Developing verbal communication at home – Parent Power @ Therapy-3

Published on Author JosephSunnyLeave a comment

Language is a communication tool which helps in conveying messages and feelings with concrete words.

When it comes to language development in a child, parents are the best ‘therapists’. There are various ways by which a parent can help improve language and interaction skills in a child. Here we are sharing a few strategies that can be used to help your child learn to talk.

mother-learn-her-newborn-talking

Word Description:
Words are described to the child with the help of picture. This is to form a relation between the word and explained features. It helps the child to develop an idea about the target. Thus, the child will keep a picture in mind regarding the target word. This way, the child is taught more number of words.

Parallel-Talk:
In this method, the parent describes what the child is doing or even seeing. Words are used to describe the actions without expecting child to respond. Here the parent is a broadcaster. For example, if the child is building blocks, you can say, ‘wow, you just built a tall tower! You have used all yellow blocks. Let us now use the red blocks to build a small tower.’ The child will enjoy this talk with great attention and this will help him/her add words to vocabulary.

Self talk:
The parent can use short sentences to describe to the child on what you are doing or seeing when you are with the child. The parent can illustrate or give commentary and can ask questions to the child regarding the spoken utterance. For example, when you have your child with you while cooking, you can say, ‘Mamma is going to make rotis now. So the question to child can be “what is mamma going to make?” Here the child may answer unclear words initially, but by repeated correction on the word to child, he/se finally says the correct word. This self talk helps you to introduce to your child words associated with activities and make it interesting for them.

Scrabble:
Scrabble summarizes all aspects of verbal communication. As the child starts to learn and improve vocabulary, parents can play this interesting and challenging word game with their children. The parent can ask their child to make meaningful words with randomly selected letters. During this game, the parent can also help their child refer dictionary to learn new words and understand the meaning. They can also be encouraged to frame sentences using the words formed.

Role Playing:
By role plays, your child learns to act out situations and develops social skills. It’s an effective way to demonstrate verbal communication, having two people for interpersonal communication. The parents can participate and encourage their children in acting out role plays. You can teach your child on voice modulations and emotions and help them make sentences. Role play sparks your child’s imagination and creativity and teaches them different perspectives.

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