Today Tile Triggered Content

Your toddler’s language journey began before they were born, and you’ll have seen them progress from crying and babbling to saying first words. As they use more words in their speech, you might notice they miss some sounds out of words or say some things incorrectly.  

There is a lot of variation in when toddlers start to put sentences together to talk [1], and there are a variety of reasons for this.   

This clever book entices the reader right from the first page. “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?” the reader asks the bear at the start. The bear then describes what it sees to the reader. As the story continues, the same question is asked of all the animals and people who star in the book. 

Because it focuses on combining rhythmic and repeating phrases throughout, young children have plenty of opportunities to join in. They might not be able to resist the urge to growl like a bear or woof like a dog! 

Can you capture a moment on your camera at the same time once a day?  

Samuel Ryde did! A London-based photographer, Samuel took one photo every day at 12.34pm for 10 years, purely to capture everyday moments. He took photos of things that he normally walked past without even noticing. These photos were taken wherever he was at that exact time. 

Sam’s idea encourages us to start taking notice of the ‘normal’ – the things we stop looking at. 

Your child’s knowledge and understanding of their world is ever growing, and even though children tend to notice more than adults,^[1,2] they may not think the ordinary, day-to-day things they see are worth talking about, especially when little focus is put on them by their family and friends. 

The development of attention is well studied, and although different psychologists may call each stage by a different name, the information they give about each one is similar. Attention plays a big part in everyone’s life because it helps us to tune in and out of information, sensations and distractions, allowing us to stay focused on what's important. 

Let’s have a look at the stages of attention here: 

Your child may sometimes catch you by surprise when asking a question that’s tough to answer. They may also throw a question at you about someone who is close by, and it could feel embarrassing. But, as they gain an awareness of their world, all they want to do is find out something they don’t yet know. They mean no harm or embarrassment; they simply need to access an answer to a thought that has popped into their heads.  

Here's some ideas for when you find yourself wondering, ‘How am I going to answer this?’ 

1. Choose a few repetitive books that your child enjoys. 
2. Read the stories with enthusiasm! Apply a melodic tone, changing the pitch when the repetitive phrases are being read. 
3. Pause to allow your child to say the repetitive phrase. 
4. Call attention to the print; point to the written text as you read. 
5. Provide a calm environment and allow plenty of time for the story. 

Talking to their toys is a wonderful stage in your toddler’s development. It starts around now and evolves over many years, and for some, it never stops! Embracing this time in your toddler’s life can help them become comfortable with storytelling, sharing ideas and acting out narratives with their safest and most trusted friends: their toys. Here are some ideas for encouraging this type of play and supporting your toddler’s early language skills.  

1) Take time for imaginative play

The repetition of a syllable, such as "ba ba ba ba," is known as 'reduplicated babble'. Babbling is a way for your baby to practise sounds and oral motor skills that are needed for speech.

Have you ever wondered how babies learn language? Those little sounds they make right from birth is the start of their linguistic journey. 

Research shows that babies start to make sounds that resemble ‘ooh’, and ‘ahh’ and ‘ee’ first.^[1]