The ABC's of Language Development

Dr. Carla Hudson Kam, Caitlin Bittman, Estelle Paget, Elizabeth Wellburn

The ABC ’ s of Language Development

Dr. Carla Hudson Kam Caitlin Bittman Estelle Paget Elizabeth Wellburn

Copyright © 2021 UBC Language Sciences Institute

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The content of this book and other KidCareCanada resources is informed by current research and shared by experts in the field. It should not be used for diagnosing or treating, and is NOT a substitute for professional care.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: The ABC’s of language development : discover language with your child / Dr. Carla Hudson Kam, Caitlin Bittman, Estelle Paget, Elizabeth Wellburn.

Names: Hudson Kam, Carla, 1970- author. | Bittman, Caitlin, 1989- author. | Paget, Estelle, 1948- author. | Wellburn, Elizabeth, 1955- author. | UBC Language Sciences Institute, publisher.

Description: Includes index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200407457 | ISBN 978-0-88865-474-8 (EPUB) | ISBN 978-0-99593-424-5 (softcover) | ISBN 978-0-88865-475-5 (PDF)

Subjects: LCSH: Children—Language. | LCSH: Interpersonal communication in children. | LCSH: Child rearing. | LCSH: Parent and child.

Classification: LCC LB1139.L3 H83 2020 | DDC 372.6—dc23

Cover and text design: Sari Naworynski

Photos by Derry Lubell: pages 42, 110, 153, 162 (top left); Photos by Mauricio Drelichman and Paula Hokama: pages 12 (top right), 16 (bottom left), 51 (top right), 72 (top), 162 (bottom left), 176 (bottom), 244 (author photo of Dr. Carla Hudson Kam); Photos by Shea Long, Coastal Lifestyles Photography: pages 16 (lower right), 159; Photos by Alisa Kerr: cover photo, several photos opposite page 1, pages 16 (upper middle, middle right), 51 (upper left), 72 (lower right), 124 (upper right), 244 (author photo of Estelle Paget) Page 76, Odua Images/Shutterstock; Page 124, lower left, Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock; Page 140 top, Juan Ci/Shutterstock; Page 169, Mika Heittola/Shutterstock; Page 193, bottom row, second from left, lakshmiprasada S/Shutterstock; Page 193, third row, second from left, Kazzland Inc/Shutterstock

All illustrations by Zhanna Mendel/Shutterstock.com except page 209 by Sandy Storm/Shutterstock.com, page 217 by Tayka_ya/Shutterstock.com, and page 219 by Guz Anna/Shutterstock.com

Printed by Queen’s Printer Publishing,Victoria, BC, Canada

UBC Language Sciences: www.languagesciences.ubc.ca

Table of Contents

Foreword i

How to Use This Book

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v All Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Face-to-face 45 Gestures 55 Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Concluding Thoughts … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Appendix A: Culture and Norms in Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Appendix B: Milestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Appendix C: Sign Language Resources for Families 204

Appendix D: Sleep Resources 206

Appendix E: Speech Sound Development Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Appendix F: Stress Relievers for Kids (and Their Parents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Appendix G: Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

About the Authors 243

Foreword

It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to write a foreword for this magical book, The ABC’s of Language Development: Discover Language with Your Child.

As a Professor of Psychology at UBC, specializing in language acquisition, and an honorary board member of KidCareCanada – an organization Estelle Paget founded and led for over 10 years (the resources are now residing with Child Health BC), I was very impressed with the first book from Estelle’s group, ABC’s for New Parents. In my other role as one of the founders and Directors of the UBC Language Sciences, I suggested to Estelle that there was a great need for a second book, focused specifically on language development. I believe she was already thinking the same thing. In any event, Estelle ran with that idea, put together a team of four carefully selected experts, and has – in this book – created a resource that is exactly the kind I wish I had had when I was a young mother.

Language is arguably our most important human attribute. It is what allows us to share our experiences with another, learn about the past and imagine the future, and share our most intimate feelings. While language is based in our biology as humans, it is also one of our most profound markers of culture. Language allows us to simultaneously be “citizens of the world” while also accruing the strength and identity that come from being a member of a particular language community. The multiple languages used in Canada, and the multiple cultures they reflect, are among the characteristics that make us so strong as a society. Writing is not part of our evolutionary endowment, and the invention of writing systems – tens of thousands of years after spoken language emerged – has enabled us to have a permanent record of our past and of our achievements. While acquiring a spoken or signed language happens naturally in interactions with caregivers, there are – as noted below – important steps that can be taken to ensure it is acquired fully and productively. Acquisition of these natural languages in turn supports learning to read, an essential skill that requires specific instruction for most individuals.

Based on the latest science, this wonderfully accessible book provides both cutting edge research findings and “how to” tips – practical strategies for parents, educators, and the general public. Language development is discussed from its initial foundations in infancy through the multiple stages and milestones children achieve, showing the link between language acquisition and later literacy (often called a “pre-literacy” approach). Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, language development is situated exactly where it belongs –

KANGAROO

in the emotionally supportive everyday interactions infants and children have with their caregivers. It is these foundations that provide the initial entry into language, while simultaneously supporting the child’s growing sense of self efficacy and of engagement with others, both critical not only to becoming a member of their language community, but to having the self-confidence to achieve their full potential more broadly. The interweaving of the latest science on language acquisition with practical strategies and pre-literacy, together with the focus on social-emotional development, set this resource apart from all others I have seen.

One of the aspects of this work I find most appealing is the way it can be used. The idea of sitting down to read a book on language development from cover to cover is daunting at the best of times, and unlikely to be an activity a busy parent can complete. Instead, The ABC’s of Language Development: Discover Language with Your Child is designed to be used over time. A busy parent or educator can open the book to any letter of the alphabet and delve into that topic alone. Or, if just wanting “how to” tips that day, the reader can skip around – selecting topics that are most relevant to their issues at hand and focus on the “What You Can Do” practical strategies. Alternatively, one can focus on the “What the Science Tells Us” sections, because the science IS accurate and it IS up to date. This “buffet” of possibilities allows each reader to interact with and learn from the book in a way that is most beneficial (and most delicious) to them.

An additional characteristic of this book that I find so valuable is how realistic it is in recognizing the difference between what might be ideal and what is reasonably possible. For example, the authors understand and acknowledge that while ‘turn-taking’ and contingent responsiveness encourage communicative

development, no parent can engage in communicatively responsive interactions with an infant every minute of the day. Similarly, while face-to-face interaction better supports language acquisition than does screen time, most families will allow their children to interact with screens. So, the book shares the latest research on how screen time can be most effectively used. As another example, while reading to children from an early age is important, this doesn’t guarantee every child will easily crack the code of reading later on. These are not mistakes in parenting. They are part of the fabric of development. The ABC’s of Language Development: Discover Language with Your Child shares the science and provides suggested activities, but it is not proscriptive or judgmental. Instead, it helps parents and educators negotiate what kinds of compromises to make and when, and how to still be confident they are doing a good job.

In summary, as a developmental psychologist who has spent her entire career adding to the science of language development, I am thrilled to see a resource as informative, accessible, and timely as this. The world around us is changing so rapidly it is sometimes difficult to know or even begin to judge what is best for infants and young children. The science and tips shared in The ABC’s of Language Development: Discover Language with Your Child provide the essential tools to allow successful navigation of that challenge.

dr . janet werker

IBIS

How to Use This Book

This book is for ALL caregivers who help to raise young children. You may be a parent, a relative, a member of the community or a health or educational professional. If you interact with a child, this book is for you. You will notice that it uses the shorthand “parent” to refer to any adult who plays an important role in a child’s life.

In The ABC’s of Language Development: Discover Language with Your Child you will find trustworthy information and practical strategies you can use to support the communication and language development of all children.

This book is different from other language books. It is not designed to be read in one sitting. Please note:

# There is no “wrong” way to use this book!

# You can:

• Choose an ABC topic, focus on it for a few days, try out the examples and create your own, based on what works for you, and then observe any changes

• Use the photos, the captions you see on them, and any of the images to “read” this book with your child

# Re-visit this book over the years.  It will be valuable for many years as your child grows and develops

# Aim to be present with your child when you can.  No one can respond to their child ALL of the time and fortunately, your child does not need you to do that.  As you will see in “P,” the important thing is to be present, not perfect.

Each ABC topic is divided into two sections:

“What the Science Tells Us” provides an overview of current research related to that ABC topic, usually from four perspectives: # Language Acquisition

If you are a health professional or an educator you may find these science sections especially helpful.

“What You Can Do” provides many practical and easy-to-follow strategies to try out. These are based on the same four disciplines:

These practical strategies are often recommended and used by speechlanguage pathologists. You can use this section “as is” or as a launch-pad for your own creative strategies.

Since every child develops in their own unique way, the information is presented according to communication stages instead of ages. The stages of communication generally align with the ages, but not always.

The descriptions below are designed to help you recognize your child’s current communication stage. Each stage is identified by an icon. Throughout the book you will see matching icons in the suggestions provided. These can guide you as you discover language with your child.

Whether or not your child’s communication is intentional, it is an opportunity for you to respond to them. In this way you are helping your child to become an intentional communicator.

Stages of Communication

1. Pre-intentional, reflexes, sounds, vocalizations 

The “pre-intentional” communication stage includes children who are communicating to get their needs met. However, they are not intentionally directing their messages to another person. Their “messages” can include reflexes and natural reactions such as:

# Infants who cry when they are hungry or upset

# A child who reaches for something you are holding but does not also look at you

# A child who holds their toy and cries because they can’t get it to work

Although your child’s actions send a message, that message is not directed “intentionally” to a specific person.

2. Intentional, gestures, no words 

When a child begins using sounds or gestures that are directed to a person for a specific reason, they have started to communicate “intentionally.” This may include:

# Making a noise and then waiting to see if you have noticed

# Reaching up and looking at you to ask to be picked up

# Handing you a toy to ask for help because they cannot get it to work

In order to get their needs met, your child is directing their communication to you, another person. When you respond to these attempts at communication, your child is learning that they can intentionally direct their communication to another person.

3. Intentional, one word 

After children become practised at using gestures and sounds to communicate, they start to use single words. For a language scientist, a word is any sound or gesture your child consistently uses to refer to the same thing, even if it does not sound or look the way you say it. Their word may label something or make a request. For example, if your child:

# Says da they may mean they see a dog

# Consistently says uh as they look at you, and reach to be picked up, they are likely saying up and likely mean, Pick me up now

# Says ma when gesturing towards milk, they likely mean, Give me milk

Toward the end of the one-word stage, children begin successive single-word utterances. They use two words that are related but often in an incorrect order, so they are not a true phrase. (see Vocabulary, and Glossary)

4. Intentional, two + words to say a phrase 

This communication stage begins when children start to combine words to communicate. For example, your child might say:

# Mo nana to ask for more banana

# Daddy go when they see their father leave the room

# Big tuck to show you a big truck that just drove by

Your child will usually start combining two words when they have about 50 words in their vocabulary, and they will communicate for more reasons. This is a very exciting time!

5. Sentence-users, from simple to complex 

When your child has opportunities to communicate every day with responsive caregivers, and practise communicating, you can expect that their vocabulary will grow and they will begin to use sentences. Their early sentences will be short and simple, such as:

# Look, mama

# Puppy go bye-bye!

# I want more milk

As they progress, they will start to use sentences to take turns in conversations (see Turn-taking). Eventually, they will use more complex sentences to talk about a variety of topics.

6. Atypical

Sometimes language and communication skills don’t develop as expected, and your child may need additional support. They may have an identified communication delay, a developmental delay, or another condition that impacts their rate of learning. Your child may still move through the stages of communication but perhaps at a different rate. Whatever their rate of learning, the information and practical strategies in this book are for you and your child.

There is a companion document to this book, titled, My Child Needs Extra Communication Support. It provides additional information – about the role of speech-language pathologists and language delays as well as strategies (that can also be found in this book) for you to use with your child.

How to Use the Stages of Communication

The “stages of communication” described here will help you identify your child’s communication stage. Throughout the book you will find strategies for each stage, identified by icons that refer to the communication stage.

The strategies in this book are relevant for ALL children as they show ways to:

# Engage with your child

# Encourage all communication attempts

# Elaborate, or build on your child’s communication attempts at every stage

In general, speak in ways that enable your child to hear your sounds and intonation. As your child begins to communicate with words, shorten your comments and emphasize key words. At every stage, use “conversations” to connect with your child.

If your child is identified as having a communication delay, reach out to your speech-language pathologist (SLP) who will provide support specific to your child’s needs (see When and How to Seek Help and My Child Needs Extra Communication Support).

Near the end of this book you will find a Glossary of technical terms, Appendices with additional resources, an Index and some brief information about each of the four authors.

IMPALA

All Kids

What the Science Tells Us

All kids are special. All kids have potential. All kids are unique. All kids deserve love and attention. All kids need a responsive caregiver.

The path a child takes to development will be different for each child. Our role as parents and caregivers is to discover who our child is and then do our best to support them so they can reach their full potential. We do this by being responsive to our child from the moment they are born.

Infants quickly discover the power of communication when we respond to their cries, noises, smiles and movements. They learn that their actions and sounds bring about a response in others, “When I cry, my mother comes to feed me. When I smile, my father smiles back at me.” Our child doesn’t start life knowing how their actions and sounds can be used to get their needs met. They learn this as we grow into our role as a parent and figure out how to interpret and respond to their cries, noises, smiles and movements.

For our child, communication development may mean talking, signing, or using an assistive communication device.

Talking and signing are hard! There’s so much to coordinate. Ideas have to be mapped onto the right words, then the words have be planned and produced, multiple words have to be coordinated with each other – it’s a lot for a little brain, mouth or hands to handle.

These skills are relevant to children learning a single language or more than one, to children learning spoken as well as sign languages (see Sign Language), and many are also relevant to children using assistive communication devices.

There are barriers that can prevent even the most well-intentioned parent from meeting the needs of their child. One of these is underestimating the negative impact of electronics.

There is growing hard evidence that screen time can damage parent/child relationships and the developing brain.

Both the Canadian and American Pediatric Societies recommend that infants have no screen time and young children very little. This is an ideal to strive for. Background noise from TV and images on a screen can be confusing and harm our infant’s language development. Researchers urge that programs be developmentally appropriate (see Appendix G).

Before we became a parent some of us may have developed the habit of spending long periods of time focused on a screen. Now we need to learn to turn off the electronics and focus on our child (see Face-to-face).

When we support our child in language learning, we are also contributing to their social and emotional development and preparing them for

literacy. Communications between our child and us help build a strong, stable, and healthy attachment. This connection is foundational for our child’s social, emotional and physical health in childhood, and beyond. Later in life

it assists our child in establishing and maintaining fulfilling relationships.

Whatever the communication needs of our child, fostering their development is one of the best things we can do.

What You Can Do

Your child doesn’t need you to be a language specialist. You are already the specialist in your child!

Most children develop good communication skills if they have a responsive caregiver.

What do responsive caregivers do?

Being responsive means you:

# “Tune in” and pay attention to your child, their needs, interests, and how they try to communicate these things

# Name the feelings your infant or child seems to be experiencing, or the needs they cannot yet express

• “I can see you are upset/sad/frustrated/angry/tired, hungry”

# Are generally quick to respond to what your child has communicated

Because you are attentive, you may be able to recognize early if your child needs extra support. Research shows that early support can change a child’s life.

When your child is crying or seems distressed: 

# You can use gentle words, a sing-song voice and touch to comfort your child and let them know you are trying to figure out why they are unhappy

• “You seem tired.  Let’s put you down for your nap”

• “You’re tired.  It’s time for a nap”

If your child is not yet speaking or using gestures and is looking at something: 

# You can notice where they are looking, and then point and label what they see using simple sentences and highlighting key words

• “Oh, I see you are looking at the light”

• “Dog! Yes, that’s a dog! He says, ‘woof woof’!”

If your child is not yet speaking but is using gestures and sounds, or if they are speaking but are still quite difficult to understand: 

# You can guess what they are trying to say, or use words to label what they are pointing out or showing you.  Even if you are wrong, your child may:

• Appreciate the fact that you are trying

• Patiently put up with your multiple guesses or…

• Be so frustrated they have a “meltdown” (temper tantrum)

If your child is in the single word, phrase or the sentence stage: 

# You can respond to what they are trying to tell you and build on it

• Child: “Dog!”

• Parent: “Yes, that is a dog, and he is wagging his tail.”  (see Match +1)

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

“All kids need a responsive caregiver.

• (Child signs for “more”)

• Parent: “More! More banana!”

Being responsive often involves some guesswork, and that’s okay! A newborn will keep crying if you offer a feed and that is not what they wanted. At any stage your child will let you know if you did not “get it” on the first try.

When your child is learning words or is not yet easily understood they will usually try again if it is clear you did not get their message. You can say, modeling respectful language: # “I’m sorry.  I didn’t understand.  Can you please say that again?” 

Sometimes a child can be tired or frustrated by repeated requests to “say it again.” If this happens, help your child communicate the same message in a different way.

It may be hard for your child to think of new ways to communicate the same idea and find it helpful if you: 

# Ask them to “show me.”  They could use actions, gestures or sounds (think charades!)

# Ask them to “go get it” or “let’s go find it together”

# Offer up possible choices or guesses

Trying to help your child communicate their message shows them that you care and think their ideas are important.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

At any stage this can still end in a temper tantrum: 

# Be kind and patient

# Look for the thoughts and feelings underneath (think of the behaviour you see as the tip of an iceberg)

When the tantrum is over:

# Hold your child close and comfort them, the same way you do when they have hurt themself

What is important, at every stage, is that you try to understand your child, so that they recognize their communication attempts are worthwhile.

Electronics

Electronics can prevent you from being the responsive caregiver you want to be. They easily capture your attention or make you slow to respond. It is easy to miss the big and little ways your child communicates with you if you are looking into a screen instead of their face. If you do this often, it can have serious consequences for your child’s language and other development.

# Put your device away and use it when your child is sleeping

# Avoid having the TV on in the background all day

# Shield your infant from screen time, as much as possible

# With your toddler ensure screen time is short and developmentally suitable.  Try to watch with them and talk about it together

# Ensure your older child’s leisure screen time fits their age and stage.  When possible, watch or play with them.  Use their interests as conversation starters.  Keep TVs and other devices out of their bedroom at night-time

# As soon as your child is aware of the Internet, teach them how to stay safe online

There are a few situations where technology can be helpful.

It can:

# Allow your child to connect with a loved-one who is not physically available

• Keep in mind infants and young children have short attention spans.  Help the person in your video chat understand that the conversation will likely be short

# Provide your child with extra resources in your home language or heritage language if that language is not used in the wider community

• Your child can gain more varied input in your heritage language

# Be an important source of additional input for deaf children in hearing families who are learning a sign language

• It can help your child learn specialized new vocabulary

• In this situation signed videos can be like books for your child

From birth it is important to give children your attention and look into their eyes. Your gaze contributes to their healthy brain development.

At all stages of development your child needs your attention. They benefit when you are able to respond promptly. No parent can do this all of the time, but when you do:

Your child needs a strong bond with at least one responsive and loving adult. This will support their mental health and well-being as they grow.

DID YOU KNOW?

Children are communicating long before they start using words. When babies cry they are letting us know that they need something. They can communicate their wants and needs in subtle ways, such as by looking at the things they want or are interested in. When we are responsive to ALL the ways our child can communicate, we are helping to support optimal language development. Many parents will have this experience – their baby cries but then stops when a parent enters the room.

The child is starting to make the connection between their actions and the adult’s response.

# It helps your child develop communication skills

# It shows your child how important they are to you and builds the bond between you

ARMADILLO

Books

What the Science Tells Us

Books are a terrific way to expose children to language. It is never too early for us to introduce our baby to books. Books with words (not just pictures) are helpful for introducing new words. Recent research shows that a child’s vocabulary at age three strongly suggests what their reading comprehension will be when they are nine or ten years of age.

Story books often have language that is different from the everyday ways we talk. They include more sophisticated vocabulary, complex sentences and language our child will need in the classroom. In addition, books expand and enrich our child’s world by connecting them to imaginary worlds and the real world beyond their experience. Books also enable our child to connect language to their real-life experiences.

If we read a book about a visit to the doctor, for instance, we can stop and talk about a similar thing we have done, and make connections between what’s in the book and our life. These types of conversations between an adult and a child have a powerful impact on the child’s brain development, and the more “ conversation turns” a child has, the more they learn. Wordless books are another great resource. We can point to the pictures and ask our child to tell a story about them. That way, we are encouraging them to try using their developing language skills to talk about something new.

Reading together sets the stage for our child’s own emerging literacy skills.

We can do so much with books, and they can do so much for our child!

Some children aren’t interested in books at first, while others love them from the start. No matter where our child is, they can learn to love books.

As parents, our job is to help foster a love of books, and here is why:

Extensive research indicates that our child can learn …

# New words (vocabulary) and new ideas # How to put together sentences # How to listen to stories # How to tell a story (using the narrative structure of a beginning, middle and end) # How actions lead to different consequences # How other people think and feel # How people respond in different situations # How to talk about feelings # How to use their imaginations # How to solve problems # How to be a good friend # How to tell the difference between right and wrong # How to speak beyond the here-and-now

Not all books are “created equal.” This goes for traditional print books as well as e-books. Ideally, a book engages our child and turns their mind “on.”

The content of a good children’s book is relevant for them and it encourages meaningful interaction between us.

