Toddlers babble a lot. They might not seem to mean anything, but researchers say the behaviour must be encouraged. Allowing your kid to babble is important for the child’s language development and helps later with social as well as academic success. That means your child’s vocabulary at age two can tell you a lot about their mental and academic growth.
What does babbling do?
Babies cry and coo and laugh. They learn all these within the first six months of their life. However, the sounds are nothing more than a product of the baby’s reflex. They aren’t consciously controlled by the baby. However, between the ages of five and ten months old, the sounds start to change. They start making syllables and you’ll even get to hear a vowel or consonant occasionally. Canonical babbling is when the babies babble and produce sounds that are close to the sounds they will produce when they start using words. As babies grow older, the babble starts sounding more and more like a conversation. You’ll notice then that the babble has rhythm and tone, much like a real conversation has, only without apparent meaning. After a year of making sounds, the baby will start saying their first words.
How do you encourage babbling?
If you want to get your kids ready for school, if you plan on getting your children to an excellent preschool like the Global Indian International School, then ensuring that they’re ready is the first step. And encouraging their communication skills is a huge part of that. That’s why you’ll want to do more to get your kids to babble. Responding to the babble will help. However, it can be tough to do that. Some babbling is clearly a direct message, as your toddlers might be trying to tell you something. However, most of the time, the babbling is unclear, making it difficult for you to formulate the proper response. Here are tips on how to do that.
- Pause and wait:If your kids aren’t talking yet, it’s easy to talk and think that your kids will start talking. But if you wait and say nothing, that’s one way to encourage your children to babble. However, this depends on the kind of personality that your toddlers have. If they’re the talkative sort, though, you might not need to say more than just a few words to get them to start babbling.
- Observe your kids:Spending a long time with your kids will hopefully familiarize yourself with the kind of babbling that they’re doing. That will help you tell the difference between babbling that’s clearly meant to give you a message and babbling that happens when your child is busy playing or practising new skills.
- Imitate the babble: Imitating the babble will tell your child that you’re paying attention and that will certainly catch their attention. Also, you could take turns. When you babble, try to use real words. When your kids copy you next, then they’ll successfully say the words, too. That’s going to help them learn words.
- Act as an interpreter: If you think you’ve got the gist of what your kids are trying to say, then say the words for them. “That is a car.” Point to the car while you say the words. Doing so shows the child that you are labelling things that you are talking about. That helps eventually build your children’s vocabulary.
What do you do if your child isn’t babbling?
If one of your kids still isn’t babbling by the time, they reach two years of age, seek out a speech-language pathologist. A trained pathologist can evaluate your child and determine the cause of the problem. Delays in learning how to talk can be an indicator of a learning disability or condition. It’s best that you consult with child specialists. With guidance and the right school, your kids can get the help and support they need to overcome their conditions or disabilities or even work hard to make sure these don’t get in the way of their learning and development.
What affects their vocabulary?
Find ways to enrich your children’s vocabulary, so that by the time they’re two years of age, they can interact readily with everyone around them. From expressing themselves to playing to making friends, the better your children’s vocabulary or language skills, the more positioned they are to enjoy interactions with others. Here are some of the things that affect their vocabulary.
- Parents and their roles. If you are warm and supportive and provide your child with books and learning materials, that will help improve their vocabulary.
- Household environment. High television usage can compromise your child’s vocabulary, though. Direct interaction is much better for your children’s cognitive development, so limit their screen time.
By knowing how babbling can help your children’s development, you can start encouraging your kids to indulge in this activity.
