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Information
Our Contributor
The author, Magan Chen-Leo is team leader of the product development team of KeepLearning! Puzzle - Why?
Magan trained in London, U.K. (M. Sc.) and Sydney, Australia (B. App. Sc.). She has more than 16 years of teaching experience.
Magan is a registered Speech Language Pathologist / Therapist with the Speech Language and Hearing Association Singapore (SHAS) and the Speech Pathology Australia.
Together with a few speech therapists, she helped found the Speech Language and Hearing Association Singapore (SHAS) (thanks for the privilege, Helen, Praema, Poh Sim and company!) and served as its first President.
Magan is currently practising at Leo Magan Speech Sanctuary in Singapore and can be reached at (65) 6223-7876.
Tips for Parents or Teachers - Creating Opportunities for Teaching Your Child to Talk
Follow your child's lead and provide words to say.
Watch your child carefully to see what he is looking at or interested in.
- Provide a word for what you think he is looking at (e.g. if, he's looking out the window and you see a bird say "Bird").
- It you want to direct him to a particular object, point first and then name the object.
Provide words for teaching your child to talk about what he is communicating through non-verbal gestures and gaze.
- For example, if he gestures by lifting his hands up, say "up".
- If he pulls away from something that feels slimy, say "yuck!"
How to create opportunities for teaching your child to talk.
-- Offer choices.
For example, hold up a doll and teddy... wait for him to request one (i.e. don't say anything, but look expectantly.)
If he looks at one and points, provide a word - "teddy".
-- Do something unexpected, wait for a response, then expand on his response.
For example, you pretend to put on his shoe and then look expectantly.
If he looks at you and points to your shoe, say "shoe". Wait, if he says "shoe", then ask "Is it ____'s shoe / mummy's / teacher's shoe?"
-- Interrupt an ongoing activity.
For example, if you are rolling the play dough, say "roll, roll", then stop the activity and look at him expectantly. If he does nothing or pulls on you to continue, say "What shall we do?" If he still fails to say a word provide a model.
Repeat this a few times for the same word.
-- Don't anticipate his needs: if he obviously needs help with something, wait until he indicates this to you (e.g. by a look or handing the object to you). When he does this provide a model as in the following:
Your child tries to open a drawer that is stuck. She/he looks at you. You then wait a few seconds. If he does nothing further say "open" and wait for him to imitate. If he doesn't do anything further model again, wait and then provide help.
If he does imitate your first word, then provide help and expand this further by saying "open drawer" or "mummy open".
-- Accept any and all attempts at communication when teaching your child to talk.
When your child attempts to imitate your models, praise him and continue with the activity - i.e. DON'T attempt to get perfect words. Of course you can repeat the model without insisting that he imitate you.
Remember: when you are teaching your child to talk, you are helping him to say what he means. So have fun and enjoy the opportunity to enhance the parent child relationship or teacher student interaction.
Next: 10 Ways to Improve Communication Skills for Parents and Children
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