We can use a book in many ways and these will change as our child grows and develops. At some stages or some times of the day, our child may only enjoy books while they are moving about and doing something else. At other times they may want to sit and cuddle.

Many families are now using e-books and finding them portable and convenient. Recent research shows that welldesigned e-books can enrich our child in similar ways to print books and sometimes offer more opportunities for learning and engagement.

The research also cautions that e-book features can detract from learning and warm interactions. We may feel our child is engaged with learning because they are swiping pages or pressing buttons. However, being digitally engaged is not the same thing as mind-on engagement. If our conversation focuses more on using the device than on the content of the book, our child’s deep learning is diminished.

At every stage, books are a tool or a starting point for engaging in conversation with our child. These conversations enable us to learn more about who our child is, and enable them to learn more about what is important to us.

Books also give us an opportunity to build our special relationship with our child when they sit on our lap or snuggle up to us. Reading this way can

give us a “twenty-minute holiday” from the busy-ness of our lives and have a calming effect on our child and us.

What You Can Do

There is no “right way” to read books. The way you read them with your child changes according to your child’s interests, their stage of development and sometimes, how you are feeling that day!

The important thing is spending time with your child, often snuggled up, entering new worlds of imagination and possibility as you read, share stories and above all, engage in conversations together. When you spend this special time with your child you are strengthening your connection with them and this can help them develop a long-lasting love of books.

When reading with your child:

# If they just want to talk about the tiger on the page, do that 

# If a book reminds them of a visit to Grandma and that leads to a conversation about the visit that is great 

# If you are really tired and only want to read the words on the page that day, that’s good too.  Just be prepared to have your child “correct” you if you skip over a word or some pages 

From the very start of life you can read books to your baby and continue to do this as they grow.

With very young children, you need to do the talking. 

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

You can:

# Point at pictures and name what is in the picture, and then relate it to your child’s experience

• “See the baby! Can you see the baby’s nose? This is your nose”

• “Nose! That’s the baby’s nose.  This is your nose”

Your child will let you know when they have had enough. At every age and stage they will let you know what they want. Simply watch for their gestures, words and cues and let them take the lead.

The way you use books changes as your child changes and can change from day to day. You can usually figure out what kind of experience your child is interested in on any particular day, and then read the book to meet their needs.

Below are some additional ideas about ways you can use books with your child in all stages of communication: 

# Let your child “catch” you reading a book, a magazine, or the newspaper! Your child notices what you do.  When they see you enjoying books or magazines, you are modeling that reading is fun or that you are reading for information.  Seeing you read will help your child value reading as well

• Things are a little more complicated if you use an electronic device to read books.  Explain this to your child and show them what your book looks like on your device

# You may want to use e-books with your child.  After all, they are portable and convenient.  A well-designed e-book will encourage interaction with you and

Intentional (gestures)

Intentional (2+ words)

help your child learn.  Make sure to focus your conversation with your child on the content of the book, not on how to use the device

# Make it easy for your child to safely access their books.  The easier the access the more likely your child will want to look at their books and choose one for you to read with them

# From the beginning of life and for many years, include books with rhymes.  Children love hearing rhymes, and as it turns out, rhymes help children learn (see Repetition)

# Look through a book and talk about the pictures.  If your child is not yet using sounds or signs, follow your child’s gaze or gestures to see what they are interested in

# Connect the pictures to your child’s feelings.  If someone in a book is laughing, talk about times when your child laughs.  If someone is crying, ask if they sometimes cry and gently encourage them to talk about the times they cry. Books can make it safe for children to talk about their own feelings

# Books can also help your child learn about others’ feelings and emotions.  You can talk about and mimic facial expressions you see in a picture book.  A fun way to do this is with a mirror.  You and your child can mimic the expressions from the book as you watch yourselves in the mirror

# Books can be a part of bedtime routine (see ZZZ’s)

# Connect the pictures to personal experiences.  You may see a picture of a cat and have a conversation with your child about a cat they know.  You can talk about the sound a cat makes and have fun “meowing” with your child

# Introduce new ideas and new words.  You may be looking at a book about a

different country or culture or about a train or plane when your child has not yet experienced these

# Give your child opportunities to tell you the story of a book they like.  Ask them about the beginning, the middle and the end

# Some children want their parents to read every word in the book.  These children sometimes memorize pages or even the whole book.  Parents too!

# Other children only want to talk about the pictures.  When you follow your child’s lead they are more likely to stay interested.  There is no need to worry when children do not yet want to listen to the words

# At some stages or times of the day, your child may only enjoy books while they are moving about and doing something else.  At other times they may want to cuddle

# You and your child can pretend to be characters in the book you are reading.  You can use a blanket to make a tent if a character is in a cave or go outside and pretend to climb like a bear in the story

# If your child is constantly on the move and likes to use their large muscles as much as possible (a gross motor child) choose books with actions and songs.  Copy the actions in the book to encourage imitation.  This is helpful for learning in general and for all children.  Add funny sound effects to keep your child interested

# Books also help your child with their fine-motor skills when they turn pages or open flaps. E-book features can also help with fine-motor skills

# Children around the world love repetition including:

• The repetition that can be found in certain stories

• The repetition of having their parents read them the same book, over and over.  You may long for a different book but children crave predictability because they find it comforting to know what comes next AND they somehow know that they need repetition (see Repetition) to learn new words.  Take heart, on another day your child will want a new story

DID YOU KNOW?

Lots of people think that books are just about reading the words on the page but especially with children, books are a GREAT way to interact and engage in conversation. You can point to and talk about the pictures before children are using words. Once they can talk you can ask about the story or about what they think will happen next. You can ask if they have ever experienced this.

BEAR

Conversation

What the Science Tells Us

When we think about our child’s language learning, we often think about words and sentences, but they are learning so many other things too. An important one is conversation.

Conversation is an aspect of language that takes a very long time to learn, and it is worth the effort. Being a good conversational partner can make social interactions easier.

It is never too early to introduce our child to the art of conversation, whether we are communicating through words or signs. From birth onward we can model serve and return. We can observe something our baby is doing (that is the serve) and then describe the serve or respond to it (that is the return).

Treating our child with respect as a conversational partner shows our child that they are important to us. We do this when we:

# Pay attention to them

# Listen when they talk

# Give them enough time to formulate their response to questions (children need more time to start a “conversation turn” than adults do)

During conversations with our child we both learn. They learn about us and what is important to us, our interests and our values, and we learn about them and what is important to them.

CAMEL

“

Conversations are back-and-forth turn-taking that change children’s lives.

In addition, we are modelling good conversational behaviour that our child will be able to use with others.

Each culture has its own norms around what is considered to be good or polite conversation. When we talk with our child we are helping them learn about this too. For example, they are learning how to:

# Start a conversation

# Continue or change a topic

# Notice that someone has not understood us and that we need to explain again

# Let someone know we want the next turn

Children are picking up on all of these cues in our conversations with them, but sometimes they need extra help learning some things.

When our child is old enough to understand, we can gently explain to them how to be a good conversation partner and why it is not polite to interrupt whenever they want to talk.

Recent research shows that there is a significant relationship between the number of early “conversational turns” a child has and their later language skills.

Conversations with responsive caregivers are also the perfect place to hear and practise using language. It is a time when we can notice our child’s use of language and their development.

We may observe that one day our child can pronounce a sound or a word well, yet cannot do it a few days later. This is a natural part of language learning and often happens when our child is moving to a new stage of

language development, for example when they are starting to say two words together (two-word utterances).

We may also notice and wonder why our child is able to pronounce newer words better than old ones. This might be because our child has said the old one incorrectly for a long time. Then again, they may have more difficulty pronouncing a new word than an old one because they have not yet had enough practice saying it. In other words language development is not always a smooth progression (see Appendix E Speech Sound Development).

One area that can cause us concern is stuttering or dysfluencies. Many children go through a stage where they repeat sounds, words or phrases such as, “b-but I want…,” “But – But I want …,” or “But I But I want.” Most typically, this is just a sign of their growing vocabulary and enthusiasm to get their words out. The best thing we can do is not draw attention to this and patiently wait for our child to finish what they have to say. However, if our child does three to four repetitions on average or if we notice that their dysfluencies are getting worse, and last over 6 months, it is good to involve a speech-language pathologist.

There are two other dysfluencies where an SLP can help. One situation is if we notice that our child does prolongations or stretches out sounds, such as “I played in the ssssssssand” or “Wwwwwwwwhere are we going, Mama?” Another is if our child “blocks” or has stoppages that look like they are trying to push out a word. They may say, “I want the PACKAGE.” The word comes out as an explosion and we can tell by their facial expression that they are making an effort to get the word out. Speech-language pathologists know how to help our child in both of these instances.

Fluency disorders caught early can be supported, but letting them get worse can have a serious social-emotional impact for our child. (see When and How to Seek Help and Appendix E Speech Sound Development).

It is hard to exaggerate the value of engaging in conversations with our child.

In a natural way, they learn:

# That they are important to us

# How to be a conversational partner in our culture

# The vocabulary and grammar used in our community

In a natural way, we learn:

# More about who our child is and their interests

# To see the world through their eyes

# How they are progressing with language and other development

Conversations give our child a safe environment in which to practise what they have learned. When we help our child feel safe, and unafraid of making mistakes, they can learn and thrive.

DID YOU KNOW?

The amount of language children hear and USE in conversations is directly linked to their ability to manage their emotions and to their communication skills later in life. Daily conversations with your child give them opportunities to practise using their words and sentences. This develops their skills as a conversation partner.

What You Can Do

You can have conversations with your child anytime and anywhere, from the time they are born, and at any stage of communication.

Conversations are just back-and-forth turn-taking, often called serve and return, where your child often takes the lead.

With a pre-intentional child you can respond to something they do that might not even be “communication.” 

# Your baby might:

• Cry, burp or gurgle

# You respond with:

• A smile, a comment or by comforting them

# Later, their “turn” or “serve” may be:

• A smile, coo, wave of the arms, or kick of the legs

# You respond or “return the serve” with:

• Smiles, touch and words, signs, using a sing-song voice as described in infant-directed speech. (see  Infant-directed Speech and Sign Language)

In all of these situations, remember to leave a space for your child to have their turn again. You may need to wait longer than you expect for them to respond (their response might be a sound or an action).

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

CHICKEN

When your child is using gestures, such as pointing: 

# Their gesture is the “serve” in the conversation

# You “return” the serve by:

• Naming what you think is the meaning behind their gesture, and then adding on (see Match + 1)

• “It’s a bird.  The bird is flying”

• “You’re looking at the bird? (Pause and follow your child’s gaze).That bird is flying.  I wonder if it’s going to sit on a branch? No, it flew away!”

When your child walks up to you, reaching to be picked up: 

# That is a “serve” or turn

# You can respond by saying:

• “Up! You want up! Up in Daddy’s arms!”

The repetition of key words helps your child link words to their gestures.

When your child is starting to use phrases or early sentences, such as “man on bicycle,” you can: 

# Recast the sentence back to them.  Naturally model the “correct” way to say it, and then add a new idea to the conversation to keep the conversation going

# You can say to your child, “Yes, the man is on a bicycle.” And then add on:

• Parent: I wonder where that man is going (pause)

• Child: “store”

• Parent: Do you think he is going shopping? (pause)

• Child: nods head “yes”

• Parent: He has a back-pack (pause)

• Child: “me back-pack”

• Parent: Yes, you do have a back-pack.  Do you remember when we put crackers in your back-pack? (pause)

• Child: nods, “yes”

• Parent: Maybe he is going to the store to buy crackers, and he will ride home with the crackers in his back-pack?” (pause)

• Child: “me want crackers”

The longer the conversation, the more opportunities your child has to practise and learn. When you pause, as in the above example, you are giving your child their turn. This is a wonderful gift. The research is clear, many “conversation turns” early in life help develop language skills that can last a lifetime.

Sometimes it is fun to be silly with language and laugh with your child (not at them, unless you are sure they are trying to be funny).

You can: 

# Add actions and words to your child’s movements, gestures, words, phrases or short sentences, using many different words.  While it is helpful for children to learn about colours, shapes and numbers, there are so many other words you can use to enrich your child’s vocabulary

# Your child may say (of their toy monkey with a pretend cup of tea):

• “Mun-ee turty (monkey is thirsty)”

# You can respond, making slurping noises:

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• “Your monkey is thirsty! Look how much it’s drinking! Uh-oh your monkey spilled the tea.  What a mess! (laughter)”  Take a towel and pretend to dry the pretend wet monkey (more laughter)

You are having fun with your child and with language, and teaching them about imaginary play. You will likely notice that from time to time your child will say something that is different from the way you naturally speak: 

# “He brung it”

Instead of: # “He brought it” Don’t worry about “correcting” them, just keep the conversation going. You can recast their sentence and model the way you speak in your “turn” by saying something like: # “That’s right! He brought it for you”

Another thing you may observe is that your child sometimes stutters. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) may refer to this as dysfluencies. Many children go through a stage where they repeat sounds, words or phrases such as:

• B-but I want…

• But – But I want …

• But I But I want …

• But I want um I want …

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Imaginary play allows

“

your child to practise language and social skills.

DID YOU KNOW?

When children are learning language they make good errors that show they understand the structure of the language they hear and that is typically used in their community.

Most typically, this is just a sign of their expanding vocabulary and enthusiasm to get their words out, and they will grow out of it. The best thing you can do is:

# Not draw attention to this, or allow any other family members to do so

# Patiently wait for your child to finish what they have to say However, you may want to seek out an SLP if your child:

# Repeats sounds, words, or phrases more than 3-4 times on average, and does this for over six months

# Does prolongations or stretches out sounds, such as:

• “I played in the ssssssssand” or “Wwwwwwwwhere are we going, Mama?”

# Blocks or has stoppages that look like they are trying to push out a word

• “I’m going to the …  BEACH” (word comes out as an explosion. Facial expression and/or body show extra effort to get the word out)

If you notice that your child’s stuttering or dysfluencies get worse, this is a good time to have SLP involvement. Fluency disorders caught early can be supported.

If you notice that your child is regressing, that is they have lost the ability to use words, request a referral right away (see When and How to Seek Help).

As your child’s language develops, their “turns” will become smoother and more interesting. Listen carefully to what they are saying. It will give you a window into who they are and how they understand the world.

When you listen you:

# Help build the strong relationship between you and your child

# Create a pattern of communicating with your child that:

• Supports their language development

• Hopefully, will continue throughout their childhood and teenage years (when they are possibly less enthusiastic about serve and return with you!)

Each day presents many magical face-to-face opportunities for serve-andreturn turn-taking (see Face-to-face and Turn-taking). These opportunities are the language building blocks that will help your child have conversations with others as they grow and become adults.

Delay

What the Science Tells Us

Anyone who has observed more than one child in a family already knows that every child is unique. No two kids develop in the same way, not even identical twins! Every child learns and develops a little differently, and all children have different strengths and challenges.

Many things contribute to who our child is. It really is “Nature and Nurture.” Our child inherits their genetic make-up but this does not fully determine who they are, or will become, as their life experiences influence which genes are expressed and how their brain and body develop. Every time our child learns or does something new it affects their brain. Every relationship they have is unique.

Nurture is a significant contributing factor and the one we have the most control over. Our job as parents and caregivers is to help our children reach their maximum potential. This means supporting our child to the best of our ability as they develop. It also means paying attention to how they are developing, and noticing if they might need a little extra help.

Not a lot is known about the reasons some children have delays in language development. Fortunately, a lot is known about ways to provide support. Milestones of typical language development are useful. Language milestones are the general ages at which language experts expect to see certain skills

emerge. Children tend to develop and meet milestones in a predictable pattern. When children are meeting milestones in the expected order but “behind schedule,” experts call this a delay (see Appendix B Milestones).

It can be valuable to know if a child is experiencing some language learning difficulties or has a delay as interventions and treatments can often help.

Some children will learn everything “on time” or earlier than expected, while others may learn skills a little later than other children. Just because a child is a little “late” does not necessarily mean they have a true delay. A true delay will require the input of a professional. However, research shows that when parents are concerned, they are usually right.

We know our child best and if we have doubts about whether our child is meeting their communication milestones, it’s best to seek the opinion of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). This is a good time to trust our instincts and have our child evaluated. It gives peace of mind when we learn that either our child is on target or will benefit from the available services. The good news is that when language delays are caught early, many children can catch up. When language delays are missed there can be long-term effects, so the advice from the professionals is, “if in doubt, check it out.”

Similarly, if we are concerned about other delays or our child’s “obsessive” need for repetition we can consult with a health professional who will be able to reassure us or direct us to the support our child needs (see When and How to Seek Help). Because all children love repetition and need it to learn (see Repetition,) it can be difficult for us to know what is typical and what is atypical repetitive

language

“When

delays are caught early, many children can catch up. .

behaviour. If we are not able to redirect or pull our child’s attention away from a repetitive action, movement, play or use of words, that is a good reason to seek out a health professional.

For a long time, at least in North America, people were worried that exposing children to more than one language worsened, or even caused, language problems and delays. But there is no evidence to support this idea. Exposing a child to more than one language does not cause language delay.

Children with language delays can learn more than one language – they will just be delayed in both, although what the delay looks like can be different for the languages. Learning additional languages can be very beneficial for any child, even those with language delays, as it can connect them to their larger family, help them learn about their family’s heritage and culture, or expose them to a new language and culture. Language delay is not a reason to avoid exposing your child to another language.

What You Can Do

You can refer to milestones of language development to see if your child is within the typical ranges. These milestones provide the predictable order in which language development takes place. There is a very large range of ages for the acquisition of language milestones and it can be reassuring for parents to know this (see Appendix B).

If your child is meeting the milestones in the expected order but “behind schedule,” language experts, such as speech-language pathologists (SLP) call this a delay. If you have doubts about whether your child is meeting their communication milestones as they should, it’s best to seek the opinion of an SLP.

One of the measures used by experts is the number of words your child can say at different stages of development.

What does an SLP consider to be a “word”?

When SLP’s refer to the number of words a child speaks their definition of a word may surprise you. For them, a word is any sound or sign a child uses consistently to refer to the same thing. For a word to “count,” it means you must have heard it or seen it used by your child at least a few times to make sure it is being used consistently.

Utterances and signals that count as words include:

# Names (mama, Noah)

# Noises that a child makes to refer to objects or animals, such as “choochoo” for train or “moomoo” for cow

# Word-attempts, or word approximations, that are close but not quite right, for example, “ka” for cat

# Word-attempts that do not sound like the word at all, but are used again and again to refer to the same thing, for example, “noo-ee” for

# Gestures and signs (see Gestures and  Sign Language)

Things that are not counted as words include:

# Babbling and vocal play that babies engage in while they are learning to coordinate their muscles for speech

# Jargon, which is a long string of consonant and vowel sounds together, and with sentence-like intonation, that sounds like “nonsense conversation”

# If your child has said a word one time, but you have not heard it again, or they have used it again, but in a very different context, this does not count as a word.  It may just be a result of babbling

You can count as separate words those words that sound the same but that your child uses to talk about different things.

# For example, if your child says “da” to refer to “dad,” “that,” and “dog,” you would count that as three separate words

To learn more about milestones see Appendix B.

Milestones are based on patterns of learning of thousands of children. No milestones are exact, and the age ranges listed are guidelines only.

If your child is missing only one or two milestones, it is likely not a problem.

If they are missing many milestones or if they were meeting them and now seem to be going backwards (regression), seek out a referral right away for an assessment with a professional.

Similarly, if your child seems to have a very strong need for repetition with certain actions, movements, play or use of words, and you have difficulty redirecting their attention, or pulling their attention away from the repetition, do seek out a consultation with a health professional.

You may want to request a referral early as there can be a wait list (see When and How to Seek Help).

Every Day

What the Science Tells Us

ELEPHANT

Every day is rich with opportunities for language learning. It is never too early for us to have conversations with our child. Children who hear more language and engage in more conversations from early in life can benefit throughout life.

Many of us experience considerable stress from the demands of life. The thought of having to carve out extra time to play and have conversations with our child can seem overwhelming. The good news is that some of the best times for language learning are during our daily routines.

Incorporating more talk with our child during routine activities is an easy way to increase the amount of language they are exposed to and there is great value in talking about shared experiences.

It is a wonderful habit to have conversations with our child every day during everyday activities and routines. This not only helps our child learn some new words, it is also a great way to pass along family and cultural knowledge and strengthen the all-important relationship with our child. These simple conversations establish an easy-going tradition of listening to our child and talking with them, about anything. This will prove valuable throughout life. The relationship we create with our child when they are little provides the foundation for our relationship with our teenager.

Every minute of good conversation and engagement with our child counts, whether we use words or signs. Over time, the cumulative effects will have a big impact on their learning and development. That said, no parent needs to spend every minute of every day interacting with their child. It wouldn’t be good for either one. Instead, we can use natural situations as they arise to listen to our child and respond. We can also set aside specific times in the day to give our child our full attention.

What You Can Do

At all stages of development your child benefits when you talk with them about shared experiences and emotions, and when you notice what they are interested in. One example is when you match language to what you are doing in the moment. You can do this naturally as you go about your everyday activities. Your child’s response is their “turn” in the conversation (see Turntaking). It lets you know if you are talking about things they are interested in and in a way that engages them. 

You can:

Name things you or your child notice indoors and outside

Talk about what you are doing and why

Talk about what you are going to do later in the day

Talk about feelings when you or your child are showing emotions, and the reasons for feeling that way Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• For example:

• “I’m disappointed.  I came to buy the oranges on sale and they are all sold out! Oh well”

• “You seem HAPPY.  No wonder! You have just built a very tall tower with those blocks!”

