Skills – Sound Scanning Games

Week 8. Games to develop Listening Skills – Music Fun

Treasure Hunts Develop both Handwriting & Language Skills

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The Easter Holidays are here, so here are some fun activities to keep children of all ages entertained whether we have rain or sunshine.

A treasure hunt is a great way to teach children directional language. Being able to understand directional and placement (prepositions) vocabulary is important for understanding everyday instructions such as ‘put your cup on the table’; ‘go along the hall and stop at the door in front of you’.

We also use this directional language to explain how to draw patterns and write letters, which is another reason why it is important for young children to be introduced to, and have a good understanding of, this kind of vocabulary.

Through treasure hunts you can introduce new directional and placement language in a fun and exciting way. There are a number of different ways to approach this:

  • You can give verbal instructions to the hidden treasure.
  • You could create a map for them to follow and ask them to talk you through the map, supporting them with new language as necessary.
  • You could use a mixture of verbal and map clues.
  • For older children get them to hide the treasure and give you instructions, or draw a map.
  • If you have more than one treasure and they are of different sizes make the larger ones more difficult to find.

The important thing is the language shared. Words and phrases to use are: left, right, straight on, forward, backwards, about turn, turn around, up, down, higher, lower, stop, next to, in front, beside, underneath, on top of, behind, on the left of, on the right of, outside, and inside.

Treasure hunts are a great whole family activity and you are never too young or too old to join in!

Spring/Easter Drawing Activity Ideas – Supporting Language & Pre-handwriting Pattern Development

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The Easter holiday break is here!

We have put together some quick step by step Easter and farm drawing ideas for you to try, using basic shapes such as circles, rectangles and triangles. It is amazing how, by using these simple shapes, you and your child can create fantastic Spring/Easter: cards, pictures mobiles or bunting. Just follow this link and scroll down the page: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/more-activities.html

Drawing pictures is a great way to help your child develop their pre-handwriting strokes and shape forming skills. As well as supporting shape, colour, pattern and language development.

Homonyms & Homophones!

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Homonyms and homophones need to be heard or read within a specific context if we are to understand what the word means, for instance, if I say the word ‘bank’ and do not give any other verbal or written clues what do I mean?

The word on its own could mean a couple of things the bank of a river or sand bank or a bank where I can collect money. If it is not put into a context its meaning is unclear. The word ‘bank’ is classed as a homonym.

Homonyms are words which are pronounced and spelt the same; therefore, their meaning can only be truly understood when the context in which the word is being used is made clear. For instance, the word ‘bark’ can be used to mean the bark on a tree or the noise a dog makes.

Homophones are words which are pronounced (sound) the same but have a different meaning and are spelt differently such as, ‘their’ and ‘there’, ‘one’ and ‘won’ or ‘two’, ‘to’ and ‘too’.

Phonics Skills – Phonological Awareness: Stage 9 & 10 – (4 years – 7+ years)

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Phonics is learning the relationship between the individual sounds (phonemes) of our language and the way we represent them in writing through letters (graphemes).

Stage 9 – Phonetic reading

With the introduction of phonics into the National Curriculum children are being taught to read by using their phonics knowledge as a decoding tool to work out what words are. First, they have to recognize the letters and combinations, then attach associated sounds (phonemes) to them and finally blend the sounds together to form the word.

Children are not encouraged to focus on anything else, such as pictures or context, just the phonics element of the text. For phonics teaching schemes that haven’t taught a comprehensive range of letter to sound associations, phonics at an early stage is not sufficient and children also need to learn to recognize whole words which are not spelt phonetically, the tricky words (sight words) such as: was, want, because and like.

To emphasize this point; The National Curriculum for Year 1 Reading, as part of the statutory requirements, states that children should be taught to:

“read aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words” (DfE Sept 2014).

Stage 10 – Phonetic spelling

It is generally accepted that using phonics for spelling develops at a slower rate than that for reading; due to the child having to learn how to form the letters (handwriting) rather than just recognizing the visual association between the sounds and corresponding letters.

Children are taught to use their phonics knowledge as an encoding tool for spelling, first identifying the individual sounds (phonemes) in the word, then attaching associated letters for those phonemes and finally writing the letters and self-checking the spelling using their phonetic reading skills.

It is important that children understand, and can easily use, the letter names of the alphabet and not just make a certain sound associated to the letter. Using the letter name is the only way to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound. For example, ‘ph’ in the word ‘photo’ cannot be spelt out phonetically, you have to use the letter names otherwise children will spell it ‘foto’. A similar, more common, tricky spelling is the word ‘what’; you have to use the letter names to explain this spelling otherwise a child will spell it ‘wot’.

“Tricky” words

Because many phonics schemes do not teach the letter associations required for children to decode / encode high frequency words phonetically, such as: was, they, my, are. These are taught by rote.

Phonics Skills – Phonological Awareness: Stage 8 – (4 years – 7+ years)

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Phonics is learning the relationship between the individual sounds (phonemes) of our language and the way we represent them in writing through letters (graphemes).

The phonics stage in phonological awareness development is being introduced to our children at a much younger age, it used to be the second term of reception class, but phonic schemes in the UK have moved to starting in the first term of Reception. This is regardless of the child’s actual phonological ability levels.

For us, as adults, this can seem a little daunting as most of us were not brought up with phonics as the main strategy for learning to read or spell.

For a child who has developed through all the pre-phonic stages 1 to 7 for good phonological awareness the phonics stage is a natural progression, allowing them to use all the segmentation, blending, substitution and deletion skills previously learnt.

It is important that your child understands that letters have names; just like they do, and just like them they make different sounds. Knowing the letter names allows them to understand which letter you are talking about when discussing letters and sounds as the letter name is the unique characteristic of the letter – as it can make more than one sound. A classic example is the word ‘was’, if spelt phonetically it would be ‘woz’.

Your child should already have been taught the names (not sounds) of the letters of the alphabet, this is an early years requirement. Sadly, some feel that if a child can recite the alphabet song, they know the names of the letters, this I just not true!

Understanding letter names is important in the teaching of phonics as children need to develop an understanding that a letter can make different sounds depending on the location and pairing with other letters.

For example, the letter ‘a’ can make a number of different sounds on its own depending on the word it is in: ant, baby, swan and with other letters as in words like day, train and car.

Phonics programs tend to teach:

The use of phonic skills to blend and segment the written forms of words (CVC words) starting with one sound – one letter correspondence such as sat, pat and dog.

Develop understanding that one sound consonant can be represented by two letters (digraph) such as ‘ch’ in ‘chip’ or ‘sh’ in ‘shop’.

Develop understanding that one vowel sound can be represented by two letters (vowel digraph) such as ‘ea’ in ‘head’, ‘ai’ in ‘rain’.

Develop understanding that some sounds are represented by 3 or 4 letter combinations such as ‘igh’ in ‘light’ and ‘eigh’ in ‘eight’.

Identifying the initial, end and medial sounds and their corresponding letter(s).

However, many phonics schemes teach high frequency words by rote as they do not teach the letter associations required for children to decode / encode them phonetically. Word such as: is, the, was, what, and any.