General Tips
- Position yourself so your child can see your face, i.e. get down to or below his level.
- Gain your child’s attention and eye contact before talking to him.
- Use short, simple sentences related to the “here and now”.
- Use visual cues in addition to your spoken language, e.g. signs, gesture, pointing.
Understanding Single Words
Ask your child to point to the objects/pictures you say. Start with a small number to choose from and then increase the number. If your child does not know the answer, show him because he will only learn with many examples and repetitions. At first use the word plus gesture, then use just the word. Try making it into a game, e.g. shopping for items, etc.
Be sure to develop your child’s vocabulary for actions as well as names for objects. For actions:
- Say what you are doing while you and the child carry out the action
- Play games such as Simon Says
- Sing songs with actions, e.g. Wheels on the bus, Here we go round the mulberry bush
- Point out what people are doing in real life and in books.