As your child moves through different stages of communication you will find that you naturally adjust the way you speak with them.

When your child is in the pre-intentional stage, or just starting to use sounds, single words, signs, or gestures intentionally, you may want to highlight words, and match those words to what your child is currently experiencing. This will help them link meaning to words. 

You can:

# When feeding, changing or dressing your child, use short sentences and emphasize key words.  These are ideal opportunities to give your child your full attention, interact with them and “play” with words

• “Milk! Yes, you like milk!”

• “Oh, it’s wet! Your diaper is wet.  We need a dry one.”

As your child’s language develops, you can continue to:

# Model short and simple sentences and narrate or talk about what you or your child are doing as you are doing it

• “Book! You are holding a book!”

• “We’re going out.  Now, where are your shoes? Here they are.  Here are your shoes. I’m putting on your left shoe. Then I’m putting on your right shoe!”

EEL

Your child benefits at every stage when you match your words to what they are seeing or experiencing. This helps them link meaning to words. 

Your child can play nearby while you are preparing food if it is safe to do so.

You can:

# Talk about the food and what you are doing to prepare it

• Focus on object names, describing words and action words

# Show your child what you are talking about by holding out the items or narrating your actions

• “I’m washing the carrots.  Then I’m going to peel and cut them”

• “This is the vegetable peeler.  This is how I peel carrots”

• “Time to cut the carrots. Cut, cut, cut” (as you cut the carrots)

# Move beyond simple labelling by describing the food, including talking about what it looks and tastes like.  Involve your child

• “Oh I like the way you are putting those tomatoes on the plate”

• “I need some help.  Can you please hand me the salt?”

• “Smell this (model by taking a deep breath) Can you smell the garlic?

• “I’m cutting up these grapes so they are not a choking hazard, and you can eat them.  Mmm what do you think? Are they sweet?”

# Give your child something safe to hold to keep them engaged while you are preparing food

• “That’s a nice big orange.  Thank you for holding it.  In a minute I’m going to peel it so you can eat it.”

When your child is speaking in phrases or short sentences, you can: 

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# Give them an age/stage-appropriate task to help with food preparation. Describe what they are doing and ask them questions about it:

• “I like the way you are rolling out the pastry.  What are you making?”

# Use different words in your routine that mean the same thing.  This helps expand your child’s vocabulary:

• “I’m washing the celery now.” “I’m swishing the celery in water to clean it.”

# Talk about the steps of cooking using simple “first/then” language

• “First I’m washing the celery stalks and then I’m going to cut them into smaller pieces”

• “First we boil the water, and then we add the noodles”

# Talk about safety, and rules in the kitchen

• “I’m cutting carefully with my sharp knife on this cutting board”

• “Sharp! This knife is sharp.  It’s not safe for kids.  It’s dangerous”

• “It’s time to move away from the stove.  I’m going to boil water and it’s going to be hot! Look, the water is boiling.  It’s hot! You can see the steam”

At this point, you may want to explain to your child that you can SEE when water is very hot, because steam comes out.

Some other things you can say in daily routines include:

# “We need your coat.  It’s chilly outside! brrrr!” (Include a gesture to show you are cold)

# “We need your raincoat because it’s raining outside”

# “Time for bed.  Time to sleep!”

When your child is using gestures, words, or sentences, you can set up a variety of situations within familiar daily routines. These can be serious or silly and give your child opportunities to learn about or express themselves with words. 

For example, you can:

# Give them their cereal without a spoon so that they need to ask you for one

# Jokingly give them the wrong coat or someone else’s shoes that are too big for them

# Hand them their hat when they are looking for their boots

# Pretend to read their favourite book upside-down

Most children love correcting their parents! Silly situations like these are fun ways to start a conversation and can easily become a part of your usual routines. If you notice you haven’t had a chance for one-on-one time with your child during the day, put on your timer for 10 minutes or so, then put away all distractions and just focus on interacting with your child.

44 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Face-to-face

What the Science Tells Us

Infants seek out faces and a relationship as soon as they are born.

Being face-to-face creates ideal opportunities for serve and return interactions between our child and us that help shape the architecture of their developing brain. Eye contact tells our child they are important. The need for interaction, right from birth, is built into our biology. The brain is “wired” to expect a responsive relationship. Our infant needs to be face-toface to connect with us. When we are face-to-face our child can “sense” us more easily through touch, hearing, smell, and vision. Even if our baby is blind they need face-to-face interactions with us. Their brains “give” up the space generally used by vision to these other senses.

When we are focused on each other and on what we are doing together, we are building the all-important parent-child relationship that is essential for language learning. Conversely, when we are more focused on our devices than on our child we are potentially alienating them and putting them at risk of emotional and physical harm.

Recent research about the importance of gaze reveals that eye contact synchronizes the brainwaves of infant and parent. Researchers are concerned that mothers who use devices, like cell phones, while breastfeeding are creating a barrier that interferes with this vital communication and learning, and missing out on essential bonding time with their baby.

Face-to-face interaction

“

enables our developing child to learn from us.

As our child develops and changes so does our face-to-face relationship. However, the harm of ignoring our child in favour of our device continues to be a cause for concern. For instance, when we take our child to a playground we are responsible for their emotional and physical safety. If we are focused on our device rather than on our child, the message they get is that we do not put them first. If we are distracted by our device we may not hear when they ask us to watch or try to talk to us. What’s worse is they may give up trying to communicate with us. We may miss seeing them when they attempt a new skill or are in trouble. Research reveals a correlation between the increase in injuries in children under 5 and the rise of smartphone use.

Face-to-face interaction enables our developing child to continue to learn from us, as we learn more about them. They watch and listen as we speak and use gestures, and we notice and name what they are interested in. Being close makes it easier to keep interactions going for longer, which means more opportunities for language learning.

The term “face-to-face” is often used in the greater community to show that an experience is not taking place “online.” In this book we use faceto-face for situations where a parent or close family member and child are looking into each other’s faces. Occasionally, this may be taking place via video chat. In this situation the face-to-face interaction may not last for long! Sometimes in this book face-to-face means a child and parent are simply interacting in the same space.

Important things happen during face-to-face interactions: # Our child sees and imitates faces (from infancy)

We have conversations

We play together

Our child more easily pays attention to us and what we are doing together

We pay attention to our child and what they are interested in, the basis of serve and return

Our child knows that they are important to us Our child benefits from face-to-face interactions in these specific ways. They learn to:

Develop eye-contact

Make sounds and say new words since they are better positioned to see our mouth.  This starts very early

Share joy and excitement with us

Connect with us which helps them learn to connect with others

Shift their attention between people and objects

Notice what we are looking at

Make new gestures

Follow rules through games and interactions

Look at people when communicating with them

Although it may not seem so at the time, early childhood whizzes by. What happens during this critical time of development lasts a lifetime. The benefits of face-to-face interactions with our child are enormous for their language and other development. It might mean making changes to our usual routine (and putting aside our devices). However, it makes sense for us to try to spend as much time as possible with our child at this time.

What You Can Do

Good conversations and good connection happen when you are face-to-face with your child. They need this for healthy brain development.

When your child is an infant, face-to-face time happens naturally. For example, you are face-to-face when you are feeding and changing them, walking with them in a baby sling, getting them in and out of their car seat, bathing them or buying groceries with them in a shopping cart. In these situations, you can easily: 

# Talk and sing to your baby

# Look into their eyes (rather than your electronic device)

# Follow their gaze to learn what they are interested in, and then talk about what that is

# Pay attention when they look at you while pointing at something else

It is an exciting stage of development when your child can point at something and then look at you. They are inviting you to join them in their focus of attention that is, to look at what they are looking at and to talk about it.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

You may want to create situations where you can easily see each other’s faces and look at the same thing. If possible be at the same level as your child:

# Join in on their tummy time by lying on your stomach in front of them 

• You can sing songs together, or take turns making noises and faces at one another

• You can share books.  Put the book on the floor between you (see Books)

# When they are eating something they love, like blueberries, for example 

• You can sit across from them and hold each blueberry up.  When they look you in the eyes you can say, “It’s a blueberry,” and give it to them

• Hold up another blueberry and ask, More? More blueberries?

• When they are starting to say words you can ask, “Do you know what this is?” If your child says “bbb” you can say “YES! It is a blueberry” and give them the blueberry.  If they are not able to do this, you can say, “It’s a blueberry” and give it to them to enjoy

When you create opportunities for your child to communicate, by making it more challenging for them to get something they want, this is sometimes referred to as friendly sabotage or communication temptations. You may want to:

# Put a favourite snack inside a container with a screw-on lid

# Put a toy in sight but out of reach

# Pause during a song they like to see if your child will tell you what comes next

Your baby or child benefits from face-to-face time in many ways:

# They pay more attention if you are part of their play

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# It is easier for them to stay interested in what you are doing together

# They can more easily hear tricky sound distinctions when they are looking at your face and mouth

# If they are learning a sign language, they can see how you sign

Being face-to-face creates wonderful opportunities for your child to learn about gestures and nonverbal communication. When you use lots of gestures during conversations and play, this encourages your child to:

# Notice you and all the different ways you are communicating

# Learn to “read” your face and body language

# Learn the meaning behind many gestures

# Want to use gestures too

As your child’s communication develops and as they start to move about more, you can join in their play. You can: 

# Join them on the floor

# Kneel in front of them if they are sitting on a couch

# Face one another with the toy or game between you

# Talk about the toy your child is already paying attention to

Family meals are perfect for face-to-face communication. When you talk directly to your child it is easier for them to learn. When they hear you talk with other adults they also learn. They may not understand all of the

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

words or even what you are talking about, but they hear richer vocabulary, understand the tone and learn how conversations take place.

Make mealtime a time for family conversations 

# Turn off the TV or other devices

# Sit around a table (bring baby’s high chair to the table)

You can discuss:

# Your day

# Your plans

# Problems and successes Find other creative ways to increase your face-to-face time. You can:

# Place books between you as you read

• With your child facing you, hold a book on your chest (right-side-up for your child) so they can see the book and your face

# Kneel down to your child’s level whenever possible

# Stand in front of your child when pushing them on a swing.  This makes it easier for them to “tune in” to you as you have fun together!

• Find out what they want to do next, such as push, spin, or swing side-to-side. Wait until they look at you or tell you what they want before you respond

# Take your child grocery shopping when possible.  This provides limitless opportunities for fun with language from infancy to when they are schoolaged.  You can:

• Name what your baby is looking at 

• Ask your child to point at foods you name 

• Talk about the food you are getting and what you are going to do with it 

• Hand them certain items and ask them to put them in the basket for you 

• Say “mmm _____ is yummy” when you pass foods you like 

• Invent games where your child finds foods that begin with the same sound or have the same colour 

• With older infants you can carry them facing out or push them in their stroller and name what they are seeing or experiencing 

When you are preparing a meal your child may be on the floor or elsewhere in the room. You can interact with them, and if they show interest, explain what you are doing. 

Conversations can also be rich, especially with older children, when you are sitting next to each other and looking at the same thing, or driving with a child in the back seat.  stage of development face-to-face time is important for building the connection with your child. It offers countless opportunities for language development. Your imagination is

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Gestures

What the Science Tells Us

Gestures are a key part of language and we use them to communicate all of the time. They are also a key aspect of our child’s development.

Our child uses gestures as one of their ways to communicate with us and other people around them even before they can express themself with words.

Children begin to try out their first gestures around 9 months of age and quickly develop their use of gestures after that. Our child will likely use about 16 gestures by 16 months of age. These are listed in the “What You Can Do” section below.

Research shows that a child’s use of gestures between 9-16 months typically predicts their later language abilities. If our child is not using gestures as expected, it could be a sign that their language may not be developing as expected either. This would be a good time to request an evaluation (see When and How to Seek Help).

When our child is establishing their use of gestures, they may point at an object, look at us then look at the object again. This is called gaze alternation or joint attention. They may be asking us to give them the object they are pointing at, or asking us to label it for them so they can learn a new word.

It is exciting to know that when our child is able to do this, they have achieved a significant language milestone.

Language and gestures tend to develop toge the r. “

DID YOU KNOW?

How a child uses gestures is linked to how they use language. As children develop more complex language, their gestures become more complex as well.

Another gesture milestone involves our child saying words and gesturing something else at the same time. For instance, they may point to a bird and say “fly.” When our child begins to combine gestures and words in this way, they are on the cusp of being able to put two or more words together into a longer utterance.

As our child masters their gesturing skills we quite naturally respond. It is not something we have to worry about doing the “right” way.

What You Can Do

Gestures are a natural and important part of language and communication. Typically, around the age of 9 months babies start to use gestures. By 16 months your baby will likely be using about 16 gestures.

# Reaching to be picked up # Clapping when happy or celebrating with us # Blowing a kiss # High fives # Nodding “yes” # Raising their finger to their mouth for “sssshhh” # Giving a “thumbs up” or “fist bump” # And many others that may be unique to your family These are some things you can do

For children who are still learning or just starting to learn gestures and words, you can: 

# Model lots of pointing

• Point to things of interest to you or your child, “Look at that big truck going down the street.”

• Find and point to interesting things in books # Hold objects up or point to things out of reach

• “Do you see the cat sitting on the shelf?”

# Find reasons to give lots of high fives, clap and celebrate with your child, such as after singing a song or when they accomplish something with a baby toy

# Pair words with your gestures when it is natural.  This will help your child understand the meaning behind your actions

• As you wave, say “Bye-bye Grandma.”

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

GORILLA

# Feel free to exaggerate gestures:

• When playing with a beach ball, say and show, “That is a big (arms outstretched) ball.”

For toddlers, you can: 

# Incorporate gestures into fun social games that you create with one another

• If you know your child likes to read a certain book before bed, you can point to a different book and say, “Do you want to read this one?” Then playfully shake your head and say “noooo” together

• Suggest a couple of other books you know they don’t want before getting to the book that is part of your regular routine.  Now you have the opportunity to model a head nod for “yes!”

# Incorporate choices into games such as tickle games and wait for your child to respond.  This turn-taking practice is helpful for their social development

• Point to your child’s tummy and ask, “Should I tickle you here?” Then point to their foot and ask, “Or here?” Make sure to wait for a response

When your child is first learning gestures, their response may not be a point but a wave of the arms, a reach, or a happy noise. And that’s okay! Take any response from your child as their “turn” in the conversation, and respond by making the choice for them. You can model the point again. Name the body part before you follow through with the tickle.

With children of all ages and stages, you can: 

# Model lots of gestures when you play and talk with them.  This will help them learn the meaning behind gestures and encourage them to use gestures as well

• Sing songs together that have actions, possibly from your heritage culture. Your child may not copy the actions at first, but with repetition and as they become more familiar with the songs, they will start to join in with you

• Clap and use gestures, such as high-fives, to celebrate when your child succeeds at more structured games, like putting together puzzles

You will find: # That you both naturally include more “symbolic” gestures in your play and conversations.  These may be gestures or facial expressions that express emotion

• “Ooh that smells nasty!”

As children develop their imitation skills, they will often try to copy a gesture you use with them, especially if you use it in a fun and playful way.

Language and gestures tend to develop together. As children begin to speak in phrases and sentences, their gestures tend to become more complex as well. If your child is not using gestures as expected, request an evaluation (see When and How to Seek Help).

Communication involves the whole body. When your child is able to use expressive gestures, that is an important language achievement.

Daily activities provide many opportunities for you to naturally model gestures. When you see your child using gestures and you express joy, you are further encouraging them to use this important aspect of communication. GOOSE

Heritage

What the Science Tells Us

When we think of heritage we tend to think of cultural knowledge, religion, traditions, and rituals. We use language to teach our child the cultural codes they need to feel a sense of belonging. Language itself is also a part of heritage. It is something that connects our child to our family and community.

There are many names for “Heritage Language.” It is often called, Mother Language, Mother Tongue, First Language, or Home Language.

If we live in a community where the language spoken is different from the language we learned as a child, it can take work for us to preserve and pass on our heritage language. However, it is worth the effort. Our child benefits when we do everything recommended in this book using the language that feels most comfortable to us, which is likely to be our heritage language.

When we speak our heritage language, our child gains something called cross-language transfer skills. These are skills that help them learn to speak and read in one language and that transfer over to any other languages they learn, including that of the broader community that they will inevitably learn. When they do, the language and literacy skills they gain in that language transfer back to their heritage language.

Children are capable of learning more than one language and benefit throughout their lifetime when they have that opportunity. Children learn

“Children are capable of learning more than one language.

the dominant language in their country – for Canada this is English or French – even when they speak their heritage language in the home. When children have more than one language from early in life they unconsciously learn to switch between language structures, and the benefits of learning different language rules carry over to other aspects of life.

There is no reason to worry about exposing our young child to more than one language. They may temporarily have a reduced number of words in each language, but learning more than one does not cause or worsen any language delays. Our child may know one language better than the other. They may even mix up grammar rules as they are learning. This is normal, and is not considered a delay. If our child is having difficulties in both languages, they may need some help from a speech-language pathologist (see When and How to Seek Help). Current research suggests that even if our child has a language delay in one language they can still be exposed to and learn other languages. Another thing we don’t need to worry about is code-mixing or codeswitching. If our child is learning more than one language, we might hear them use more than one language in the same conversation, or sometimes in the same sentence. For example, they may start their sentence in English, but then use a word from one of their other languages. Sometimes they do this because it is easier to remember or pronounce one word than the other. This can be referred to as code-mixing or codeswitching, something that naturally happens in multi-lingual communities. Code-mixing and code switching involve blending the languages in specific ways, and children need to learn how to do this if they are part of a multilingual community or household. This is

HORSE

why we don’t need to worry when blending languages with our child. We are modelling things they need to be able to do! Mixing the languages is a natural part of learning multiple languages.

There are valuable things we can do to support our child’s learning of a heritage language. The way we talk with our child on a daily basis is often very basic. If the only exposure they have to our heritage language is conversations at home, their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge can be limited because the contexts we use the language in are limited. We can look for videos in our heritage language for them to watch. This will expose them to other voices that sound different from ours and to cultural language differences in the heritage language. Both of these expand our child’s ability to deal with the heritage language in real life. Books are another useful source of language input in heritage languages. They often contain more complex sentences and more varied vocabulary than the child-directed speech we use in the home.

Even if our child does not end up speaking their heritage language well when they are young, by exposing them to the language early we have made it easier for them to learn it later if they so choose.

What You Can Do

If your child is learning more than one language, you can use all of the ideas and strategies presented in this book. You can adapt the suggestions and examples provided using your heritage language instead of English.

If you are a Deaf parent who signs, your sign language will likely be your child’s heritage language, whether your child is hearing or deaf.

Here are some extra suggestions that apply to the bilingual or multilingual family at all stages of communication: 

# Be proud! Your culture and heritage language (also called Mother Language, Mother Tongue, First Language, or Home Language) are an important part of your identity.  It will be an important part of your child’s identity too.  If you are proud of your culture and heritage language, and of cultural language differences, your child will sense this and will want to be a part of it too

# Be persistent. Speak your heritage language in the home, and also when you are out in the community.  This naturally exposes your child to more complex sentence structure and vocabulary

# Make opportunities.  Every environment has new things to talk about.  Find situations for your child to hear and practise using your heritage language as much as possible.  You can use it with them in many different places and during many different activities.  Children stop speaking a language they do not hear or use, so the more you use your heritage language with them the more likely it is that they will use it too

# Read books in your heritage language right from birth.  If there aren’t books available in your heritage language, try using wordless picture books instead. These let you make up the story to fit the pictures, and you can do it in any language you know.  This will strengthen the bond between you and your child.  The more you read to your child and talk with them, the more they can increase their vocabulary and become familiar with the structure of their heritage language.  These skills will transfer over to any other languages they learn

# Sing songs in your heritage language right from birth.  In cultures around

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

the world music is used to soothe children.  You may recall lullabies and nursery rhymes from your own childhood. Songs that have words also teach your child about their heritage language and rhythms prepare children to learn to read

# Respond to your child in your heritage language.  As your child learns to speak in sentences, they may know one language better than the other.  This may change over time.  For example, they may speak your heritage language in the home before entering school.  As they become more familiar with the language spoken in their school they may prefer to speak that language more often at home.  This is a natural part of their learning.  If your child speaks to you in the language they use at school, you can still respond to them in your heritage language.  You can also repeat their sentence in your heritage language, and add on. This creates another learning opportunity for your child

# Enjoy language as a way to connect with your child. Even in families where only one language is spoken, that language may not be spoken the way it is in school, and this is not harmful to your child.  In multi-lingual families, languages may also be spoken in ways that are not taught in school, and this is not harmful for your child either.  If you speak more than one language, chances are you and your child blend languages when you speak, inserting words from different languages in the same conversation (code-switch or code-mix).  This naturally happens in multi-lingual communities and your child needs to learn this.  Language evolves.  Families are influenced by the languages around them.  Every family will approach this in their unique way.  Feel free to speak to your child using language in the way that is most comfortable for you

If you naturally do many of these things, your child will grow into your family, your extended family and the communities you live in. You and your child will be able to communicate with each other in ways that work for you, and your child will learn to speak the way the adults in your community do.

Infant-directed Speech

What the Science Tells Us

When people talk to babies, they often speak in a very distinct way that scientists call infant-directed speech (IDS). It has also been called motherese, parentese or “baby talk.” Parents who use a sign language also have a distinct way of signing with their baby (see Sign Language).

