Communication Development
Strategies to support your child's communication development within their everyday routines and play.
On the Blog...
Language Development Hack: How to Teach Colours
Children learn colours quicker and easier. Colour AFTER object. So instead of saying: The Red CarThe Brown DogThe Pink Cardigan Say:The Car is Red The Cardigan is Pink The Dog...
How to Support Communication Development with your Newborn
I know there’s some mums out there who don’t feel confident with what they’re doing with their little one to engage them and further them when they’re tiny. But all...
Be a Teacher, not at Tester
When our babies start communicating with us using words, signs or actions, we tend to get excited and want them to do it again and again. We can easily fall...
Functional First Words to Teach Your Baby
When Speech Therapists describe words as functional, they mean "useful words to get your point across and your needs met". We want all children to have a form of functional...
Can Turning off the Background Noise Support your Child's Language Development
I'm not the music police! I've done plenty a post about the benefits of music and nursery rhymes and signing and dancing with your kids! This post is about raising...
Did you know that Animal Sounds Count as First Words?!
Yep. They meet the criteria for first words. If your little one uses the same sound consistently and in the correct context (eg barks when they see a dog )...
How to Teach Your Child to Sign "again"
Did you know that you can teach your little one to communicate with you through temptations? Highly motivating play can make your little one so keen to keep the activity...
Support you Child's Communication Develop with this Easy Trick
This is such a great trick to have up your sleeve. Reading and cuddling is obviously fantastic for many reasons, but have you tried face to face? This position is...
How to Tempt your Baby to Communicate with You
You can start doing these with even tiny babies. Remember - communication isn’t just talking. These strategies will tempt your little one to make eye contact and vocalisations to tell...
How Action Songs Support Language Development
We love action songs! Action songs are great for development and can help your child to understand the meaning of the lyrics. The gestures show your little one that movement...
If your Baby isn't Talking Yet
You can help your little one to learn how to talk to you by making noises and having fun.You read that correctly.Way before talking develops (from birth, actually) your little...
Don't Miss the Teaching Opportunity
I hear SO MANY people missing the teaching opportunity by saying "good boy" or "good girl". If this is you - don't be offended! I can FEEL the excitement of parents...
How to Full up your Child's Language Bank
So I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…one of the most important things you can do to support your child language is to ask fewer questions and make...
The One-Hand Rule for Language Development
Every time you make a comment, you’re teaching your child something. Think of it as making a deposit into their language bank. Every time you ask a question, you’re testing...
How do you Know if your Child’s saying Mama or Dada to mean You?
The /m/ and the /d/ sound are some of the earliest to develop so it’s not uncommon for children to start babbling these sounds. And you can’t forgive parents for...
When to Sign 'Finished'
It’s SO GOOD when kids can sign to tell you’re they’re totally done with something. It can bypass so many meltdowns as they don’t need to cry to tell you...
How to Have a conversation with your Baby
Imitation is magic. Check out my ‘language’ and ‘temptations’ highlight for more tips on supporting your little one to start talking. This may just look like noise making, but it’s...
6 Skills Your Baby Needs Before They Can Imitate Words
Waiting for your baby to talk? This one’s for you. There’s a few things they need to be able to do before they’ll understand the power of imitating words. If...
Say and Sign Before You Do: Water
Being able to ask for a drink is so important - imagine being thirsty and unable to help yourself?! We're all fab parents so we tend to anticipate our little...
Supporting Behaviour: What to Say
This one's a powerful one. We know from research that praising a child when they're doing the right thing is the BEST way to support their behaviour. Every time you...
