Making A Difference in Language Development

When my first-born was just a teeny infant, I used to read a lot. Almost every book I read was related to parenting and child development. I also used to spend hours reading up on the Internet, giving more attention to research papers published by well-known gurus and experts.

Almost every article I read came to the same conclusion - although the age at which a child speaks her first word is not related to subsequent language development, a child's vocabulary at 3 years does predict vocabulary as an adult. 

Research shows that during the first 3 years, when brain growth is at its peak, parents can make a tremendous difference to their child's subsequent vocabulary and IQ.

Three factors count: the quantity of language spoken directly to the child (not just overheard), the quality of language the child hears (number of descriptive words, less common words, word explanations) and the parents' style of interacting with the child. 

I assume this is probably not a new piece of information for most parents. However, the tricky part, I think, is in the execution. 

Some people have asked me to describe our style of interacting with our kids. Besides being positive and encouraging, I think there is also a lot more that parents can say and do on a daily basis to instill confidence in a young child. 

For those parents at the Bright Minds Lapbooking classes, they get to watch for themselves how I interact with my child if they are in a class which my 2.5yo is in. Be it in the way I ask questions, encourage responses and the way I introduce the same activity, parents see it all. When I was met with resistence from my 2.5yo at times (which every parent will face whether at home or in class from time to time) to continue an activity, some parents told me they really appreciated that they get to see how I handled my challenges.

Though I do not think that my approach is the only approach, it is one that works for us. 

A parent told me last week that after attending the lapbooking class, she has picked up some tips and has since tried them at home. Ever since she changed the way she approached her son, he has demonstrated less frustrations during craft work at home and started to express more with words. :)  She is really happy with the change, and so am I.

Parenting is a long learning process. While I believe in my own instincts and good sense, I am also open to accepting ideas and suggestions from others' experiences. I am just glad that there are so many resources out there to assist us. I learnt a lot during my first child's early years and am still learning, always hoping to be a better parent. 

Edited to add: That photo was taken when M was a tot. Of course he wasn't really reading the magazine. We love the photo though and it never fails to make us laugh.