Media Text – Synthesising Skills

A guide to teach your toddler to speak- NHS resource pack

The ability to talk is a crucial skill in order to learn, socialise and develop in the world. You have the crucial role of helping your child understand the world around it before they can participate within it themselves.

There are several things you can do to encourage your child to start talking:

• Firstly, it’s important to understand that just because your baby may have uttered its first word, this does not constitute as the ability to have acquired language. Although it is progress, there are still vital developmental stages your child has to go through until they become confident with speaking.

•  Talking to your baby as if they can already understand you is a good way to help your child become aware of speech and how it works as before they can learn it, they must understand it.

•    Between the ages of one and two, your child, even though they cannot reply, will start to understand simple commands such as “put that down”. It is important to continue with these simple sentences with your baby as they are still developing their understanding and awareness of language. 

• Don't expect perfection straight away! It will be a long time down their developmental road before their pronunciation becomes clear, so there's no reason to worry if you feel that your child is struggling to talk at this stage.

• It's important to motivate your child at any given opportunity to encourage them to continue to talk. This is critical as your child will not only learn by imitation but by the feedback they receive from you as well.