One of the most noticeable things about IDS is its sing-songiness: the pitch of the speaker’s voice goes higher and lower than it does in speech to adults. But there are other differences; for instance, the speech is often slower, and sometimes the sentences are shorter. It involves our faces and our bodies too. IDS can include special made-up words that are likely different in every family and some of those words will be invented by the child.

Some people think that IDS is harmful for children, but it turns out the opposite is true. It has an almost magical effect on infants and toddlers across all cultures. They relax and pay attention, and when children (and adults) pay attention, they learn. Why does this happen? The sing-songy nature helps children feel safe, a pre-requisite for optimal development and learning, including language learning. Perhaps best of all, IDS contributes to building the connection between our baby and us.

Children like listening to IDS and particular properties of IDS actually make parts of the language easier to learn. Even if it can feel a little funny to speak

IDS at first, we don’t need to think about whether we are doing it “right” or not, it comes very naturally and automatically. Even young children do it.

As our child ages and develops, we will quite naturally change the way we use IDS. For instance, a 2 year old doesn’t benefit from the sing-songy voice, but still finds it easier to learn from simpler sentences. Again, we don’t need to think too hard about this, most of us naturally adjust the way we speak to our child as they learn and develop.

What You Can Do

Some caregivers do not like using or hearing infant-directed speech. For them, it feels uncomfortable. However, using IDS with your child helps them learn about the sounds of your language, and makes it easier for them to learn about words. IDS also grabs your infant’s attention, and promotes more back-and-forth (serve and return) exchanges. Best of all, it helps you connect with your baby.

You might be wondering how to use IDS. You are probably already using it without realizing it.

IDS is not just about how you use your voice. It involves differences in how you use your face, body, and language too. For example: 

# With your voice, you may

• Raise the pitch

• Use more varied intonation so you sound more like you are singing

• Lengthen your words

• Exaggerate your sounds

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# With your face you may exaggerate your expressions.  You may:

• Raise your eyebrows • Smile more • Widen your eyes

# With your body you lean in close, and often use exaggerated gestures. You may:

• Nod or shake your head more vigorously • Wave with extra enthusiasm when modeling “bye-bye”

# Your language becomes simpler.  You may: • Use shorter sentences • Repeat important words more often

All of these things contribute to your child’s learning and their connection with you.

Research has shown that babies’ brains are more active when adults use IDS compared with regular conversational speech. engaged and learning more.

INSECT

Join In

What the Science Tells Us

Research shows that children learn better when we join in to what they are paying attention to than if we try to make them pay attention to other things. This is especially easy to see in the early stages of language learning. Our child learns the meanings of words more easily when we talk about something they are already paying attention to. So when we are interacting with our child, it’s more effective to talk about the things they are looking at, holding or doing than to show them something new and label it.

As our child develops they often initiate social games which are an invitation for us to join in. They do this preverbally. For example, they may look at us and clap their hands. When we respond by clapping our hands we are joining in our child’s game and engaging in a type of conversation which is foundational for later language development (see Conversation and Turn-taking).

Joining in helps develop our child’s language skills at every stage. Many of us quite naturally do this. For example, when our child talks about something they are interested in we repeat their comments and then add on to them. Our child may say, “Look at my sandcastle. It’s really big.” We may respond, “It is a really big sandcastle, it is huge! And it looks like many people could live there” (see Match +1).

Play and imaginary play offer perfect opportunities for language development and for us to join in. Joining in to our child’s game of make-believe can be

a great time to engage in storytelling, sometimes referred to as joint narrative creation by linguists. It presents the opportunity to explore register differences –what linguists call different ways of speaking that depend on who is speaking and who is listening (things like speaking more formally to a boss than we do to a friend). When we engage in pretend play we almost automatically make these kinds of adjustments in the way we talk. By joining in to our child’s play session, they learn something important about how to use language while having fun and enjoying time with us.

What You Can Do

You are your child’s first play partner, and how you play with them will help them learn how to play with others. So play together often! Let them lead the play and have fun.

Our pediatricians recommend the following approach (practise twice a day, if possible): 

# Put a timer on for 10 minutes.  Put your device on “airplane mode” so no distractions can come through

• During that time focus only on your child.  Answer their questions or play with them as they want you to play.  For those 10 minutes let your child be the most important person in your world

Some adults find it difficult to join in and play with children, or they try to take over their child’s play. If you are one of these adults, you might:

# Feel like you don’t know how to play anymore, and that you aren’t doing it “right.”

• As long as you let your child lead they will enjoy playing with you

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# Like to play with your child, but tend to take over and lead the play.  You end up doing most of the talking, or telling your child how to play

• This takes away the joy for your child who can feel it is no longer their play

# Take on a “testing” role.  You continually ask your child questions during play, like “What colour is this?” or “What does this say?”

• You may forget that being tested is not fun.  It can also get in the way of learning

It’s fine to ask some genuine or authentic questions as part of play. The goal is to join in to your child’s play, and not take over!

Your child learns best during play, when they are having a conversation about something they are already interested in and enjoying.

At any stage of your child’s development, if you’re not sure how to join in with them: 

# Watch how they are playing with their toys on their own # Pay attention to what they enjoy most about their toy or activity

# If your child is able to respond, ask how they want you to play

• Let your child be in charge

It will be much easier to join in and be a good play partner if you can take a turn without changing your child’s game in a way that they do not want. If for example they are building a tower with blocks:

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# You can ask if they want to build another tower beside it

• In a safe situation like this, graciously accept your child’s decision

• You are joining in while respecting their playtime goal

# You are also giving your child a wonderful opportunity to:

• Have some control in their life

• Practise decision-making

• Describe what is going on in their mind as they play

It is hard to be a good play partner from across the room or with your back turned. Stay close to your child. This: 

# Allows you to participate more fully in the game

# Shows your child you are interested in what they are doing

There are no hard and fast rules about playing:

# It is all about watching and checking in with your child

JACK RUSSEL

Sometimes it makes sense to imitate your child’s play and “add on” new ideas, building on their ideas. This is similar to conversation where you repeat what they have said and then add something on (see Match + 1).

• Child: “Look at my sandcastle.  It’s really big”

• Parent: “It is really big.  It’s huge! And it looks like many people could live there.  Should we build a path for them to walk on or a lake for them to fish in?”

When you give your child a choice this allows them to stay in control of the play and it builds their brain. Often, if you give your child a choice you

74 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

reduce the likelihood of a “no” response. When playing, if your child still says “no” it is good to respect this and ask for their suggestion.

When you are face-to-face with your child you can imitate their play and then add on (see Face-to-face). When you mirror their play you are joining in and showing that you value your child and what they are doing. (This is similar to mirroring your child’s gestures and comments. It helps your child feel understood).

If your child is banging blocks on the table, you can bang them on the table too and create a turn-taking activity: 

# Your child will notice you

# You can change the rhythm of the banging

# Your child may change it too

# You can follow their rhythm

# Your child can change it again

# You can turn the banging into the rhythm of a song you both know, and sing the song

# You can introduce a new way to play with the block, like “driving” it along the table like a car with fun noises. Wait to see if your child will imitate you!

Children can learn a lot through play and anything can be turned into a game. You can join in by participating or observing and commenting:

# Cause-effect.  Your child feels empowered when they can make something happen and communicate about it

“Your child learns best during play.

• With your infant you can invent a game where they clap and you sing 

• With your toddler after their bath, you can hold a towel and when they press on your arm, the “drying machine” is activated and you dry them with the towel, while making a funny noise 

• With an older child you can invent games about picking up toys (how long it will take, or if they can throw soft toys into a toy bin) 

# Guessing games.  You can play these anytime, anywhere and about anything.

• With your toddler they can guess what hand their snack is in 

• With your older child you can go for a walk together and guess the number of steps it will take to get from one tree to the next 

# Hiding and finding objects. Either you or your child can do the hiding.

• With your infant this can be as simple as hiding a toy under a blanket 

• With your toddler or older child you can show a number of objects, take them away and then return them with one object missing.  Your child needs to tell you what is missing.  When your child is older you can increase the number of objects 

# Tickling. Your child can tell you with words or gestures where to tickle them or if they don’t want to be tickled 

# High chair games.  Your child will no doubt invent many “dropping objects” games from their high chair (the sign of a new developmental stage) 

• This may not be your favourite game but it shows your child trusts you to do the picking up

# People games.  Your child needs these activities as part of their social learning.  You can do them with your child at any age or stage

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• With your infant, peek-a-boo, imitating facial expressions or gestures 

• With your toddler, you can play pat-a-cake or jumping games, or finding fruit that is the same colour in a grocery store 

• With your older child you can play “I spy,” “charades” at their level (perhaps acting out books they know) or finding items that start with sounds or letters they know when you are out and about 

# Problem solving. Play is a safe way to make and learn from mistakes.  It is an ideal way for your child to learn about simple math and science. Problem solving is also an important part of creative activities such as writing, dancing, music, sports, work and social situations.  By joining in with your child you can: 

• Encourage them to try different strategies to solve problems

• Help them see that mistakes are learning opportunities.  Mistakes tell you what doesn’t work and provide new information that can be used when trying again to solve the problem

# Puzzles. These can be simple or more complicated as your child grows.  They offer many opportunities for conversation about shapes, sizes, textures, colours, and strategies. 

• At every stage you may need to teach your child how to approach a new puzzle

• Your child may prefer to invent their own game with the pieces.  One day they will likely do the puzzle in the expected way

• Puzzles present the opportunity for you to join in, following your child’s lead.  They may want your help or they may not

# Board and card games. You can invent games with any cards or game parts available, and play with them any way you like.  You don’t need to purchase

78 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

new games if parts are missing.  You can invent “rules” with the parts you have

• With your young child you can use different playing cards to find similarities and differences, to recognize shapes, colours, letters and numbers 

• With your older child you can introduce rules and they can learn about winning and losing (this can be very hard for young children) 

• With all children you can practise turn-taking and talking about the game

Sometimes you may find joining in with your child’s play a bit tedious or tiresome, especially if they want to play the same game – over and over. There is a reason your child loves to do this. Their brain craves repetition, and games naturally incorporate repetition (see Repetition).

If your child wants you to join in their play, and you are able to do this, you will find countless opportunities for language learning and connection.

JACKAL

Kids

What the Science Tells Us

Kids are not little adults – they see the world differently. They don’t have all of the experience and knowledge that we have as adults, so things that are boring or uninteresting to a grown up can be new and fascinating for them, and things that we take for granted they might not know or understand.

Kids are also smaller, so the way they encounter and experience the world is different. For instance, a bug on the sidewalk is much closer and bigger to them than it is to us. We can get down on the ground with our toddler to see the world through their eyes from time to time, to see what they see, and experience what they experience. We can try to capture some of their wonder at the world, even if it’s just for a moment. We might feel silly, but we won’t seem that way to our child. Children don’t judge, they just want our time and attention. They want us to talk to them, to listen to them, and to meet them where they are at.

It may seem disheartening that our grown child will have no recollection of the love, attention, conversations, experiences and care we have given them in the early weeks, months and years of their life. Yet these are what contribute to our child’s lifelong mental, emotional, and physical health, their language learning and their social well-being. Children with a secure start to life are able to explore and learn throughout life. This is why we want to talk to our kid, listen to them and meet them where they are at. In this way we are giving them the best possible start to life.

What You Can Do

From the moment they are born, kids are great teachers who will change your world.

If you are able to recognize that all family members learn from each other you will be more likely to enjoy your family relationships, and everyone will learn more.

If you are able to accept that your child is unique and does not benefit from being compared with others you will build a strong bond with them that allows them and your relationship to flourish.

Be willing to: 

# Embrace your inner child and let things be fun and silly from time to time

# Laugh with your child and play your child’s way.  Kids learn more when they are having fun

# Accept that kids are messy, indoors and out, and that this can be good for their brain development, which is good for their language learning.  (You can still ask them to tidy up when playtime is over!)

# Recognize when your child has interests that are different from yours, and give them the vocabulary to talk about them

Your child looks to you to know how to respond in a situation. When they are toddlers and inevitably fall down, it is usually not serious. If you say in your everyday voice, “Uh-oh, you fell down. You’re Ok. Up you get” your child will know this is nothing to worry about and might soon simply say “uh-oh” when they fall down. If you look frightened and make a big fuss, chances are they

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

will cry. Of course if the injury is serious you will want to comfort and provide first aid for your child, doing this with a reassuring voice.

One of the biggest challenges for parents is to know what to do in every situation. You want to encourage your child to develop their skills. For this they need to explore, indoors and out. Most kids know what they can do safely, but not all! And not when they are infants or toddlers. Because you know your child you will know how to guide them and what to say to them. When it comes to potential dangers, like electrical outlets, or bath time,YOU need to make the decisions for their safety and explain with words they can understand:

• Child: “Mama, doorbell”

• Parent: “Yes, that is the doorbell.  Someone is at the door, but you are in the bath so they will just have to wait.  I never leave you alone in the bath.”

The best thing you can do is give your child a happy childhood. This is not about an excess of material things. This is about: # Listening and responding to your child # Keeping your child nourished and safe # Giving your child simple routines that help them feel secure # Creating reasonable boundaries your child can understand and follow # Providing the opportunity for your child to play indoors and out

When kids get what they need early in life, they have the best opportunity to learn and thrive. This includes learning language. Your child deserves the love, attention, and respect you can give them. These put your child on the path to becoming a respectful, healthy, happy and functional citizen.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Listening

What the Science Tells Us

LlEveryone has heard a story of a very young child who uses an inappropriate word seemingly out of the blue. Chances are they learned it by overhearing something that was said to someone else. This is a useful reminder that children are always listening and although they learn better from language directed at them, they can learn from overheard speech. In fact, children with older siblings learn words (pronouns) like “you,” “she,” and “he” more easily than singletons or first-borns because they have a chance to hear them used in other people’s conversations.

Listening is a reciprocal relationship. Our child listens to everything going on, and it is important for us to listen to them.

Sometimes our child hasn’t acquired the right words to say what they want to say, and this can lead to frustration which comes out as a temper tantrum or other acting-out behaviour.

Although a tantrum may not seem like an ideal teaching moment, once it is over, it is an opportunity for us to help our child learn about self-regulation and expand their vocabulary. With time (and our loving patience) they will learn how to more appropriately express their frustration, using words. These moments of acting-out behaviour are also opportunities for us to send our child the message that we are listening to them, care deeply about them and support them. When our child feels “heard” and knows we are

listening – even when they are not at their best – together we are setting the foundations for a trust that will build as they grow. A trusting relationship is at the heart of social and emotional development and language learning.

What You Can Do

Children communicate using words, gestures and emotions. It takes all of your senses to truly listen to your child. Listening with your ears means you hear and respond to the words they are saying. Listening with your other senses means you are also noticing and responding to the other ways they are communicating with you.

When you pay attention and listen to your child, they are receiving protective childhood experiences that will help them face life’s inevitable ups and downs.

There are many ways to do this.

You can:

# Look at your child when they are communicating.  With the child who is using sounds and gestures, listening usually means watching them 

# Smile, nod or say “uh huh” to show you have “heard” them 

# Repeat what you think they have said when they are making gestures or early word attempts 

# Repeat their words or match words to their gestures to check that you have understood what they were saying 

# Repeat what they have said to show it was important and to highlight that you see how interested they are 

# Repeat what they have said using your own words.  This can expand their vocabulary and illustrate correct word usage 

# Build on what they have said, using a question or a comment, to keep the conversation going 

When you model this respectful communication you are showing your child how to listen, speak to others and to you.

Just as it is important for you to listen to your child, it is important for them to learn to listen to you. Their safety can depend on it.

Your approach to teaching your child to listen will change at every stage of your child’s development. In general, stay positive and limit the times you say “no.” Save “no” for situations that are dangerous.

Your child will want to listen to you if you comment positively on the things they are doing as they are doing them or comment positively on what you would like them to do instead: 

• You are making your toy squeak

• You are building a very big tower

• How kind of you to share your crackers with your big brother!

• You are taking very good care of your teddy bear

• You are such a good help.  Thank you for sweeping the floor with your broom

• You are working hard on your homework

• Feet on the floor, please (instead of “no jumping” on the couch)

• You can use your indoor voice (instead of “no shouting”)

• We use gentle hands (instead of “no hitting”)

Your child doesn’t always understand what they are not supposed to do. When you say – in a positive way – what you want them to do, they are learning what is acceptable behaviour.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Listening to children

“

can help them face life’s ups and downs.

You can make up songs or rhymes to remind your child of something important you want them to remember.

Prepare your child for situations that could be dangerous. These include:

# Touching electrical outlets or something hot or sharp

# Running out in the street

# Patting a stray animal

# Eating things that could be harmful for them

# Going on the Internet (this happens sooner than you think!) Choose a time that is close to an event and when your child is calm and looking at you. At every age, children are most able to listen when they are well fed and well rested. Then you can:

# Tell them what is going to happen and what you want them to do, using language you know they understand 

# Demonstrate the situation (with younger children use exaggerated actions). When you are doing pretend play with your child you can demonstrate and practise these key messages with them: 

• It’s hot! (take your hand away quickly from the stove, blow on it, put it under cold water, look upset)

• Before going to the park, explain that if there is a dog, you first ask the dog owner, “Is your dog friendly? Does your dog like children? May I pat the dog?” If the owner says “yes,” teach your child how to stand still and show the back of their hand while speaking softly to the dog

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• Before your (older) child goes out with friends, explain what you expect them to do (call you, return on time)

• With a child who is using short sentences, ask them to explain what they are going (or not going) to do.  This will show you how much they have understood and if you need to patiently explain again 

Your child needs to hear important information many times and in many ways before they know how to act. Even when they are doing their best to listen it takes all children time, practice, and many repetitions to learn.

Your child will love to listen to you if you can make what you say interesting to them. This is easy when they are little and you share songs, stories and poems. It can be trickier when they are older to tell them things they need to know in interesting ways that encourage them to listen.

Nobody likes to be told what to do, not even young children. Everybody likes to be respected and trusted, even young children.

Sometimes it can look like your child is “misbehaving.” It could be that they are trying to tell you they are frightened or worried and what they really need is for you to listen to their emotions.

You probably couldn’t wait for your child to communicate with words. Once your child is speaking, however, there will likely be moments when you wish they would speak a little less. It is not humanly possible to always listen to your child but as long as you do it most of the time, and in a kind way, they will be okay. Similarly, try to understand if sometimes your child is not able to listen to you.

Match + 1

What the Science Tells Us

We all learn best when we are taught a new skill step-by-step and with lots of opportunity to practise along the way. This same idea applies to our child who is learning language.

One way we can help our child learn language is by matching their interests and language level, and then adding on something small. We call this strategy “Match +1” and it can look very different depending on the child’s stage of language learning.

No matter what stage our child is at, we start at the same place – by following their lead. This just means joining in on what our child is playing with or talking about and then adding on (see Join in). While we are playing or talking, we can repeat what they have said and then add a word to introduce new vocabulary or a new idea. Without thinking about it, we sometimes also recast or rephrase our child’s sentence to make it more like the way we speak.

We are all more motivated to learn when we are having fun and learning about something we are already interested in. Our child is no different!

When we do “Match + 1” and build on their interests, we are supporting our child’s language development by giving them additional ways to talk about their interests.

What You Can Do

Match + 1 is a technique you can use at every stage of your child’s development. It helps them learn how to communicate their interests. This strategy may be particularly helpful if you have a child who is experiencing communication delays (see Delay).

# When your child is not yet speaking, you can match their interest by noticing what they are looking at or reaching for, and then add in the name of the object or person 

# When your child is speaking in single words, you can match their word and add on another to model how to speak in phrases 

• If your toddler walks over to you, holds up their stuffed animal and says, “bunny,” you might say, “Yes, it is a bunny! A soft bunny” (pet the bunny to help show the meaning of soft)

# When your child is speaking in phrases or sentences, you can match their sentence and add on a new idea or concept to increase their vocabulary 

• If your child points to an ant and tells you, “Look! An ant.  On my shoe!” You might say, “Yes, the ant is on your shoe and it is carrying a leaf”

# You can also match what they have said, and recast it to resemble the way you speak 

• If your child says, “I falled down,” you might say, “You fell down? Oh no! Good thing you fell onto the grass”

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

DID YOU KNOW?

Sentences like these are sometimes called good errors. They can actually be a good sign – for a period of time – since they show that your child has already learned to apply a general language rule. Eventually, children figure out which words follow the rule and which words are exceptions. They may get it “right” just from hearing it. Then they may learn the language rule (adding “ed” to make a verb in the past tense) and say it “wrong” – “eated.” Finally, when they have learned the exception, they will say it “right” again – the irregular past tense – “ate.”

MANATEE

When you recast your child’s sentence, do this naturally within your conversation so your child doesn’t feel “nagged.” For example, if your child says,“me want milk,” you could say,“You want some milk? I want some milk too. I want the red cup. What cup do you want?” It is not necessary for your child to copy your sentence, but they may do it on their own.

Natural

What the Science Tells Us

We might be feeling like it’s a huge responsibility to help our child learn all the things they need to know about language, but we shouldn’t. We just need to do what comes naturally to us, such as talking with our child in ways that feel comfortable. If we try to speak more with our child, we will likely do the right things to help them learn without even thinking about it. We also don’t need to worry about whether our language is “good enough.”

There isn’t good language and bad language. When we speak to our child the way we talk, they are learning how people in our community talk. They can also become aware of cultural language differences. Children are members of the community too, and need to learn how to use language in ways that convey meaning and are appropriate for their community.

For some communities the way people naturally talk at home is very close to the style of language used in books and schools. In others, the style of language is quite different.

Language that is different from the kind of language in schools is not wrong!

Children raised in homes where the language is more “school-like” can have an easier time in school at first because of the similarity between their home and school language. But children raised in homes where the language of the community does not match the school language can end up with more

knowledge in the end, the language of their community and the language used in formal school learning. When our child is old enough we can explain that there are different ways of speaking and that different people use different language, so they know there is nothing wrong with the way they speak. It is part of who they are and where they are from.

What You Can Do

You may worry about speaking with your child if your grammar and accent are not typical of the language used in schools. You do not need to be concerned. These are called cultural language differences. What matters most is giving your child many opportunities to have back-and-forth conversations with you and other caring adults (see Conversation). It is most helpful for your child if you …  # Share expressions used in your community # Sing songs and tell stories that come from your culture

# Use the “slang” and vocabulary that is commonly used in the community you belong to.  Every community has words and expressions they like to use.  When your child knows how to use these they will feel that they belong too

# Speak the language you naturally speak.  This will be the best language model for your child because it is the most comfortable for you

94 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

“Speak with your child in ways that feel comfortable.

The way you speak will naturally change as your child develops…

# With infants and toddlers most people naturally use a sing-song voice (see Infant-directed Speech) that infants are drawn to.  When looking at pictures of a baby, they tend to lengthen the sounds in “baby.” 

• “Look at the bayyyybe.” If you are not sure what this sounds like, just listen to people talking to their dogs!

# Also with infants and toddlers you focus on their name and “mummy,” “daddy,” “nana,” etc.  However, as they develop it is helpful for your child if you use those little words (pronouns) like “I,” “You,” “Me,” “We,” “He,” “She,” “They.” 

• You can ask, “Would you like an apple?” rather than “Would Stevie like an apple?” Or you might say,

• “I would like an apple,” rather than “Mama would like an apple”

This is how you naturally speak with your friends and family and it’s great to model this.

Every day offers many opportunities for you to naturally speak with your child.

You can talk about thoughts and activities as you go about your regular day. This is a wonderful habit to begin when your child is born and to continue as they grow. 

• “Oh, hi there, you’re awake.  Did you have a good nap?”

• “I’m making the rice for your dinner”

• “We need to put your shoes on because we’re going outside”

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

•

•

Use the language that comes most naturally to you, and your child will learn the language of their community. They will also learn about the activities and practices that are important to your family and culture.

“I love this music.  It makes me feel happy”

“I can see you really like that book”

Open-ended

What the Science Tells Us

When something is open-ended it means that there is no planned ending, no predetermined answers. We can ask openended questions and engage in open-ended play. Both of these support our child’s language development.

OoWhen children and adults are talking with each other, questions can be a great way to keep the conversation going, and open-ended questions are especially good for this.

Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no,” or other one-word response. There is no “correct” answer and so a child’s answer will not be “wrong.” Open-ended questions make it safe to respond.

As every parent knows, conversations with children often involve open-ended questions, theirs and ours. Our child may ask, “Why is the sky blue?” “Where do babies come from?” In these situations parents may not always feel safe to respond, but the questions still present a good opportunity to further the conversation! We can keep the conversation going by asking, “What do you think?” Or, “Hmmm. Can you think of times when the sky isn’t blue?”

Sometimes open-ended questions can be challenging for children to answer as there can be too many possibilities. An additional challenge is that children may not yet have the words to express what they want to say.

When we ask open-ended questions we are creating opportunities for our child to think more deeply and to use more complicated speech. For instance, if we ask them why they think something happened, they need to think about the reason or cause. Then they need to express that using words like “for,” “so,” or “because.” It is good to wait patiently for them to respond.

When we answer our child’s open-ended questions we are modeling ways to respond and we might use words like “for,” “so” or “because.” It is also fine for us to sometimes say, “I’m not sure. Let’s see if we can find the answer.”

Open-ended play encourages our child to use their imagination and their developing language skills. Any object – a stick, a stone, a wooden spoon or a cardboard box can be part of an open-ended play session. Our child can explain that they are holding a magic wand or a sword and we can play along, encouraging them to tell us the story as it unfolds.

Using open-ended questions and play tells our child that we are interested in what they think, know and imagine.

What You Can Do

As a responsive parent you engage in turn-taking with your child. This happens long before your child can speak. You quite naturally form the question that you think your child is asking and then provide the response. Often this involves open-ended questions.

If your child is watching the dog, they might be wondering,

• “Why is the dog wagging its tail?”

You can model the question and the answer, 

• “I think the dog is wagging its tail because it’s happy to see you.  What do you think?”

Every time you do this, your child is learning about language and how to engage in questions and answers.

As your child develops, they will have more skills to answer questions and will want to ask you questions.

Your child might ask,

• “Why does the moon have a face?”

Depending on the age or stage of your child, you might respond,

• “It looks like the moon has a face but actually, the surface of the moon is made up of rock, craters and dead volcanoes.  We know this because many years ago, in 1969, some astronauts went to the moon and walked there.  They took pictures and brought back samples of moon rock.  So the moon’s nose is probably a volcano or big rocks that stick out and the eyes could be craters that are sunken in.” 

Without realizing it you are teaching your child more complex sentence structure when you respond.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

When your child is any age you can ask,

• “How do you feel today?”

When they are a baby, you most likely will answer for them, possibly in a child-like voice, using infant-directed speech (see Infant-directed Speech). 

• “I feel well rested thank you, and I’m hungry!”

When your child is starting to use gestures, single words and short phrases, as you read a book together, you can ask: 

• “What do you think will happen next?”

Because they may not yet know how to respond, you might want to model a response:

• “I think the bear will go to sleep.  Let’s take a look and see”

This is a playful way to model what your child will be able to do one day. Open-ended play can happen with or without toys, anytime and anywhere. Your child can play with sticks, stones, sand, building blocks, and creative toys such as modeling clay, markers/crayons, and pipe cleaners. Open-ended toys offer many ways to play. One day a block may be part of a tower. Another time it could be a mountain for a tiny doll to climb.

When you pretend your child’s stuffed animal is talking to them, reading a book or sleeping, your child is learning about pretend play.

Children engage in pretend play by imagining situations and objects. Often, these are based on their everyday experience. The possibilities are limitless.

# Your child may want to “feed” you (this is a sign of healthy development)

You can encourage pretend play by joining in with their play, asking appropriate open-ended questions or providing “props” such as: 

# Old clothes for dress-up

# A cardboard box for playing house or re-enacting a story, such as “The Three Little Pigs.”

Encourage your child’s imaginary play. It teaches them so much: 

# It helps them discover the power of words to create stories

# It prepares your child to play creatively with other children and become a “social being”

Imaginary play is a safe way for your child to try out language. They may play and talk on their own, with other children or with you or other adults. During imaginary play, your child may:

# Talk to themself and play with language and intonation

# Use made-up words

# Express their feelings and work through difficult emotions, problem-solve and have fun

# Play with items they find in nature, their toys, or their stuffed animals

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Your child can also develop their language skills and respond to your openended questions when playing with toys that are intended to be used in a specific way, such as a jack-in-the-box, puzzles and shape sorters.

It can take time for your child to learn to play with these toys in the expected way. At first they may need you to guide them and demonstrate what to do or they may want to try to figure it out by themself.

Let your child choose how much input they want from you. This gives them a safe way to ask for your help.

Puzzles help your child learn to interact with you as they problem-solve, and that it’s okay to get things “wrong.”

Sometimes your child may put pieces in the wrong places on purpose, just to see what happens. You can make it safe for them to do this by saying in a fun way, • “No … no …  no … yes!”

You may overhear your child doing that when they play with a puzzle on their own.

When you celebrate your child’s hard work, you encourage them to try new skills and problem-solve in new ways.

Playing with your child when they are in the gesture or one-word stage means you may be doing most of the talking! For instance, if there is a wooden puzzle with cut out pieces that go in specific places, you might turn all the pieces out on the table and ask: 

• Parent: “How can we find the duck that goes here, in this space?”

• Child: (chooses among several ducks) “Duck” (pause) “Big”

• Parent: “Yes! The big duck goes there”

When your child is in the two-word or sentence stage, and you are doing a jigsaw puzzle together, you can say, 

• Parent: “Wow, we found all the pieces with straight edges!”

• Child: “More piece”

• Parent: “Yes, those pieces go in the middle.  Let’s sort them.  How would you like to sort them? What colour should we start with?”

• Child: “This one”

• Parent: “Red? Do you want us to find all the red pieces?”

• Child: “Red.  More red”

• Parent: “Where should we put these red pieces?”

• Child: “Here! More red!”

• Parent: “Yes! You are building a big pile of pieces with red on them”

• Child: “Go here?”

• Parent: “Let’s look at the picture on the box.  It will help us figure out where that red piece goes”

Sometimes it is helpful for your child to learn to use toys in the expected ways. However, these kinds of toys can become limiting.

When your child plays with items they find in nature or with open-ended toys, they often have more opportunities to expand their play and language skills.

An open-ended approach has many benefits.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

OYSTER

Your child can use open-ended toys and engage in imaginary play any way they want. The possibilities are endless. Endless possibilities for play mean endless possibilities for language and learning!

When you ask your child open-ended questions you learn more about your child and their interests. You help them feel safe and loved as there is no right or wrong answer. Open-ended questions encourage interaction and collaboration, skills that will help your child in school and in life.

DID YOU KNOW?

Your child’s play and language skills are connected and tend to develop hand-in-hand. Children often develop early pretend play skills and their first words around the same time. Just as they are learning that toys can represent something else, they are learning that words and phrases can represent actions and objects.

OTTER

Present , Not Perfect

What the Science Tells Us

No one is a perfect parent. And the good news is that our child does not need us to be perfect. They need us to be present. This means being mentally present too, most of the time.

Our newborn is programmed to seek out faces. Our gaze contributes to their healthy attachment, brain and social development – the same building blocks required for language development.

Nowadays, we reach for our phones hundreds of times each day without even thinking. Unfortunately, we often do this in the presence of our infant or child who is seeking our attention.

We may think that while our infant is feeding in our arms, we can check our phone. When we do this, however, we are missing the opportunity to provide our child with mutual gaze and infant-directed language (see Face-toface and Infant-directed Speech). In our Western culture, these help build the connection with our child that is essential for their early brain and language development.

The distance between a feeding child and a parent’s eyes is the ideal distance for eye gaze. It enables us to easily focus on our child. Of course we can’t always do this, but it is a good goal to give our baby our full attention when possible, especially during the day.

Once feeding routines are established, we can focus more on efficiency during night-time feeds so that our baby falls back asleep as soon as possible. Hopefully, we can too. It is hard to be present if we are sleepdeprived (see ZZZs Sleep).

As our child develops, the ways we can give them our attention also change. We still need to focus on strengthening the connection between us, yet we have many more and varied opportunities to do this.

We can ask questions that encourage our child to respond using words and later, sentences, and not just answer “yes” or “no” (see Questions).

We can listen to and acknowledge their responses (see Listening). In this way we show our child that we are interested in them and what they have to say.

We can help them say things they don’t yet know how to say.

When we are fully present we are more able to notice when our child has made advances in their language skills or if they may need a little extra help.

Whenever possible, we want to look at our child when we are talking to them to show that we are present. Sometimes we aren’t able to do this and that is okay too. It’s about being present, not about being perfect.

Every parent has moments when they are not feeling well or are stressed about something, and cannot give their child their full attention. Fortunately, the human brain, even in young children, can handle some stress and in fact, needs some stress to develop resiliency. When we are not at our best we want

to let our child know that it is not their fault and we are still there for them. As some specialists say about parenting, “Being an imperfect parent is perfect.”

What You Can Do

The easiest way to start being more present with your child is to become aware of their need to have your attention. It is also important to become aware of the things that get in the way of giving them your attention.

Of course no parent can give their child their attention 100% of the time, and luckily, children don’t need this. In fact, practising waiting is a skill your child needs to learn.

What are the things that get in the way of your being present?

You or someone you love may be ill one day or you may be worried about something important. These might be worries about money, housing or marital issues, other children making demands, or fatigue.

What can you do?

Your child, even your young baby, will benefit if you: 

# Let them know that it is not their fault # Explain what is happening in words they understand # Reassure them as much as you can that you will figure it out and that they will be kept safe

Your child needs your attention to grow to be healthy.

“

You may want to:

# Call on adults you trust to help when you cannot do it all yourself.  Everybody needs help sometimes

# Find out what community supports exist to address some of the issues you are facing

# Recognize the importance of self-care.  It is not selfish to look after your needs as long as your child is safe.  Every parent needs a break, even if it is just time to talk to a good friend, take some deep breaths or have a cup of tea.  Find and enjoy moments of time every day that are just for you

Depending on their age and stage, your child does need to have your attention a lot of the time. This will not last forever. The strong attachment you build with your child, though, can last forever and puts your child on the path for future health, happiness, and lifelong learning. Celebrate that your child can thrive through things that you provide.

What else might prevent you from being present with your child?

There can be the pull of your electronic devices. Adults understand the feelings of rejection they can experience when they want to connect with their loved one and that person is focused on a screen instead of on them.

With your child it is more serious. They need your attention to grow to be healthy. When they are infants they need your gaze, your songs, your touch and your conversation. As they develop they need opportunities for turntaking with you throughout the day.

# Schedule times in your day to use your devices.  As much as possible do this when your child is sleeping or being cared for by someone else

# Technology is designed to be addictive.  Without realizing it you may be spending much more time than you intend being pulled into things you don’t really care about.  It can be hard to resist.

These are some tips professionals use to manage their technology in a purposeful way:

# Wear a watch so that you can check the time without your device

# Keep the items on your device accessible only if they help you be your best self (take time to do some soul-searching about your values and goals)

# Delete things you know are time-wasters.  You can look at them when your children don’t require your attention

# Move tempting items to a less accessible place on your device – or only have these on a main device you use during your scheduled technology times

# Move your device out of reach if you don’t really need it

# Take control of your technology.  You don’t have to let it control you, though that is what the developers want

Children do not outgrow the need for attention from the adults who are meaningful to them.

# Look for opportunities to give your child your full attention

As your child develops you will find more and varied ways to do this.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

You can:

# Engage in turn-taking conversations with infants and young children, using lots of eye contact and a sing-song voice.  Their “turn” may be gestures, gurgles or cries until they are able to use words (see Turn-taking) 

# Pay attention to what your child says and does as much as possible throughout the day and build on this to create conversations (see Conversations) 

# Play with them at their level, letting them take the lead, and ask questions that enable them to share what they are thinking and doing (see Questions) 

Use day-to-day activities as additional opportunities to talk with your child. You cannot always give them your full attention when doing things like cooking, driving and shopping. However, you can still involve them in your world and show that you are present.

Questions

What the Science Tells Us

QUETZAL Qq

Questions are a crucial part of language and they are a lot more complicated than many people realize! The way we ask and answer questions can be a nurturing experience for our child that shows our loving relationship or it can have the opposite effect and seem threatening or stressful.

Fortunately, we can learn to frame our questions in a loving way most of the time. We simply need to speak naturally and avoid “testing” our child too often. Testing can shut down our child’s curiosity. That being said, our child will encounter “testing questions” in school, so asking some “ questions” from time to time can be appropriate. Most of the time, however, we want to ask authentic questions that encourage our child to think, and give us responses we truly care about. Comments we make can also be conversation starters. As speech-language pathologists like to say, “Testing questions can be conversation stoppers. Responsive questions can be conversation starters.”

Children hear a lot of questions before they are able to answer with words. Without realizing it we quite naturally ask questions, even of a baby. These tend to be more “yes or no” questions, “Is your diaper wet?” “Are you hungry?” We are modeling how to ask questions – and answer them – from the time our baby is born, and even before! “Yes or no” questions are the first ones children typically respond to.

Our child is naturally curious and excited to learn more about the world. They need to ask questions. They are already asking us questions even before they can speak, by gazing or pointing at something. If we recognize that their gaze or their gesture is a question, we can respond.

We want to give our child the tools and encouragement to ask questions freely. We can model this. We can use the words they would use if they could. As always, it is about following our child’s lead and picking up on what they are interested in.

When children are older, questions become a more intrinsic part of conversations. Children ask us MANY questions that evolve in complexity over time. Our questions to them become more and more similar to questions we might ask of adults. Both children and adults progress toward conversations that include more open-ended questions (see Open-ended). These are questions for which there is no right or wrong response. They enable us to learn more about our child and how they think. And when our child is doing the asking they can learn more about us when we answer.

What You Can Do

You may think the best way to get a child to talk is to ask them questions, but this is not always true. Some questions will encourage conversation, and others may be conversation-stoppers and discourage your child from speaking or limit their responses to only one or two words. If they feel like they are being tested, or if you are asking too many questions, your child may not want to respond or might stop paying attention. Other times they may want to respond, but not know how to answer.

“Choice questions are often the easiest.

Some questions are simple to answer, while others can be quite complex. # Choice questions are often the easiest, especially if you are holding the items you are offering up.  You could hold up an orange and a banana out of your child’s reach and ask, 

• “Do you want an orange or a banana?”

Even before your child can speak they can answer these types of questions as they learn to reach or point to what they want. In giving them a choice, you have modelled the words for the objects, and you can model them again after they reach or point to what they want. For children who are experiencing communication delays, this can be an effective way to encourage your child to use words (see Delay).

Labeling their choice can help all children learn to use words and it enriches their learning in general. Offering options gives your child the opportunity to think and make a decision. It contributes to their healthy brain development and growing sense of independence.

“Yes” and “no” questions are also fairly easy for your child to respond to. They learn this quickly when it is something they do or do not like or want. 

• “Do you want broccoli?”

Your child may shake their head or turn away to indicate “no.” Young children usually learn to do this long before they can nod for “yes.” You can help them by modeling both responses.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

The above “yes” or “no” question is easier for them to answer than a question that requires their imagination, like

• “Does a horse say “meow?”

Your child will likely enjoy this kind of question when they have learned to play with words. Many children who are already using words or sentences love asking and answering silly questions like, 

• “Do you put boots on your hands?…Noooooo!!!.”

You or your child then has the opportunity to add on and talk about how silly you are! “Boots go on your feet! They help keep you dry. Silly Grandma!”

The next kinds of questions children tend to learn to respond to are “who,” “what” and “where” questions. These questions have concrete answers, which makes them a little easier to answer than “why,” “when” or “how” questions, which are more open-ended. You can help your child learn to answer all of these types of questions by modelling how to ask and answer them in your conversations and play. 

# “Why are we washing our hands?… Because they are dirty, from playing outside.”

With children of all ages it is important to wait after you ask a question to give them a chance to respond. can sometimes mean waiting about 5 seconds before you model a response. (Use this time to take a deep breath).

QUAIL

Children who are experiencing communication delays may need you to wait a little longer. 

It is helpful to wait for a few reasons:

# It lets your child know that it’s their turn to speak, and that you are interested in their response

# Sometimes kids need a little longer to think and respond

# Even if you have asked a question you think might be a little difficult, you’ve given your child a chance to try to respond, and they might just surprise you!

Try to notice how your child responds to skill and knowledge-testing questions, such as:

• “What’s this?”

• “What colour is this?”

• “What does this animal say?”

Some children enjoy showing how they can answer these questions. Other children don’t like them because they feel like they are being tested, and find this threatening.

If your child doesn’t seem to enjoy skill and knowledge-testing questions:

# Try turning your questions into comments, and then giving your child a chance to respond

In this way you can keep the conversation and interaction going.

# Instead of saying, “What’s this?” you can say, “Look! A cow!” or “Oh look! There’s a cow with purple spots”

# Instead of asking, “What colour is this?” you can say, “I see a green car”

# Instead of asking, “Who is that?” you can say, “There’s Pete the cat”

# Instead of asking, “What does the horse say?” you can say, “Listen! That horse is saying ‘neigh!’”

# Instead of asking, “What shape is this?” you can say, “I like triangles”

# Instead of asking, “Where is the rabbit” you can say, “There’s the rabbit. He’s hiding”

You can then wait for your child to add on more information.

# If your child is not yet using words, they may smile, or squeal with excitement 

# When your child knows some words they may be able to say, “moo!” or hold up and label another animal to show you 

# When your child is speaking in sentences they may respond by saying,  • “And here is a chicken!”

You now have an opportunity to build on what your child has said to create a conversation (see Conversation).

If your questions are natural and playful, chances are your child won’t feel like they are being tested and will feel encouraged to speak more, think more and problem-solve (see Open-ended).

120 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

When your child is older and asking more complex questions, you may think they want a complex answer. In reality they probably want a simple and truthful response. If they want more they will let you know and you can respond with more details until your child is satisfied.

When you use questions with your child you are contributing to their language and brain development and capacity to engage in critical thinking.

Questions are also a wonderful way to show respect for your child, and you can do this from the beginning of life. Each time you respond to your child’s questions or name what they are looking or pointing at, you are demonstrating a respectful way of using language that they will be able to use with others, and you.

QUOKKA

Repetition

What the Science Tells Us

Rr

Repetition is found in almost all aspects of our lives, such as the arts, education, sports and daily living. Science has revealed there is a good reason for this. Repetition helps with all kinds of learning, from physical to emotional, to cognitive. It can involve all of our senses and is strongly linked to the formation of memory.

Repetition is critical for language learning for children of all ages and stages. Our baby demonstrates this when they “babble.” They often repeat the same sounds, over and over such as “ba ba” or “da da.” (see Speech Sound Development, Appendix E) In response, we almost automatically say it back to them. As they learn words, they continue to do this as it is simpler to repeat the first syllable twice than it is to change to a new syllable in the middle of the word. For example, our baby may say “baba” for “bottle” or “wa wa” for water and our toddler may say, “baba” for “bottle” and “ba ba” for “balloon.” This repetition of a word part is known as reduplication.

Repeated experiences strengthen the neural connections that help us learn. Each experience leads to connections between neurons in the brain. As neuroscientists like to say, “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” In other words, the more experiences are repeated, the stronger the connections. If we think back to learning to ride a bicycle, we may recall our wobbly beginnings, then how we learned to maintain our balance and use

our brakes. Eventually, we could ride automatically. Throughout this process our brain was in the background helping us by building and strengthening pathways between neurons. With language, the more we hear the same thing over and over, the more likely we will remember it.

It is a general principle that print material only needs to present information once, yet if we are presented with the same information orally, over the radio, in a speech or a lecture, it is most often repeated several times and in different ways. This is because we can reread print information, controlling the number of repetitions, but we can’t always rewind what someone has said.

Every culture has songs, rhymes and stories that incorporate repetition. These appear throughout life. They are used with little ones to soothe, entertain and teach language. They are also used by adults who sing anthems, hymns or sway together at rock concerts. Adults working together at arduous tasks, cheering at sports events or marching in the military also use rhythmic repetitive patterns. Our child needs these rhythmic patterns to learn and retain language. That is why our child is attracted to all kinds of rhymes, including nonsensical ones. Children all over the world love repetitive stories and respond to rhythmic movements and beats.

Because all children love repetition, and enjoy making games with language, it can be hard for us to recognize if our child is developing typically or perhaps has a developmental challenge. If we are concerned about our child’s very strong need for repetition we can consult with a health professional who will be able to reassure us or direct us to the support our child needs (see When and

How to Seek Help). Our child may frequently repeat back what we have said (echolalia). This may be part of typical language development or a sign that our child would benefit from an assessment by a health professional. Similarly, if our child repeatedly requires us to say the same thing in the same ritualistic way this can be another indication that an assessment would be helpful.

In general, repetition is valuable for our child in many aspects of life, including learning to self-regulate. Creating healthy boundaries is an important part of our parenting role. When our child knows what to expect – when we set clear, unwavering, fair boundaries – they feel secure. Research shows that when their need for security is met our child learns and develops best.

It isn’t enough to set a boundary and tell our child once. They need frequent, gentle reminders and consistent and fair consequences. Being consistent with our child is one of the greatest challenges of being a parent! Our child benefits when we also work to achieve consistency with our partner, even if they no longer live in the same home, and with caregivers and educators in the community.

Conversations that reflect our consistency provide an excellent opportunity for language learning. At every age and stage, our child benefits from knowing the reasons for boundaries and from talking about them as often as needed. As our child gets older we will want to involve them in the setting of boundaries.

Healthy boundaries contribute to our child’s mental health and let them know we care about them. In the same way as an “armsaround-the-child” hug helps our child feel secure, boundaries

define zones of safety and provide the security of knowing what is expected. A chaotic environment is difficult for children. It gets in the way of their healthy development and learning. Another reason our child needs boundaries is so they can “push them” on their path to independence.

Routines are a form of repetition. Predictability, in books, in play and in life helps our child feel secure. Often, “good” behaviour is simply the result of our child knowing what is expected of them –and being well rested, well fed and well exercised.

When we clearly define the repetitive steps in daily activities, such as “clean teeth before bedtime,” or when we play games with rules, or model taking turns in conversations, our child is learning how they should behave in a certain situation. It can take thousands of repetitions for this kind of learning to become internalised by a child.

Our child wants to hear the same thing over and over again because familiarity and predictability comfort them, give them a sense of control and help them feel safe. Children seem to instinctively know what the research shows, that repetition is necessary for learning – all kinds of learning.

What You Can Do

From the beginning of life you can introduce repetition into your daily routines with your child. This will help with their language learning.

Throughout the day, as you go about your activities and talk about your routines, your child will hear familiar language. The repetition of routines and

language lets your child know what to expect. When children know what to expect and what to do, they feel safe enough to relax and learn.

With young infants routine is a part of life that lends itself well to language learning. Each time you pick your baby up, feed or change your baby, dress or bathe them, take them for walks or put them down for their nap, you can:

# Use songs and games.  This will help them learn to communicate with you using gestures, words, or sentences, depending on their stage of communication.

• From the earliest days, follow your baby’s lead.  When they say, “ah ah” or “ba ba,” respond to them by “babbling” back with the same sounds 

• Make up songs you can sing over and over.  You may want to use familiar tunes and include your child’s name.  These songs can tell your child what they are doing or going to do 

• Invent little games you can play over and over.  This can be useful when dressing your child.  For example, “First we’re putting the sock on your left foot, your left foot, your left foot.  Then we’ll put one on your right foot, your right foot, your right foot.” Even rolling a ball toward a young baby becomes a game when you do it over and over, say what you are doing and clap each time or say, “Yay!” 

• Play tickling games.  Infants, toddlers and young children generally love these.  Hold up your hands in front your face and gesture for the tickle right before you do it.  Depending on their age and stage they will respond differently, but they soon learn “the routine” and let you know it.  Even young babies will come to predict what is coming next, and will respond with excitement when you gesture for the tickle. Pause before continuing.  If they are not yet using words or gestures, they might squeal, laugh, or kick their legs as their turn in the game. Older children may try to

127 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

“protect” themselves (but they may really want you to “win”) or they may even tickle you back. Be aware that some children do not like these games and it is important to respect their wishes. 

# Use songs and games with your child at every stage.  Make it a little easier for your child to know how and when to take a turn 

• Repeat the game until you see that your child knows what to do

• Pause during your songs and games and wait to see if your child “fills in the blank.” This will look different depending on their stage of communication

# Model lots of gestures during your games so your child can see examples of how to use them.

• If you are playing a game where an action takes place such as “Ring Around the Rosy,” use a pointing down gesture in addition to your words when you say, “we all fall down!” After your child is familiar with the routine, pause right before you say/gesture “down” to see whether your child will point or say the word 

• With songs and games, pause right before the most exciting part of the game.  That is when your child will be the most motivated to communicate to help keep the fun going

# With children of all stages, highlight and repeat key words in your sentences to teach new vocabulary, or to help your child understand you better.  As your child advances through the different stages of development they will respond accordingly, first with gestures, and eventually, with words 

• When your child is starting to use phrases you can give them a choice using a phrase such as, “Should we fall down? Or jump up?” 

# For all stages, as soon as your child communicates their message, follow through and continue the game right away.

128 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

This is especially important as you are introducing new concepts to your child.

# Each time you put your child in their car seat you can:  • Repeat the words you say as you click them in • Gently remind them, with words or a song, that this is how you keep them safe

# When you are preparing to put your child to bed you can:  • Start with words about bed time • Create a routine that may involve • A bath • Changing into pyjamas • Brushing (gums or) teeth • A song • A story • Turning out the light • Leaving the room

RACCOON

For many parents, unfortunately, using car seats and settling your child at bed time do not always go smoothly. The same is true for any routine you create for your child. If you are struggling with this, seek help (from a parenting group, a public health nurse, your local library or other trustworthy sources).

It is important for your child to be safe in their car seat and to get the right amount of sleep. You may find that once your child is sleeping well they miraculously start following all sorts of routines better (see ZZZs Sleep).

In all situations it is important to clearly explain the routine:

130 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Then, you need to be consistent. This consistency lets your child know what the boundaries and consequences are, and helps them feel safe. Boundaries and consequences need to be fair, clearly explained and suitable for your child’s age and stage.

You will need to gently and frequently remind your child of boundaries and consequences. Your child needs repetition in every aspect of their life.

The more your important routines are predictable, fair and consistent when your child is little, the more likely it is your child will follow routines when they are older, especially if they are involved in creating the new routines.

At every stage, conversations about routines are an opportunity for language development.

One routine, that can cause even the most patient of parents to inwardly groan, often happens at bedtime. Your child, like many other children, may only want the same book read night after night. There is a reason for this. In addition to somehow knowing they need this repetition for language learning, your child is comforted by familiarity. Knowing exactly what is going to happen in the book also gives them a sense of control. Adults are not that different. In times of stress “grown-ups” also find comfort in re-reading books or re-watching videos or movies they know.

Repetition is everywhere so when your child asks to play the same game over and over and over, remind yourself that this is a good sign. Your child wants to learn, and when you play along you are helping to strengthen the connections in their brain.

# Tell your child what you are going to do and what they are going to do

Sign Language

What the Science Tells Us

Sign languages like American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des Signes du Québec (LSQ) have emerged and evolved in communities of Deaf people in Canada. Along with Indigenous sign languages they are now protected as “the primary languages for communication by Deaf persons in Canada.”

In sign languages, handshapes, movements, locations on the body and in space, palm orientation, and facial expressions combine together to create sentences. Voice is not used. Each sign language has its own signs and grammatical rules. Sign languages are not spoken words converted into signs. They are different and distinct, just like French and English are different.

Sign languages can be used to do all of the things that spoken languages can: engage in conversations, tell stories, make jokes, create poetry, teach, and explain scientific concepts.

Babies who are deaf or hard of hearing evolve like hearing babies through the various stages of language development. However, they babble with their hands. Babies who learn a sign language and a spoken language babble manually and vocally at about the same age developmentally. All children develop their receptive skills before their expressive skills. To develop their receptive language it is important for babies with hearing loss to see the signer and have eye contact with them.

“Sign languages can be used to do all of the things that spoken languages can.

Most children with hearing loss – 90% according to statistics – are born to hearing parents. In the past it could take months or years for us to know that our child does not have full hearing and would benefit by learning a sign language. That is no longer the case in British Columbia and many other jurisdictions today.

The province of British Columbia recently celebrated screening 500,000 babies through the BC Newborn Hearing Screening Program. Because of this, hearing loss is most often identified at birth. As with other conditions, early identification has many benefits. With early identification, we can make decisions early in our baby’s life about communication methods. We will want to learn more about sign languages, explore other options, such as spoken languages, and consider hearing assistive technologies.

Early exposure to sign language input is very important for children with hearing loss. More and more research shows that language deprivation (when a child does not have access to a language) in the early years of life has long-term consequences for their cognitive and social and emotional development. If our child is language-deprived they may have difficulties in school, even in subjects like math where they may have excelled early on, doing arithmetic. Once problems written in sentences are introduced, our child may find it more difficult to do math if they have not had full, early exposure to sign language.

When a child is deaf or hard of hearing, they cannot hear (or fully understand) the language spoken around them, and this too can lead to language deprivation. If our child is deaf, a cochlear

implant may be suggested if it is of benefit. Cochlear implants provide access to sound for many children, but they do not transmit speech sounds the same way as natural hearing. Because of this, cochlear implant users will need speech and listening therapy. Sign languages can be valuable for all children with hearing loss as they enable communication in many contexts.

Children with hearing loss rely on their other senses to learn. Sign language engages vision and touch enabling sophisticated language development.

If we are new to sign language, there are resources available to help us learn along with our child. Learning a sign language can coincide with our child’s hearing and speech development. It can minimize or even avoid the effects of language deprivation, and it has other benefits too. It can also open new doors to lead us and our child into a whole new language and culture.

What You Can Do

You may find this section helpful if you are the parent of a deaf or hard-ofhearing baby or a caring friend or relative who wants to provide support.

If you learn that your baby is deaf or hard of hearing, there are resources that have been designed especially to support you and your family. Seek these out. (see Appendix C Sign Language Resources).

# Join parent support groups and meet other families who use sign language. You may be surprised to learn how enriching it is to connect with other families who are on the same journey as you.  In the Deaf community you will find support and signers who can communicate with and make friends with your child

SQUIRREL

• Meeting with a variety of families, along with health professionals, can help you make informed decisions about the various communication opportunities available for your child. Your child’s life can be enriched by more than one language

# Teach your baby sign language beginning as early as possible after they are born.  Take sign language classes offered by the specialized agencies, such as the BC Family Hearing Resource Centre or the Deaf Children’s Society of BC.  If you live outside of BC search out the resources that are offered in your community.  Services may include a Family Communication Program where a Deaf ASL (or sign language) instructor comes to your home and teaches the whole family together 

• Signing between parent and child does not have to be perfect! Often, family members learn together and figure out ways to convey messages amongst themselves

# Attend ASL story times at public libraries such as the Burnaby Public Library, Surrey Public Library, Okanagan Regional Library and Vancouver Public Library.  Wherever you live, check if your local library or community organization offers sign language story times; if they don’t, then suggest that they do so 

# Introduce your child to books early in life (see Books). Books can have added benefits for your child as the grammar in sign languages is different from that found in books.  If your child is familiar with the way story books are written, this can help them when they are older and learning to read and write 

136 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# Hearing babies learn language by hearing language that is directed to them and language they overhear others speaking.  If your baby can’t hear, you can still direct language to them and give them opportunities to see sign languages being used between signers 

• Attend play groups, Deaf community events, watch TV programs and videos to create opportunities for your baby to see others using sign language

# Your baby with hearing loss will benefit when as many members of the family as possible are able to fully communicate with them. Siblings generally love learning a sign language and chances are other family members will too.  Everyone in the family who is learning to sign benefits when language is directed to them and when they can observe others signing 

• The first months of life are an emotional time of intense learning for all new parents, so remember to be gentle with yourself and make some time for self-care

There can be a variety of reasons why your baby needs to learn a sign language. Maybe you or others in the family are Deaf. It’s good to know that:

# From the beginning of life, babies can learn multiple languages and these can include signed and spoken languages (see Heritage) 

Your baby learns sign language best when they see your face and hands, and this gives you an ideal viewpoint to see their language progress.

As your baby observes you and others signing they will start to babble with their hands. As they get older their babbles will develop into sign attempts and eventually, clearer signs.

Babies who are both deaf and blind benefit from “hand-over-hand” signing. Other babies learn by watching you. If your toddler becomes frustrated trying to sign, you can ask, “Do you need help?” Or they may gesture that they need help by holding their hands up in front of you.You can then sign, “Help?” (meaning, “Do you want help?”) If they say yes, you can:

# Pause your child # Model the correct sign # Correct their handshape # Do hand-over-hand if needed

All babies: # Love to see your face and facial expressions (see Face-to-face)

• When practical, position yourself face-to-face across from your baby so they can see your face and hands.  Use sign language along with pictures and objects. Repeat the sign while pointing to the picture or object several times (see Repetition).  Your smiles and enthusiasm, with every sign attempt, will encourage your child to keep trying.  It does not matter if your baby does not make a correct sign.  Continue modelling and encouraging them to sign.  They will get better.

• When you use books sit so that your baby can see you and the book clearly.  You may want to sit across from your child and have a bookstand placed so that your child can easily see you and the open pages of the book.  That way they can see you sign while looking at the book.  No doubt as your child grows you will come up with many creative ways to share books with them

138 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• Show us what they are interested in.  Follow your child’s lead.  Notice where your eyes and their eyes are looking.  They will often look where you have just looked, and then look back at you.  That’s your cue to sign about whatever your child has just looked at 

# Enjoy songs, signs and rhythms 

• You can use signed chants.  For example, at bath time, you can sign, “I… WASH, WASH, WASH! [pause] SHOWER, SHOWER, SHOWER! [pause] BATH, BATH, BATH! [pause] FUN WITH MOM/DAD!”

• Lay your child on their back on the floor.  Lean over on your knees and sign, tap, walk fingers, tickle and invent other motions, using the above chant or other chants with rhythm, and lots of repetition (see Repetition, Vocabulary)

• When your child is on their back on the floor or sitting across from you, you can sign “bear,” then make the sign “bear” on your child, tapping their arms and legs with rhythm and repetition to mimic the bear walking up and down

# Learn more easily from interactions that are simplified for them infant-directed signs in the same way as hearing babies benefit from infant-directed speech

• Infant-directed speech is more interesting to infants than adult speech, and infant-directed sign is more interesting to infants than (adult-directed) sign language.  Infants pay more attention, enjoy the slower pace and exaggerated movements.  These things make it easier for your child to learn.  So don’t feel silly using IDS, use it knowing that you are connecting with your baby and helping them learn at the same time 

When your child is not in your arms, you can use the “tap/ sign” signal. This lets them know a sign communication SHEEP

is coming. You can gently give them a light double-tap on their arm or shoulder from the side or tap on a surface so they feel the vibrations. If you are a hearing parent of a deaf child, this “tap” technique also reminds you to sign to your child. A wave of the hand can get your child’s attention when you are at a distance.

If you are the parent of a deaf or hard-of-hearing child, you can try, perhaps with some modifications, ALL of the things recommended in this book as your baby learns sign language.

Some examples are: 

# Turn-taking (also called serve and return) conversations where you follow your baby/child’s lead

# Reading and signing stories to your young child starting when they are an infant

# Playing little games, including rhythms and songs, especially ones that involve touching parts of your baby’s body with repetition

# Signing to your child while carrying out daily routines such as preparing meals or doing the laundry.  (Things may take a little longer, such as dressing your child and signing at the same time)

You can use a sign language, the practical strategies above and elsewhere in this book, and loving touch, to build the trusting relationship your baby needs. As your child develops language and literacy skills they will be able to explore their interests and grow to become happy and contributing members of the communities they belong to.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Baby Sign is Not Sign Language

Many parents are familiar with baby sign . Baby sign is not a true language like American Sign Language or Langue des Signes du Québec. It does not have sentence structure rules, and cannot be used to speak with other people in full sentences to convey complex ideas. With baby sign full voicing is used.

If our child is deaf or hard of hearing, they need to learn a real language, like ASL, not baby sign.

Baby sign can be thought of more like gestures, not language. Gestures carry meaning and play an important role in communication, but we cannot have full and complex conversations using gestures alone.

To date, there is no strong research to support any long-term languagerelated benefits for teaching our child baby sign. There is also no evidence that it is harmful for our child. We may find it helps us to communicate and connect with our child early on.

There may be other positive outcomes for our baby too. Baby sign may encourage us to pay more attention to our baby’s expressions and intent to communicate. It may also give our child the tools they need to express what they want while they are still learning to speak, though once again, there is no reliable evidence to indicate this.

Baby sign can also be helpful for children with normal hearing who are experiencing speech or language delay.

Common signs include: help, more, stop, dog, cat, milk, apple, or bubbles. There are websites, videos, books and classes where we can learn the baby sign gestures for these words. Frequently, we naturally create our own signs within our family, often initiated by our child. This can be especially true for children who are experiencing communication delays. If they start using made-up gestures for words, we can treat these as “verbal attempts.” We can respond by saying the word, and then following through with their request. For example, if our child gestures for milk, we can say, “Milk. You want milk. Okay! Let’s get you some milk.” Providing this repetition in a natural way helps them learn to say the word and lets them know we have understood them.

We do not need baby sign to communicate successfully with our baby. When we are attuned to them, pay attention to them, try to learn their cues and engage them in back-and-forth conversation, using turn-taking or serve and return, our baby does benefit in long-lasting ways, and there is strong research to support that!

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Turn-taking

What the Science Tells Us

TOUCAN Tt

Turn-taking, also known as serve and return, is the essence of conversation, and social play. It is comprised of back-and-forth exchanges between conversation partners. We are generally drawn to people who know how to take turns in a conversation. This is why we want our child to learn this art and skill. It will help them connect with people and build relationships throughout life.

Fortunately, our child learns a lot about turn-taking from the everyday conversations we have with them as well as by listening to conversations we have with others. Most often, without even realizing it, we are modelling many aspects of conversation.

Among other things, we are showing our child: how long to wait before starting a turn; how to do a small turn that keeps a conversation flowing; how to use gestures or say “yes,” or “uh-huh” to tell our conversational partner that we are listening; and how to pass the conversation back to our conversational partner by asking a question.

Children start learning about turn-taking long before they can talk. When our child screeches or grunts or babbles and we babble back, we are engaging in serve and return or turn-taking behaviour with them.

When we listen to what our child has to say before taking our turn, we are modeling how to listen before speaking. The more our child experiences this, the greater the chance they will learn to listen before speaking.

If we interrupt our child when they are taking a long time to say something, they learn that it is acceptable to interrupt someone who is speaking. We may explain that interrupting is not the way to hold a conversation, but our child is watching us all the time and learning from what we do, not just what we say. In some families and communities, and often in political circles, “interrupting” seems culturally acceptable. However, actively listening and responding when there is a gap in the conversation, is generally appreciated in all communities.

Parents may have heard about research showing that children who hear more words learn language faster, and that children with better early language skills have more successes in all sorts of other tasks, like learning math or reading. They may be worried about exposing their child to enough words. However, the number of words in those studies was just an easy way to measure language exposure. The number of words is not what’s most important for our child. What is more important is how we use the words with our child when we are talking with them, and how many conversation turns we give them every day.

Children who get more conversational input learn better and faster. As much as possible, every day, we want to talk with our child (and not at them) and give them many conversational turns. As much as possible, we also want to avoid talking FOR our child, when someone directs a question at them.

What You Can Do

Most people understand turn-taking when playing games. They may not realize that turn-taking is also the key ingredient of good conversations. It is a learned skill.

You are your child’s first play and communication partner. The back-andforth exchanges you practise together teach your child a life skill that will help them in their childhood, and beyond.

So many good things happen when you practise turn-taking with your child in play and conversation.

# You show them that they are loved and valued

# You are building your all-important relationship

# You are helping them learn communication skills that they will later be able to use to build relationships with others

The longer you can keep the back-and-forth exchanges going, the more opportunities your child has to learn.

Turn-taking begins at the beginning of life, and continues throughout life.

With a newborn you can: 

# Use touch, words or sounds to respond to their cries, burps or gurgles

• When you do this you are using turn-taking or serve

and return, and creating your very first “conversations” with them (see Conversation)

• Their “turn” may be a smile, coo, wave of the arms, or kick of the legs

• You can respond using a sing-song voice and then leave a space for your baby to have their turn again (see Infant-directed Speech)

Opportunities for turn-taking are everywhere, at every age and stage. Watch for ways your child is trying to start games and conversations with you:

# They may drop a toy from the table of their highchair 

• When you give back the toy and respond, you keep the interaction going

Parents often become tired of this “game.” Feel free to invent a new one.

Games are an important part of your child’s language development.

# A child who is using phrases or sentences, may seek your attention with a comment or a question 

• As much as possible, respond with interest and keep the conversation going

The key thing is that you notice when your child wants to interact with you, and you respond by providing opportunities for them to learn and connect. 

When talking with your child, keep in mind that children who are learning to use language need a little extra time to respond. It can be difficult to do, but wait a little longer than what feels natural.

# Take a breath and count to 5 in your head before helping your child respond

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Serve and return turn-taking begins at the beginning of

“

life.

You can help your child learn when it is their turn in a conversation or a game. Your pauses and body language signal this. 

To signal that you are keen to hear what they have to say, you may quite naturally: # Lean in # Smile # Raise your eyebrows # Widen your eyes

These gestures show something called “expectant waiting.” They tell your child that it is their turn and that you are interested in them and waiting for their response.

It can take time for you and your child to learn the “turn-taking (conversation) dance.” It is worth practising because being able to do it smoothly will help your child throughout life!

TIGER

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Understand

What the Science Tells Us

From the first moment we hold our newborn, we wonder what they understand. It’s a puzzle that we will want to solve throughout their childhood and in fact throughout their life. Language can provide one of the biggest clues.

Most language users understand more than they can express. That is to say, our receptive vocabulary is much greater than our productive or expressive vocabulary. This is especially true for language learners, such as young children. Sometimes, however, our child behaves in ways that lead us to think they understand more about language than they really do. Our baby might reach for the red block when we ask them to. We cannot assume they understand that the word “red” refers to that colour wherever it is found. We won’t know this until they reliably point at the red ball, the red car, the red dot in a book, etc.

As our child begins talking, they grow in their understanding of language. It is difficult for us to fully know how much – or how little – they understand. We are easily misled because they can take a few words they have heard and combine them with what they know about the world in a way that seems to make sense.

Ongoing conversation, however, may reveal that they have misunderstood a key concept. For instance, we may be talking with a friend about a

greenhouse we want to build in the garden. Our child may overhear and say, “Wow. I can’t wait.” Much later they may ask, “Will the family that moves into the green house have kids?”

If we say something to our child and they don’t respond appropriately, it doesn’t always mean that they weren’t listening. It might mean that they have not understood and don’t know how to answer. They may not have understood because of the words or they may not have understood because of the language structure we used.

We may not understand our child’s use of language structure either. For example, we may be concerned when our young child says, “I putted my apple core in the garbage.” In fact, this is what is known as a good error. It shows us that our child has understood the regular use of the past tense, such as “I walked” or “I dressed myself” and has generalised from that rule.

Research shows that language acquisition is a complex process. It takes a long time for our child to fully understand how all of the various bits of words and sentences relate to meaning. Even when our child produces more complicated and longer sentences, their understanding of words and affixes can be incomplete. (Affixes are those word elements that are tagged on to the beginning or ending of a word, and that change the meaning or function of the word.) For example, most children learning English produce the –s that goes on verbs, such as “I run,” “she runs” by 3 or 4 years of age. Experiments show, however, that they don’t fully understand all of the meanings packed into –s until 5-7 years of age. Their lack of full understanding can be very hard to see, though, because they seem to say things correctly.

It is always helpful to check that our child has understood what we have said. However, checking for understanding is not that simple. Instead of asking, “Do you understand?” it is more effective to ask a question that requires our child to respond with details or to do something unusual.

# Mother (to her young child): “When it is time for our new baby to be born, I will go to the hospital for a few days.  You are going to stay with Grandma so she can look after you.”

# Child: “OK”

# Mother: “Where will you sleep when I’m in the hospital?”

# Child: “In my bed, in my bedroom”

This lets the mother know that further explanations are needed!

However, if the child says, “in Grandma’s house,” the mother knows her child has understood.

She may then want to ask, “Where will I sleep?” Her child’s response will let her know if she needs to explain “hospital.”

Conversations like these help to uncover if we are “on the same page,” that is, if we and our child understand the same thing.

Checking for understanding has additional benefits. Our child may also learn:

# A new word or sentence structure

# That when we check to see if they have understood something it is because we care about them

“Show and tell” is a typical clue that helps your child understand more.

“

# That it’s OK not to know something

# That they can always ask us for help

Our child is learning language, and so much more.

What You Can Do

In general, language users understand more than they can say. In scientific terms, their receptive language skills are greater than their expressive language skills. This is especially true for infants and young children.

Everyone uses clues to help make sense of communications. Your child does this too. No matter the age or stage of your child, you can help them understand what you are saying by giving them lots of clues.

“Show and tell” is a typical clue that helps your child understand more.

You can show your child an action or item and match it with words and language. This helps all children learn and is especially helpful if your child is experiencing communication delays (see Delay). 

# You can do this outside when pointing at:

• A tree • A car • A house • A dog

# You can “show and tell” in the house, when you are talking about:

• The carrot you are chopping

• The book you are sharing with your child

In all of these situations, use lots of gestures and point to or hold up objects. This gives your child extra clues that help them understand the words you are using:

• “Look at your hands!” [point to their hands]

• “Your hands are dirty! We need to wash them” [rub hands together, as when washing]

• “Come!” [gesture to follow]

• “Let’s wash your hands!” [rub hands together]

Matching words to what you are doing and matching the length of your sentences to your child’s language level helps them understand better.

If your child is not yet using words, has just started to use words or is experiencing a communication delay, you can support their understanding when you: 

UAKARI

When sentences are too long, or when

speak too quickly, it’s easy for your child to tune you out. By matching the length of your sentences to your child’s language level, and speaking at a slow but natural pace, you help them understand what you are saying and it’s easier for them to pay attention.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Instead of saying:

• “Before your nap we need to clean up all those toys that are spread out all over the house so that no one hurts their foot walking on them.  We can sing our clean-up song as we do it.”

You could say:

• “Look at all those toys! (gesture to the toys all around the room)

• Your toys are spread all over the house!

• Someone could hurt their foot walking on those toys

• First we need to clean up the toys! Then it is time for your nap!

• Let’s sing our clean-up song”

At every stage of development you can provide clues to further your child’s understanding. For instance, picture books can help a younger child see and name objects. 

When your child is using more complex sentences picture books can help your child understand a more complicated story. 

Even books with only words, often called “chapter books,” provide helpful clues without pictures. They develop story lines and include details about the personalities of characters in the book that help children understand unfamiliar words and worlds. 

It takes time and practice, and lots of missteps, for you and your child to correctly understand each other. In fact, it takes a lifetime. Checking for understanding from early in life is a great habit.

156 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

URCHIN

Vocabulary

What the Science Tells Us

Language learning starts even before birth, but it is usually our child’s first word that we notice and celebrate as it is a clear indication that our child is learning the language (or languages) around them.

At some point, our health provider will likely ask about the size of our child’s productive vocabulary. They want to know how many words our child produces (says or signs) that we can understand, because a small productive vocabulary (words they say) can be an early indicator of language problems or hearing loss.

Our child may have a larger vocabulary than we think. To language scientists, anything that a child reliably says the same way and that seems to mean the same thing, counts as a word. For instance, if our child says “bup” when they want their special blanket, that counts as a word. Sometimes a child uses the same sound for more than one thing. They may say “da” for “dog,” “dad” and “that.” These count as three words. If we sign in our home we can also include the number of signs our child uses in our word count.

Similarly, if we use more than one language in our home we should count all of the words our child produces in any language. Especially early on, when our child is learning more than one language, their vocabulary in each of the languages tends to be smaller than that of a child who is learning only one language. But when we add up all of the words they know in any language, our child knows as many words in total as a child who is only learning one

language. Researchers (and doctors) care about the total number of words when assessing vocabulary size, rather than the words from just one language.

A lot of work goes into learning a word. First, our child has to figure out what sounds make up a word. Adults hear each word as separate. Children, on the other hand, hear them as run-on speech. Our child has to figure out where each word begins and ends in order to learn what sounds make up each word. Then they have to figure out what that “chunk of sound” means.

Learning the meaning of concrete nouns, that is objects they can see or touch, is often simpler than learning the meaning of verbs. If we say “cup” (noun), and our child can see a cup, the link between the word and the object is straightforward. If we say “chasing” (a type of verb) that can be a bit harder. However, if our child knows the relevant nouns it can help them figure out the meaning of a verb. If we say, “The dog is chasing the ball” and they know what dog and ball mean, and they can see a dog chasing a ball, then they can most likely figure out what “chasing” means.

Both nouns and verbs that refer to concrete things and actions are typically easier for our child to learn than abstract words. Things they can see, do, hold, or touch are easier for them than words that cannot be physically experienced. For example, words like “apple,” “jump,” or “block” will likely be easier for our child to learn than words such as “air,” “thinking,” “because,” or “the.” Our child will learn abstract words such as these through conversations we have together.

Our child learns more than words when we have conversations with them. They also learn how their world works. It is not possible for any of us

“A child’s vocabulary at age 3 impacts their reading comprehension at age 9.

to learn everything just by observing the world. We also learn from other people when they tell us things they know. Using language is an amazingly efficient way to impart knowledge. Most often, the more our child knows, the more easily they can learn more. Knowing and understanding many words early in life, in any language, is helpful for our child. It has an impact on their future school experience and their ability to understand what they read when they are a few years older. As indicated in section “Books,” a recent study shows a link between a child’s vocabulary at age 3 and their reading comprehension at age 9.

If our child is not meeting their language milestones when they are little they may still meet them later on. Language scientists, who observe children over many years, report that they have seen children, who were struggling with language when they were toddlers, catch up to their peers in grade two. Similarly, speech-language pathologists who provide early intervention also see children catch up to their peers. All children can find it challenging to understand and use words that involve feelings and emotions. Words like “love” or “sad” or “frustrated” are more complicated and usually require explanations. When we tell our child what we feel when we are frustrated, excited, appreciative, sad and happy, we are modeling ways for them to talk about their feelings. These conversations are great opportunities to explain what words mean. They also give our child a language for recognizing and talking about feelings.

VICUNA

Teaching our child the language of feelings, from the earliest possible moments, can help them throughout life. It can help them develop selfawareness that leads to self-regulation. It can help them understand others, develop empathy, and build lasting relationships.

An enjoyable way for us to continue and expand our conversations with our child about words – and impart knowledge – is through storytelling, with and without books. Storytelling creates a natural vocabulary-learning environment for our child. It enables us to talk about feelings, emotions and all types of nouns and verbs. It allows us to demonstrate or point out faces that look sad or happy. We can intersperse our reading or storytelling with questions or comments that lead to back-and-forth conversations. And as we do all this, we can talk about the love we feel for our child.

What You Can Do

Your child benefits when they can understand, and later use, a wide variety of words. The best way to help your child learn new words is through experience and exposure. Conversations are key.

You can help your child learn new words by matching what they do to language, and by using new words often in similar and different situations. 

For example, to help your child understand and use the word “up”: # You can highlight the word when you say, • “You want up? Up into my arms!” every time you pick them up.

It is then helpful to use and label your actions in other situations, such as:

• “We are going up the stairs”

• “We are blowing bubbles up high”

• “We are picking up toys”

Your child will learn new words and language when you speak to them about what they are experiencing, especially if you talk about things that they are interested in and that are happening in the moment.

Help your child learn a variety of words at every age and stage. Many parents talk about and focus on object names, colours, and numbers. But there are so many other types of words you can use that will enrich your child’s life:  # Describing words – soft, fast, yucky, yummy, pretty, dark, big, tiny

Action words – jump, run, roll, squish, kick, play # Location words – in, on, under, beside # Belonging words – my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, their, theirs # Social words – hi, bye, cool, awesome # Question words – who, what, where, when, why, how # Feeling words – sad, happy, angry, tired, frustrated, excited, surprised

When you expand your child’s vocabulary beyond object names, colours and numbers to include many types of words, you are increasing your child’s ability to combine words. You are also expanding the range of topics they can talk about.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

When you use feeling words with your child they are learning how to use them. Depending on their age and stage, you can help your child become more aware of the emotions they are experiencing:

• Child: “I’m frustrated!” 

• Parent: “Yes, I can see you are frustrated.  Is it because your crayon broke?”

• Child: “Yes, and I wanted to use that colour a lot”

• Parent: “Sometimes, I get frustrated too.  When I am frustrated it feels like my body is tight.  Sometimes I get a belly ache.  Is that the same for you?”

• Child: “I just want my crayon fixed.” (child tries to stick crayon back together)

• Parent: “When my crayon broke this is what my dad did.  He made two crayons that worked.  He peeled off the paper.  Should we do that?”

• Child: “Yes”

• Parent: “Look, now you have two crayons that work”

• Child (big smile) “Yeah”

• Parent: “You seem happy now.  I can tell by your smile”

When the parent talks about frustration, they mirror the child’s words and feelings. When you mirror your child’s words and feelings they feel “heard” and understood. Mirroring can work like magic to help your child calm down. (It can work for adults too).

In another situation …

• Child: “I want to play at Morgan’s house” 

• Parent: “I know you do, sweetie, but it is not possible today”

• Child: “But I, but I, want to play with Morgan!” (child has a meltdown)

VERVET MONKEY

• Parent: “I can see how upset you are.  You have angry tears.  I’m sad you can’t do what you want to do today”

• Child: “It’s not fair!”

• Parent: “I feel upset and angry when things don’t seem fair.  When I feel like that there is something that I do that makes me feel less upset.  Want to try?”

• Child: “okay …”

• Parent: “I lie down on the floor and I take four big breaths so that my tummy rises and falls.  I have an idea.  Let’s find your elephant stuffy and give him a ride … on your tummy!”

• Child: (lies down near parent with toy elephant on their tummy…)

• Parent and child together: “1… 2…  3…  4…”

• Parent: “I think your elephant is having fun going up and down on your tummy.  Want to do it again? (see Appendix F Stress Relievers)” If your child knows the language of feelings, from early in life, it can help them throughout life. It can help them:

Beginning early in life, expose your child to a variety of books.  Children often like the same book, over and over.  Do not despair the repetition helps them learn new words and understand what they mean (see Repetition)

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• Ask questions in the story or make comments that encourage back-and-forth or turn-taking conversations (see Turn-taking)

# Tell children stories about themselves when they were younger, their family and traditions

• As they learn about their family and culture they are also learning how to use words and tell a story

Keep in mind that children learn best when they are interested and engaged. They are more likely to pay attention (and learn) when the topic interests them and they have an interested communication partner. They are also more likely to stay engaged if you let them take the lead when playing together.

When your child is very young they learn when they are face-to-face with you, their loving and responsive caregiver (see Face-to-face). 

As they get older, your child continues to need you. They learn more and faster when they interact with you than they do from a screen (see Appendix G Technology). 

Electronic devices are part of our culture and sometimes “save the day!”

They can provide a way for your child to be face-to-face with absent family members and friends. They can add to heritage and other language learning, and provide assistive technology for children with learning disabilities. So far, however, they do not match up to human communication partners! This is because you listen, observe your child’s cues, and encourage richer conversation through back-and-forth turn-taking. As your child practises their language skills with you, they naturally build more vocabulary.

166 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

VAMPIRE BAT

When and How to Seek Help

What the Science Tells Us

When a parent is concerned, they are often right.

If we are worried that our child may be experiencing differences or delays in their communication development or later on, when learning in school (see Delay and Appendix B Milestones) we should not hesitate to seek help.

Early intervention is the ideal, so if our instinct is telling us our child could use additional help, or if a health provider we trust has suggested this, it makes sense for us to follow up right away and request a referral to the appropriate health professional (see “What You Can Do” below for a comprehensive list). They will be able to reassure us if our child is developing typically or recommend a course of action that will help our child.

The descriptions in “What You Can Do” can guide us when we need more information to figure out if our infant or toddler needs extra help. In general, indicators include:

# A failure to meet speech, language or comprehension milestones (see Appendix B Milestones)

# Dysfluent speech patterns (stuttering, prolongations, repetitions)

# Regression of previously learned words or skills

If the information describes our child, that is another good reason to request a referral right away. Most likely, the first step will be a hearing test and the referral to a speech-language pathologist (SLP ). These assessments will help us learn more about the course of action our child needs. Many children need extra help and when they get this help early in life the benefits are long-lasting.

We are fortunate to live in a country where publicly-funded services are available to help with children’s healthy development. Wait times for service can vary between regions, and can be several months long. That is why it makes sense to ask for a referral as soon as we are concerned about our child’s language or other development.

What You Can Do

All children have a wide range of abilities and develop at different rates. Often, children need a little extra help. Intervention, especially when it is early, can change a child’s life and that of the whole family.

If you are concerned about your child, there are many qualified people who can help. Reach out to your health provider.

“When a parent is concerned they are often right.

You can also contact HealthLinkBC or call 811 in British Columbia or go to their website: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/services-and-resources/find-services.

Any of the health professionals you speak with will know how to request a hearing assessment – an important first step – and a referral to a speechlanguage pathologist (SLP).

Speech-language pathologists are members of a team of health professionals who know how to support infants and young children. SLP’s have chosen to work with young children and families to help children reach their communication potential. They have a non-judgemental approach and know how to meet the needs of each child as an individual. And make it fun!

members of the health professional team who may support your child

You are the person who knows your child best. If you notice any of the following, ask for help.

Seek help for your newborn or young infant if they:

# Do not startle to sound

# Are not smiling or making “cooing sounds” (aaaa,oooo) by 2 months

# Show a lack of awareness of you – that is, your baby does not pay any attention to you, does not seem to care that you are there

# Do not recognize your voice

# Do not make eye contact with you

# Are not babbling (making consonant sounds babababa, gagagaga, etc) by 9 months

# Do not seem to recognize your names “mama,” “dada” by 9 months

# Do not respond to their name or the affectionate term you call them by 12 months

Seek help for your toddler if they:

# No longer seem to be able to hear you

# At 16-18 months are not yet producing words you can understand that are typical for that age (see Appendix B Milestones)

# At 18 months are showing a lack of or limited use of words and/or gestures such as pointing, blowing kisses, clapping, shrugging, shaking head for “no,” or are not engaging in pretend play

# Have difficulty following simple routines and instructions, or if you have questions about how much they are understanding.

Seek help for your child at any age if they:

# Are banging their head against their fist, biting themselves or showing some other form of self-injury

# Show what healthcare professionals call repetitive play or unusual interests

• Are not interested in playing with toys, or play with them in “unexpected” ways.  They may play with them in one way only or do the same thing over and over for extended periods, without trying to involve a person

• Do not seek out your reaction and do not call you to play or look at them.  If you try to enter their game, your child does not seem to care if you are involved or not

# Make up their own signs to communicate but are otherwise quiet Seek help for your child once they are talking if they:

# Frequently repeat back or “echo” exactly what you have said (echolalia). This may be part of typical language development, especially if your child likes to play games with language (see Appendix E Speech Sound Development)

# Repeatedly require you to say the same thing in the same ritualistic way

# Repeat sounds, words or phrases (stuttering or dysfluencies) such as, “B-but I want…,” “But – But I want…,” or “But I But I want.”

• Most typically, this is just a sign of their growing vocabulary and enthusiasm to get their words out.  Even adults do this.  The best thing you can do is not draw attention to this and patiently wait for your child to finish what they have to say

• If this continues for over six months and your child does three to four repetitions on average or if you notice their dysfluencies getting worse

# Do prolongations or stretch out sounds, such as “I played in the ssssssssand” or “Wwwwwwwwhere are we going, Mama?”

# “Block” or have stoppages, that look like your child is trying to push out a word (see companion document “My Child Has a Communication Delay”)

Dysfluencies caught early can be supported; unsupported they can have a serious social-emotional impact for your child.

If your infant or toddler was previously advancing through the stages of development, but now seems to have lost what they had learned (regression), this is a sign that you urgently need to consult with a health provider. For example:

# If your child was previously using words but seems to have lost the ability to use words

• This does not apply to forgetting a few words or no longer being able to correctly pronounce some words that they previously could pronounce, both part of typical language development

Canada is a country where publicly-funded services are available to help with children’s healthy development. Wait times for service can vary between regions, and can be several months long. That is why it makes sense to ask for a referral as soon as you are concerned about your child’s language or other development.

You cannot help but worry if you think your child is not developing as expected. By contacting a professional – as soon as you feel concerned –you do not need to worry alone. You may learn that all is well and feel reassured. Or you may learn that your child, like so many other children, will benefit from extra help and that there are people who can provide that help.

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XYZ

What the Science Tells Us

For most children, learning to read requires explicit teaching that helps them learn how to turn the squiggles on a page into words and sentences they understand, making it quite different from learning to speak or sign.

Research shows that there is no advantage in trying to teach our child about letters or learning to read when they are infants. However, there are things we can do that make our child’s journey into literacy easier, even at a very young age.

