Helping Children Find their Voices: A Guide for Parents and Early Years Practitioners (Words Together)

Designed to be used either independently or alongside the ‘Words Together’ storybooks, Helping Children Find Their Voices is a guide for parents and practitioners supporting children in the early stages of learning to talk, specifically to understand and use two-word sentences. Written in a friendly and reassuring tone, the book untangles questions and concerns that many parents and practitioners share around language development, such as whether children are reaching important milestones, whether they benefit from screen-time and dummies, and what to do if there might be a problem. Key features of this book include: • Chapters that can either be followed consecutively, offering tips on how to encourage first words and the combining of words into two-word sentences, or dipped in-and-out of according to the individual child’s level of development • Practical information and advice rooted in theory, giving parents and practitioners the confidence and background knowledge to support communication • Activities that can be integrated into everyday interactions, giving children the opportunity to hear simple sentence structures that they can progress towards in their own speech. Also available as part of a set, with four colourful picture books, this guide is an ideal resource for early years practitioners, parents, and those working with children who have delayed speech and language development. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Introduction Why talking? The ‘Words Together’ series A bit about me About you If you only read one section Your role... One What we need to know about talking Do we need to think about helping children to talk? What does talking involve? What is language? What is speech? What is communication? The importance of talking, for our children Building brain connections How do children learn to talk? Milestones guide Two Baby steps and first words – how can I help? Should I really be talking to a baby before they can talk back to me? Speaking other languages They’ll talk when they’re ready won’t they? ‘Parentese’ Helping children learn to talk Following the child’s interest Responding to attempts to communicate Choosing when to talk and when to be quiet Making conversation natural Sharing books together Getting their attention first Talking in short, simple sentences Repetition Avoiding correcting a child’s pronunciation or immature language Three The important two-word stage Pivot words Games you can play Tidying up Going to sleep Make your own slide Posting toys Bathtime Action words Asking for more The ‘Words Together’ series of books Four Other things to think about Hearing difficulties How do I know what they mean? What about dummies? Do children benefit from screen time? What toys do they need? Is baby-signing helpful? Can music and singing help too? Five What if things aren’t going to plan? Parenting and childcare is hard work I think there might be a problem Finding out more about the child’s development Stuttering / stammering / dysfluency Getting the right support Speech and language therapists Six Next steps Two words and beyond Speech sound development Getting ready for nursery and school Anything else I should know (parents) Anything else I should know (all early years practitioners) Don’t just take it from me – what do other people say? Further information Useful websites Information in books for parents and practitioners Acknowledgements My grateful thanks also go to Additional books in the ‘Words Together’ series Index "Designed to be used either independently or alongside the 'Words Together' storybooks, Helping Children Find Their Voices is a guide for parents and practitioners supporting children to understand and use two-word sentences. Written in a friendly and reassuring tone, the book untangles questions and concerns that many parents and practitioners share around language development. These include whether children are reaching important milestones, whether they benefit from screen-time and dummies, and what to do if there might be a problem. Key features of this book include: Chapters that can either be followed consecutively (offering tips on how to encourage first words and children's first attempts to combine words into two-word sentences), or dipped in-and-out of according to the individual child's level of development; Practical information and advice rooted in theory, giving parents and practitioners the confidence and background knowledge to support communication; Activities that can be integrated into everyday interactions, giving children the opportunity to hear simple sentence structures that they can progress towards in their own speech. Also available as part of a set, with four colourful picture books, this guide is an ideal resource for early years practitioners, parents, and those working with children at an early stage of speech and language development"-- Provided by publisher This set, comprised of a guidebook and four colourful picture books, has been designed for parents and practitioners supporting children to understand and use two-word sentences. This is an exciting resource for early years practitioners, parents, and those working with children who have delayed speech and language development. This is a guide for parents and practitioners supporting children to understand and use two-word sentences. Written in a friendly and reassuring tone, it untangles questions and concerns that many parents and practitioners share around language development. Illustrations and simple, repetitive text chronicle a toddler's different activities