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3
Build vocabulary
By naming what you see and keeping up
your one-sided conversation with your child,
you are giving them a great basis for speech
and communication. Now start to introduce
additional vocabulary and skills – for example,
colours, names and numbers. ‘Look at the red
fire engine’, ‘here’s your green cup’, ‘say hello to
Granny’ or counting her fingers and toes all help
to reinforce language.
4
Repeat and build
When your child does start to speak, repetition
is a key factor in how she will learn, so reply
when she speaks and add something to
describe it – ‘car’ becomes ‘yes, a blue car’. If she
mispronounces a word, repeat it correctly rather
than telling her she got it wrong.
5
Read to your child
One of the most wonderful ways to help your
child to develop speech, comprehension, and
vocabulary is to read to her. At this young
age, a story may not hold her attention, but
picture books where you can point out different
elements and talk about what’s happening
are ideal. As the book becomes more familiar,
pointing to something and asking ‘what’s this?’
or ‘where is the…?’ will start to elicit a response.
Babies can understand what you say and make
the connection between words and objects
long before they can articulate coherently. On
average, babies will have a few words by the first
birthday, and by fifteen to eighteen months they
may have added about twenty words to their
vocabulary. Get ready for lots of chatting!
Get ready for lots of chatting!
nurture from eumom.ie