Helping Parents Build Their Youngsters’ Vocabulary

Recently, my friend Tonia shared an impressive conversation she had with her 3-year-old daughter. Naya: Mommy, what are you doing? Tonia: Collapsing moving boxes. Naya: Collapsing? Ah yes, like an umbrella at the beach. Tonia: Yes, exactly. Just like an umbrella at the beach. Do you want to help? Naya: No, I’m busy. You have to make an appointment. I thought about the connection Naya made between collapsing moving boxes and an umbrella. Her parents clearly used “collapsing” while packing up at the beach and Naya retained the word. I wondered if Naya helped to collapse the umbrella, if Tonia explained what collapsing meant, how many times Naya had to hear the word before she could make this connection, and if Tonia used the word in other situations. Unsurprisingly, Naya didn’t want to help collapse the boxes because she was so busy. On the way to preschool each morning, Tonia and Naya talk about their upcoming day. Naya chats about playmates she can’t wait to see and activities she wants to do. Tonia fills in Naya on her plans and appointments. It makes sense if Naya gets swamped with taking her baby doll to the doctor, grocery shopping or making playdough creations, so Tonia needs to make an appointment if she wants Naya’s help collapsing boxes. How can parents help enrich their child’s vocabulary? Tonia’s style with her young daughter provides an excellent example of ways we might encourage our clients’ parents to help build their child’s vocabulary. Par...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Early Intervention Language Disorders Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs