L Clark - Talk, Listen and Learn How to boost your childs language and learning: ability

We are indebted to all those parents and children we have worked with who have shared their skills with us. Not least we must thank our own childrenJames, Sarah, Whitney and Katewho have allowed us to experience child development and parenting first-hand. At the same time we would like to thank those in our families who supported us through so many of our own learning experiences.

Best wishes to all the children we have worked with over the years. Good luck to them in whichever country they live and whatever they are doing.

Linda Clark and Catherine Ireland are speech pathologists combining over fifty years experience helping children with speech, language and literacy problems. Speech pathology services are in great demand, many of which have long waiting lists.

When Linda and Catherine first qualified as speech pathologists the children referred to them were generally well into their primary schooling. Thankfully, increased community awareness in recent years meant children are being referred at a much earlier stage. Nevertheless, today, many parents expressing concern over their childrens speech and language development are often advised to wait and see by other professionals and friends.

Over the years many people approached Linda and Catherine seeking guidance to mitigate or eliminate speech difficulties in their children or other family members. As a response, they ran a series of small hands-on workshops in 1992 for groups of parents and new babies. During this time they were continually asked if there was a text to accompany the workshops. They concluded that a book was likely to reach a far wider audience of parents and professionals, and this resulted in the first edition of Learning to Talk, Talking to Learn in 1994.

Feedback from this edition was positive: mainly that the book provided useful information for parents with children from birth to four years. However, there was little or no literature that supported childrens language development skills beyond the age of four years. Hence the aim of this new edition, Talk, Listen and Learn, is to provide guidance for children from birth through to ten years, including significant additional information on literacy and the use of technology.

The authors hope that their book will offer parents and professionals the knowledge and confidence to seek early guidance and support for children with speech, language and literacy problems. By doing so, many more children will secure the best available start in life.

Early speech and language development will stand your child in good stead for the rest of his life. The ideas in this book can help make the first few years of your childs life fun for both you and your child. You will see how important it is to talk to him, play with him, read with him and show him that you love him. Try to be enthusiastic! If you praise his early successes, he will be more likely to want to repeat activities and learn more.

We hope this book will help you discover the many natural talents you have as parents and carers, which you can use with your child every day. By combining these talents with the ideas provided in Talk, Listen and Learn, you can be confident of giving your child the kind of stimulation he needs to develop his language and learning abilities to full advantage.

For ease of reading and understanding, the word he has been used to refer to both male and female children. Speech pathologists are commonly known as therapists and will sometimes be referred to as such throughout this book.

Most of us take learning to talk for granted, yet all parents know the thrilland the wonderful sense of achievementwhen our children begin to talk to us.

Speech and language provides the foundation for developing academic and social skills. Language refers to all the different ways we communicate, including not only the way we talk but the way we listen, gesture, read and write.

To understand the world around them, children must have names for people, things and actions. They need to reason why and when things happen and even to manipulate people and events.

Studies of language development have shown beyond doubt that early development of speech is the one skill that will stand children in good stead for the rest of their lives; early sitting, walking or first teeth, on the other hand, do not have any relevance to later academic ability. While late talkers do not always have problems in the classroom, it is very rare for early skilled talkers to have learning difficulties.

As parents, most of us do things as a matter of course to help our children learn to talk. However, without an understanding of how language develops we can sometimes put obstacles in the way or not take advantage of certain situations.

The aim of this book is to give you the information, ideas, activities and skills required to boost your childs language and learning abilities. It is not aimed at creating a genius or turning you into a formal teacher, but at helping you make the most of your childs enormous potential.

Talk, Listen and Learn is for all parents and carers who want to help young childrenespecially in their first ten yearslearn to talk and talk better or earlier than they might otherwise. It will show you how to:

• teach your child to talk, in a relaxed and practical way;

• expand your childs speech and language skills by always keeping one step ahead;

• expand your childs vocabulary and general knowledge;

• encourage your child to want to learn;

• expand your childs learning potential;

• make communication easier;

• make communication more fun for your child and your family;

• enjoy your child more as he develops.

As speech pathologists we have worked for a number of years with children who have problems with speech and language development, including those:

• who are late in speaking;

• whose speech is unclear;

• who are dysfluent or who stutter;

• who have difficulty understanding what is said to them;

• who have problems with their grammar and vocabulary.

Drawing on our experience as speech pathologists and as parents, we will show you how you can use everyday situations and relaxed, happy playtime to help your child learn to talk. In doing this you can help prevent some speech and language problems, increase your childs learning potential and enjoy your child.

Communication skills are arguably the most important skills we can gain in life. The nature of our communication skills will affect our relationships, education, employment opportunitiesevery aspect of our lives.

Our views of people are often based on our first impressions of the way they look and speak. We have found that teachers often use a childs verbal skills as a measure of his abilities. Whether we like it or not, a child may be labelled slow or bright because of the way he talks.

Think about how you communicate. You need to listen, take turns, understand what is said to you, create your own ideas, and have the vocabulary and grammar to express yourself. Even the sequence of your sounds, words and ideas is important. Your child, too, needs to learn all this just to talk.

Following are some of the vital things children are learning to do as they develop into special little individuals. Youll see how talking plays an integral part in each of them.

We see many young children who are unable to ask for a drink or a toy. They resort to pointing, pulling and screaming to try to tell their parents what they want. The poor parent can only try to guess. Both parents and child end up feeling exhausted and frustrated. How much easier it would be if he could say Drink please.