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How to Support Your Child's Language Development
Language is a key to your child's ability to interact with you and with everyone else, and to communicate his or her wants and needs, and eventually, thoughts, hopes and dreams. It is also the key to learning, literacy and education. Research studies of infants and young children are showing that these youngsters learn more, learn earlier, and learn in novel and interesting ways we had not imagined or realized!
Early in life, the brain can readily learn new information but depends on having that information available-infants and young children need to hear language and have experiences. Learning begins in the very first months of life; this means that parents and caretakers are the first teachers, the ones who present the earliest learning experiences and opportunities for infants.
The activities that you do with your infant or young child to encourage his or her language development will also help your child learn about the world and will set the early foundations for social interactions and for learning to read. Each activity may benefit your child in many ways!
What to expect at various ages
It is important to remember that every child is an individual and that children learn and grow at different rates. However, there are some milestones that all children reach around the same age. There are things that you can do to help ensure that your child gets the attention and input he or she needs. These milestones occur in all languages although the games that parents play to get their babies to imitate them may vary in some languages and cultures.
During the First Year of Life
From One to Two Years of Age
From Two to Three Years of Age
From Three to Four Years of Age
From Four to Five Years of Age
Bilingual Language Development
Additional Resources
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