Toddler's language development grow rapidly. 2 years old talks 2-4 word sentence and their vocabulary is between 100-150 words. A 3 years old talks 5-8 word sentence and their vocabulary 500 - 2000. The adult’s role is to provide opportunity to extend children’s understanding and their speaking. The more word they learn, the more they will understand and able to use. Toddlers learn through their five senses as touching, hearing, smelling, tasting and seeing. Parents and educators can provide many opportunities for children to explore the word around them, to learn new words, to sing different song, identify sounds, and to provide opportunity to express themselves through peer interactions with family members and in the community
How adults can extend children’s oral languages?
Reading a book
To learn a new language, adults are taking language-courses where they can practice, or they read, read and read. Extending children's vocabulary based on this two method: practicing and reading. Reading a book is a good tequiniques to extend children's vocabulary. The way we introducing the book, the way we act, the way we interact with them all impact their learning. Provide variety of books based on their interest, including animals, food, cars, bugs, body part, colors and include books with sounds, different textures, or puppets. However reading a book is not the only way we can extend their vocabulary.
Daily Routines
The adult is a role model in children’s life, the way the adults talks, children will imitate and the adult's voice level, attitudes, expression affect children’s understanding. Provide positive word, and interact with the child through the whole day, explain, provoke, demonstrate, point, repeat.
Daily routines are good opportunity to extend children’s vocabulary for example during diapering, talk about their body parts, naming them, to provide body awareness and self-concept for the child, to extend their vocabulary. It is easy to provoke their interest by asking open ended questions for example: What is coming next? When we are dressing up the child, and pretending we are thinking about the next action, and this way we can encourage the child to use their vocabulary, their understanding, to encourage thinking and predicting skills.
Daily routines are good opportunity to extend children’s vocabulary for example during diapering, talk about their body parts, naming them, to provide body awareness and self-concept for the child, to extend their vocabulary. It is easy to provoke their interest by asking open ended questions for example: What is coming next? When we are dressing up the child, and pretending we are thinking about the next action, and this way we can encourage the child to use their vocabulary, their understanding, to encourage thinking and predicting skills.
Singing the word and Nursery Rhymes
Another way to extend their vocabulary by singing the voice. Music is the best way to improve children’s understanding. Music can help them to focus, to understand and also to reduce their stress when they learning new words and instructions. Songs and nursery rimes are good examples: “The wheels on the bus” and act and sing with them. During daily routines “This is the way we wash our hand”. Or “I like to eat apples and bananas” during snack time to provide better understanding and extend their vocabulary.
Drama Play
Pretend games also help to increase children’s vocabulary for example pretending to talk on the phone, or using a microphone or puppets. Children love imitations. Best way to start with something they already know and implement the new sounds and words : Moo, Woof, Meow. You can also teach them emotions, expression and let the child express their understanding and use their language.
Body Language
Get down to the children’s eye level this shows respect and making sure they paying attention, if we are not focusing on them, how can we expect their attention ? On the same level, the communication is more meaningful and easier to understand each other and to pay attention. Use gestures, act out. As children learn by their five senses, they understand better from gestures, facial expression. Our body language is very important, our cues, a smile, a hand gesture and our body language are all important when we communicating with them.
Spend Enough Time
Slow down. Always provide enough time when you are communicating with children. Toddlers learn language in every moment of the day. Spending enough time with them explaining the actions around them, and wait for their answers helps them to understand their word and extend their language. If toddlers have opportunity to try, speak, see and listen they will develop better and their vocabulary increasing.
Modeling
Children need to here speech in order to imitate the words. If the child can here during daily routines what is happening, may have a better understanding . When the child is trying to imitate the word they heard , we can extend their language : When they say : "Baby" we can say " The Baby is Sleeping", or when they say More you can say : " You want More Milk"
Open ended questions
With open ended question is a best way to start a conversation with your child. Ask simple questions from toddlers. Where is daddy? What do you see? What is on the picture? How the cow sounds? When the child is answering with one word, parallel talk or paraphrase is a good technique to expand their language. When the child is saying: "Banana" you can say . " You like banana"
Signs / symbols/pictures
Provide a variety of printing, pictures , posters and signs in the environment for the child to be able to point them and ask questions . This way the child will be able to explore the pictures, signs, getting familiar with them, may extend their thinking and imagination. When children's pointing on objects , they can express their interest. Is a good way to find their cues and implement the learning opportunity. If they pointing on a picture for example on "cars " is a good opportunity to name the object, ask open-ended questions, imitate the sounds or compare with other pictures or different types of cars to extend their language.
Ongoing communication make a huge impact on their language and peer interactions.
Children’s need active play, to explore and to learn about the word, the more interaction they have the more understanding they will gain, and develop a reach vocabulary.
Children’s need active play, to explore and to learn about the word, the more interaction they have the more understanding they will gain, and develop a reach vocabulary.
Resources:
Teaching the little ones http://lynnlly.com/category/education
Ontario Immunization." Http://www.public-domain-image.com/free-images/people/boy-enjoys-the-washing-of-hands-with-his-mother-725x483.jpg
"The Puppet Show in Town." Let the Children Play. Web. 28 May 2012. http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2012/05/puppet-show-is-in-town
Be Reggio Inspired: Learning Experiences
http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-learning-experiences
Be Reggio Inspired: Learning Experiences http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-learning-experiences
Bullard, J. (2014). Creating Environments for Learning - Birth to Age Eight (Second Ed.). Montana: Pearson
Language and Literacy Presentation and Class Notes
Teaching the little ones http://lynnlly.com/category/education
Ontario Immunization." Http://www.public-domain-image.com/free-images/people/boy-enjoys-the-washing-of-hands-with-his-mother-725x483.jpg
"The Puppet Show in Town." Let the Children Play. Web. 28 May 2012. http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2012/05/puppet-show-is-in-town
Be Reggio Inspired: Learning Experiences
http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-learning-experiences
Be Reggio Inspired: Learning Experiences http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-learning-experiences
Bullard, J. (2014). Creating Environments for Learning - Birth to Age Eight (Second Ed.). Montana: Pearson
Language and Literacy Presentation and Class Notes