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Supporting language development in early childhood
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Almost 90 per cent of a child's brain development occurs before they turn five years old. As part of this development, their ability to understand, process and produce language flourishes in an extraordinary way.
At the age of three, a child has approximately 900 words in their vocabulary. By six, that has exploded to anywhere up to 14,000 words! This rapid development of language has consequences for future outcomes both socially and academically, playing a key role in how the child will grow and thrive.
Up to 90 per cent of children with language difficulties at the age of five have poor literary outcomes 10 years later, with a worrying proportion of Australian children at risk of falling behind in one or more developmental criteria – including language and cognitive skills.
Globally, Australia ranks 21st out of 45 developed countries for reading in Grade 4. So, what can be done to improve our children's language development and ensure they have the best possible opportunities in life?
Parents play a critical role
From birth, a child grows and develops every time they listen to people talking or test out their language through speech, reading or writing. With the vast majority of their early childhood spent with their parents, these early years are crucial as their literacy skills are formed and honed. As such, parents and caregivers play a hugely important role in supporting a child's early language development.
Children learn and develop best by listening and interacting with their primary caregiver, so encourage their learning with talking, reading and singing added to the daily routine. But remember to keep things fun!
Language development in babies
Here are some simple ideas to introduce early language skills to your baby:
- Everyday activities provide excellent opportunities to engage with your baby and talk about what you can see and hear around them. Explaining what you see and are doing helps them to learn new words.
- Share stories, whether they are reading books or picture books, making the telling of the stories fun and engaging.
- Allow your baby to see your face and mouth when you are speaking, getting down to their eye-level or lifting them up to yours.
- Teach them the patterns of conversation by pausing and allowing them an opportunity to communicate and respond. Then answer their sounds and actions with new words.
Language development in pre-schoolers
To extend these skills in toddlers and pre-schoolers:
- Encourage talking, playing and singing, which can take place anywhere and at any time.
- When you are engaged with your child, explain what you are doing and why, what you can see and what interests them. Keeping your child engaged and interested is essential!
- Reading, reading, reading! Whether at bedtime or during the day, reading stories with your child and explaining any words or sounds that they are unfamiliar with will not only develop their language and vocabulary, but will instil a love of books and encourage their imagination.
- When driving or out at the shops, point out any words or letters you may see. Talk about signs, posters, shop names or labels and show children instructions as you follow them together.
The role of the child care provider
As your child moves into child care, the importance of choosing a provider that can nurture and encourage their language development requirements is essential. Child care centres understand the need to support and extend the literacy of your child, with an increasing number now having specific programmes and curricular to meet each individual child's needs.
Centres are able to identify children with particular needs or difficulties and implement a programme to prevent these children from a widening gap of attainment later in life.
Your chosen child care provider should be providing ongoing support to their staff with training and development in the areas of speech, language and communication development. Please be sure to contact your centre if you have any concerns or questions about your child's language development.
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