Children who are regularly exposed to hearing stories and having books read to them from early in life tend to develop better literacy skills. This is especially true when we encourage our child to participate in back-andforth conversations during story time. A recent study shows that we prepare our child for future reading comprehension when we give them many opportunities each day to engage in turn-taking conversations (see Books).

We want our child to have positive experiences with books, right from the start of life because we know that there is a link between a love of books acquired early in life and later literacy. Children who are familiar with books, what they do and how we use them are already on the road to literacy. Once they are old enough to be aware of books our child can be introduced to how writing works in our language. In English, for instance, we write

from left to right, and go from the top to the bottom of the page. If we trace our finger under text as we read to our child, they are learning this important aspect of literacy.

Future literacy is also supported when we point to individual letters and words, and even the spaces between words as we read with our child. It can be difficult for them to understand what a written word is and that spaces symbolise word breaks.

Playing around with rhyming words is common in many cultures and is part of pre-literacy for our child. It helps them learn that words contain distinct sounds. Encouraging our child to use words they know, and to say new “silly words” that don’t exist is valuable for language development. It demonstrates how one sound can be changed for another, and how this changes the meaning of a word.

As we expose our child to stories and books we are naturally preparing them for literacy. We are doing this when we play with language and invent sound games, such as asking our child to think of words that start or end with the same letter. This gives our child an opportunity to learn that letters and combinations of letters are associated with sounds. All of these things set a good foundation for learning to read.

What You Can Do

Everything that contributes to strong brain development is helpful for your child’s language development and future literacy. Give your child opportunities to:

“ Stories prepare children for literacy.

# Problem solve, outdoors or indoors 

# Play in a variety of ways and situations, with you or on their own 

# Get enough sleep, exercise and healthy food 

Starting early in life you can create a warm and loving association with written material. Librarians can advise about books and other resources that show how to do this.

You can:

# Read to your child regularly, beginning as early as birth and even before

• Read almost anything with a soothing voice and your child will enjoy listening 

• Keep books easily available, and make reading together a fun part of your regular routine 

• Give your child books to look at.  Learning that a book has a front cover and a back cover and that you turn pages to “read” prepares your child for future literacy 

# Move your finger along as you read to show your child how reading works 

# Search out a word that appears frequently in a book

• Look for letters your child knows on street signs, in stores or on billboards 

# Show your child how you print letters and talk about their shapes 

• Show them how their name is spelled and when they want to copy you, help them learn to print it and other names like “mama” and “dada” 

# Draw letters in the sand, make letters out of rocks or play dough.  Have fun thinking up other ways to make letters 

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

# Play “sound” games and find words that begin or end with the same sound 

• Play “Letter and Sound Treasure Hunt.” Put your child’s plastic, wood or handwritten and cut-out letters in a bag.  Your child pulls out three letters.  Talk about the sounds these letters make at the beginning of a word and go on your treasure hunt inside or outside to find things that start with that sound

# Cuddle up close with your child so that story time is a special time for the two of you, where it is safe for your child to say anything.  You can ask:

• What they think will happen next in a story and then say, “let’s see” and continue reading 

• If anything happened in the story that they didn’t expect 

• If they sometimes have feelings like a character in the story 

• What they do when they read on their own (if they are readers) and come across a word they don’t know

This is a wonderful habit to get into with your child. It creates a warm and safe zone for them to share any concerns with you. If your child gets into the habit of sharing concerns with you at an early stage, this increases the likelihood they will continue to do so.

Many parents focus on teaching their children the alphabet before Kindergarten as a way to try and help them to become good readers. But there is more to literacy than the letters of the alphabet. Children who know the alphabet early may be good readers later on, but not necessarily!

That being said, teaching your child the alphabet can be fun, and

singing the alphabet song together is a delightful way for your child to easily learn letters. Some parents do this every evening when brushing their child’s teeth. Additional advantages to this are:

# It builds the bond between you and your child

# It creates a predictable routine

Predictability helps your child feel safe as they know what to expect. When children feel safe they are open to learning.

These are some tried and true tips for discovering language with your child that also prepare them to learn to read:

# Have fun with language

• Use rhymes in poems, nursery rhymes and songs.  This helps your child understand that words contain different sounds and these can be moved around 

• Encourage your child to create their own rhymes, even with made-up words 

• You may say, for example, “The mouse ran into the house.” All that has changed is the “m” and the “h” sounds.  But the whole meaning of the words has been changed

• You may then want to give them another example and see what they come up with.  If you say, “The cat is wearing a ____________?” and your child says, “hat” or “bat” or “mat” or even “fat” or “dat” they are showing you that they have learned some important things about language sounds

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• Play action games that include fingers and toes and other parts of the body 

• Have fun with tongue twisters 

• Show your child the letters needed to write their name and put them together so they form their name.  You can move the letters around and read them the new “word” 

Short serve and return interactions can take place at anytime and anywhere. Children enjoy sound play which is why they often start it. So follow their lead. Sound play is another way to build the all-important relationship with you and it prepares your child for learning to read

• When folding laundry, you can make a game of matching up socks.  When your child learns to observe and recognize what is similar they are gaining a skill that will be useful when learning to read 

• Encourage your child to play “spot the difference” where they need to find a set number of differences between two images that are otherwise the same 

• In a grocery store you can create a game where your child finds fruits or vegetables that begin or end with the same sound.  Your child is learning about “rules” and how to pay attention to sounds 

• On a road trip or when walking with your child you can play games that support their future literacy, such as 

• I’m going on a trip and I’m bringing my, [pick words that begin with the same letter or sound]

As your child develops you can create more challenging games. A broad range of skills helps children become good readers.

Yy

YouWhat the Science Tells Us

You might be feeling like it’s a huge responsibility to help your child learn all the things they need to know about language, but you shouldn’t. Language is just a tool we humans use.

We use language to tell other people about our feelings, our ideas, to teach culture and science, to inform, make friends, and sometimes, unfortunately, to harm and hurt others.

We don’t need to “teach” our child language because we naturally help them learn it when we do everyday things together. As we go through our daily activities, we can describe what we are doing, using language that is adapted to their age and stage. For instance with our baby we will want to use infantdirected speech (see Infant-directed Speech). Our child’s brain “lights up” when we talk, sing or engage in turn-taking, serve and return “conversations” with them, and this early brain development lasts a lifetime (see Turn-taking and Conversations).

Beginning in infancy, and even before, our role is to help our child learn to manage their emotions so they can interact with others in appropriate ways. This is called self-regulation and is linked to social and emotional health, often called mental health.

It is the goal of all parents that one day their child will achieve self-regulation and understand the importance of sharing, helping and co-operating with

others. These are the prosocial behaviours our child needs to learn to become a confident, happy and contributing member of the community. It is a long and complex road to get there, and as we all know, some adults never make it.

Recent research in adult mental health defines a socially and emotionally healthy adult as one who can: # Form and maintain close and secure relationships # Express and manage a full range of emotions in an appropriate way

When we take care of our health during pregnancy, nurture our infant and young child, provide a stable and secure environment and respond to their cues, we are building the foundation for our child’s future mental health. Most importantly, we need to let our child know that they are loved and valued. When we do these things we are also creating an optimal environment for our child to learn about language and the world.

Another way we help our child navigate the road to functional adulthood is by sharing our values and our cultural practices. We naturally use language to do this.

All of this can be hard work for a parent who is also working, running a household and trying to have a life. It is

YELLOW BABOON

important that we make time to take care of ourselves, not just everyone else. This is called self-care and it requires us to protect our own health and well-being, especially during periods of stress.

Many of us sometimes feel we are not doing anything well. We need to accept that being a parent is a challenge where everyone has to learn and everyone makes mistakes. We don’t have to be the perfect parent. For our child we are the most important person in their world, and they love us as we are. We know our child best, so we should trust our instincts when making decisions about them, and enjoy this time with them. When we nurture and guide our child in ways that feel natural and comfortable, they learn.

What You Can Do

You are your child’s first teacher and playmate. You don’t need to work at being their “language teacher.” When you freely share your time and have conversations with them about the activities in your day-to-day life, you are teaching your child about language, and so much more.

From the time your child is born: 

# Watch them and respond to their cues

# Follow their eyes to see what they are interested in and talk about it or smile, looking directly into their eyes

If your child is crying you can: 

# Hold them close and say comforting words to let them know you will try to figure out the problem

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

If your baby is a purple crier, that is, they are going through the developmental stage where they cry inconsolably, you will likely need to take breaks:

# Gently place your baby on their back in their safe bed for a short period of time while you:

• Make a cup of tea

• Have a brief phone conversation with a supportive family member or friend

• Do some exercises or deep breathing (see Appendix F)

• Believe that your baby is looking for ways to love and like you

Singing often calms babies down, and children love to hear their parent sing. You can: 

# Sing any song you like or know

# Sing in your first language or other languages

# Make up silly songs about what you are doing or what you are going to do using familiar tunes

# Sing songs with actions that encourage movement or touching parts of the body

As you go through your daily activities: 

# Describe what you are doing.  As you do this, you are building your child’s brain

# Describe what they are doing

You may be surprised to see how even young babies often laugh when they are well-rested and you are playful with them. Your playtime together will continue and expand as they grow. You can:

YORKSHIRE TERRIER

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

YELLOW-BILLED HORNBILL

# Invent little games.  These can be as simple as: 

• Tapping on something, watching how your child responds, and then doing it over and over if they laugh

• Kissing their belly

• Clapping their feet together while making little sounds like “woo-woo”

• Having a small stuffed animal or other toy dance

• Playing peek-a-boo

Stories that you read or tell, with or without books, also show your child that you are giving them your full attention. Remember to talk about the pictures. As you are reading or telling stories you can also ask your child questions that encourage them to think: 

# What they think will happen next # How they think someone is feeling in the book

# How they think this story could end differently

Conversations are where real learning happens! (see Conversations)

Wherever you go you can find ways to interact with your child: 

# Follow their lead.  Your child learns when they are interested in something

# Name what you see as this broadens their world and introduces them to words and their meaning 

• Look for familiar letters in grocery stores, on billboards, on public transit 

186 Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

• Play games to find words that begin or end with the same sound.  You can do this in the car, when you are not the driver 

# Make comments that “stretch” their understanding.  Opportunities are everywhere to notice what is similar or different:

• Find matching socks in the clean laundry

• Look at books to see which ones are board books and which ones are not

• Outside, look at cars, houses, flowers or animals and talk about what is the same and what is different.  You can play games like this when in the car with your child if you do not have to focus on the road

• Spend time outside.  This is good for your child and for you, especially if you are dressed for the weather

Include your child in ceremonies and traditions. This introduces them to your culture and what is important to you. From an early age they gain a sense of belonging. 

You do not need to do these things all of the time! Even a few minutes here and there can make a difference.

Be aware that you are a role model for your child, whether you like it or not. Your child is always watching and learning. When you:

# Interact kindly with others, they are learning how to build relationships

# Talk on the phone they are listening and learning the art of conversation

# Share a cookie, they are learning about generosity

Being kind, co-operating with others, listening, sharing and helping are called prosocial behaviours. They are related to self-regulation.

Our child gradually learns how to manage their emotions and become selfregulated. Life is easier for children (and adults) who have these skills. They are more likely to become confident, competent, happy and contributing members of the community.

Do not worry about being the perfect parent. No child needs one. What your child needs is a supportive relationship with you. They need to know they can count on you to love and protect them, and take the lead when it is necessary.

If you are having a bad day you can: # Let your child know how you feel, and that it is not their fault • Avoid loading your stress on your child • Explain your feelings • Show and talk about how you deal with those feelings in a healthy way

Schedule breaks for you and find ways to interact with others who make you feel good about your parenting

Learn and practise simple everyday things that make you feel positive

Breathe deeply.  This calms your mind and nervous system and only takes a few minutes (see Appendix F Stress Relievers for Kids)

It sometimes feels overwhelming to be “the teacher,” “the playmate” AND “the most important person” in your child’s life! However, you don’t need to be the only adult in their life.

In fact, your child benefits from building trusting relationships with other supportive adults. These can be people who care about your child, such as:

They also contribute to your child’s language learning and development. If their accent or language skills are not the same as yours, this is not an issue for your child’s language development. Other caring adults help your child learn to adapt to different ways of doing and saying things. In no way do they take away from your all-important role as a parent.

ZZZ’s Sleep

What the Science Tells Us

Zz

The common saying “sleep like a baby” must have been coined by someone who did not have a baby. As most parents know sleep and babies are two words that seldom go hand in hand.

To be at our best, both parents and children need adequate sleep. It is essential for our health and development as well as for language learning.

Research shows that babies and children (and teenagers) require much more sleep than adults generally do because young people are growing more rapidly, mentally and physically.

In a 24 hour period most babies figure out how to get the sleep they need. Sadly, it is not always at night time. Considerable research has shown that it is safest for babies to sleep on their backs. The number of Sudden Infant Deaths (SIDS) has been greatly reduced since introducing this practice. Co-sleeping with an infant is not recommended. However, Health Authorities recognize that many parents do this and have come out with recommendations for doing it as safely as possible (See Appendix D Sleep Resources). It is never safe for us to fall asleep on a couch with our baby.

Everyone benefits from having a bedtime routine and it is never too early to start. During the night most humans wake up from time to time whether they remember it or not. It is helpful for our child to learn that they can self-

soothe and fall asleep again. This is linked to self-regulation. When we create a bedtime routine that involves putting our baby in their bed while still awake, our baby learns to fall asleep. The rationale is that when they wake up in the night they will be able to fall asleep again on their own, a skill we need throughout life.Very young, babies need night-time feeds before they can fall asleep again. Of course, if our baby falls asleep in our arms or in the car we will want to try to transfer them to their bed without waking them. We can get back to our bedtime routine the next day.

It is not unusual for our child to have a sleep issue at some point. Difficulties may involve falling asleep or staying asleep. Our child may be recently toilettrained, hungry or overfed at bedtime, not tired because they napped during the day or preoccupied. Or they may have an underlying medical issue. It could be something temporary or the sign of a condition that requires further investigation by a specialized health professional. It has been observed for some time that many adolescents are experiencing increased anxiety. The reasons are complex and include lack of sleep. Health professionals are concerned. More and more children are using technology, at earlier and earlier ages, and often late into the night. Blue light created by screens confuses the brain into thinking it is daytime, interrupting the natural sleep-wake cycle with the result that many children are not getting the sleep they require and this has a worrying impact on all aspects of their development.

Children and adults alike need the positive impacts of sleep. Sleep rejuvenates our bodies, enhances our ability to learn and improves our mental health. It affects our mood and enables us to better deal with stress. Recent research suggests that during slow-wave sleep toxic waste is flushed out of the brain.

In addition to clearing harmful debris from the brain, sleep is critically important for memory and system consolidation for adults and children. It helps us remember specific things, process patterns and merge what we have been exposed to during waking hours with existing networks of brain connections. Infants can hear what is going on around them while sleeping, and also consolidate new learning. During sleep older children consolidate recently-encountered new words into their memory. No wonder sleep supports language-learning in humans of all ages.

What You Can Do

When your child can’t sleep, usually you can’t sleep, and this can make life hard to handle. Your child needs the right amount of sleep to learn, grow and regulate their behaviours during the day. (See Appendix D Sleep Resources) How to ensure everyone gets enough quality sleep?

With a newborn who wakes you during the night, chances are you will be sleep-deprived. To compensate: 

# Plan to nap when your baby is sleeping during the day.  Leave the housework aside.  Your goal? At least 6 hours of sleep for you over a 24 hour period

# Call on trusted friends or family to care for your child (or older children) while you catch up on sleep

Times have changed! The safe sleep recommendations are clear:

# Put your baby to bed on their back, in their own bed (no bottles with anything other than water, please. Protect your child’s teeth). 

From the beginning of life help your baby learn the difference between day and night:

# Have your child take daytime naps with the curtains or blinds open and regular household noise.  Try to have night-time sleeps take place in a darkened room 

# During the day use diaper changes and feeds as times to chat, sing and play with your baby.  At night time avoid anything playful that could further wake your child up 

It is interesting to note that babies are listening while they are sleeping, so be aware of what your baby can hear. Babies generally find normal conversation and household sounds comforting. On the other hand angry noises can stress your baby and make them feel unsafe.

Create the habit of putting your baby in their bed before they fall asleep. Hopefully, when they no longer need night-time feeds they will put themselves back to sleep when they wake. If they cry in the night for you to pick them up and you have taken care of all their needs, this is a time for gentle firmness and consistency. 

# Develop a bedtime routine that can be modified for special occasions or when your child is ill, and as they grow and change. For example:     

• Low-key activity after dinner (avoid screen time as it interferes with sleep)

• Bath time (keep it relaxing)

• Pyjamas

• Brush your child’s teeth (maybe while singing the alphabet)

• Lullaby or story time

• Put your baby or child to bed before they fall asleep

• Kiss and hug goodnight

• Leave the room

Sleep issues can be one of the hardest things for parents. Unfortunately, there is no universal strategy to resolve them. Check out reputable books and programs. One may work for you.

It is not your fault, or your child’s, when they don’t sleep through the night. You may be doing everything “right.” Sleep issues can be temporary or the sign of a condition that requires further investigation by a specialized health professional.

At certain stages of development formerly good sleepers may develop issues. They may be reluctant to go to bed, for a variety of reasons or may start waking up and calling you again, after weeks or months of sleeping through the night.

It’s very typical for children to have a stage when they are afraid at night. Night-time fears can include:

# The dark # Monsters in the closet

# Something your child can’t actually describe but is more of a feeling

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Your role is to reassure your child and provide helpful strategies. Check for underlying medical or emotional causes.Your child may be in pain or picking up on stress in their environment. They may be hungry, overfed (too close to bedtime) or not tired because they napped during the day.

# What are your infant’s cries telling you? If you have difficulty “reading” your baby’s cries a professional can help you 

# Give your toddler or older child a stuffed animal that can be their “protector” or someone they can protect and care for 

# If your older child can’t sleep or wakes from a nightmare, have a conversation and listen to their concerns and feelings 

# Modify your child’s sleep routine. This may include adding a night light, leaving the door open with a light on in the hallway, comforting physical touch, relaxation/deep breathing if they are feeling worried or anxious (see Appendix F Stress Relievers for Kids) 

# Talk with your child during the day (but not too much) about their night-time fears. Invent a game you can play to check for monsters, have “antimonster” dust/spray to use in their room before bed 

# Talk about being brave or like a super-hero. Tell stories of bravery during the day and then remind your child at night when they are afraid 

Most importantly, take your child’s fears seriously, comfort your child and remember that most likely, this too shall pass. If your child is consistently inconsolable and your efforts to reassure and comfort them do not work, reach out for professional support. Sleep issues require patience, so remember to take care of yourself and your relationships, too.

Stages:  Pre-intentional  Intentional (gestures)  Intentional (one word)  Intentional (2+ words)  Sentence-users

Sleep affects the whole family. Here are some things you may find helpful:

# Schedule regular times when your family sleeps, and make these consistent throughout the week (trying to “catch up” on weekends is not nearly as effective as getting the sleep you need on a consistent basis)

# Limit caffeine for yourself for many hours before bedtime.  This will help you sleep better

# If you are breastfeeding, remember that your child may be exposed to caffeine through your breast milk

# Avoid chocolate or colas for all family members as these contain caffeine

# Plan your day so that activities leading up to bedtime are calming and predictable for every member of your family

A bedtime story is good for your child’s language learning, and good for the whole family. It is a perfect end to the day. 

Concluding Thoughts …

Communicating through language makes us human. When we started out to write this book we wanted to support young children, their families and their communities, in all their diversity, so that children could reach their language potential. We had in mind children aged 0-8 years and children of any age who have communication challenges.

As we come to the end of our writing journey we realize that the key messages in this book are relevant for all of us, at any age.

Relationships are at the heart of meaningful lives, and communication is key to lasting relationships. These are fostered by listening and mirroring the feelings of our communication partner so they feel “heard.” To do this we need to focus on our communication partner, without distractions. We can’t do this all of the time, and we don’t need to. After all, everyone needs to learn to self-regulate! And learning to wait can be helpful.

Imagination also contributes to fun and lasting relationships. This book talks about all kinds of play, including pretend play. It also talks about the critical importance of paying attention, and how play and everyday activities can be wonderful ways to encourage engagement and learning. This is especially true when using serve and return communication.

Believe it or not, we can do all of these things with our child, starting at birth and continuing into adulthood.

Everyone needs help from time to time and fortunately, experts are there to step in when we need them. Many young children need extra language help. We hope this book guides you in seeking help as soon as you feel concerned.

Thank you for taking this journey with us. We wish you the best as you discover language with your child.

Resources

Appendix A

Culture and Norms in Communication

By Carla Hudson Kam PhD

Language is a conventionalized way of communicating. This means that people within a group share norms, i.e., if you use the same language you share meanings for words, you share ways of putting words together into utterances (sentences), and you share ways of using the language.

It’s easy to see that different languages have different sounds or words, but it can be harder to see that dialects or varieties of the same language also have different sounds and words and ways of putting words together into utterances. What might seem wrong to one person can be a perfectly normal, and acceptable, way of speaking to someone who grew up speaking a different dialect. It’s not just differences in sounds, words, and utterances, though, different language communities also often have different ways of using language. These cultural differences in language use can be harder to appreciate, especially when they are part of differences between groups who use different varieties or dialects of what looks like the same language, instead of completely different languages.

This book acknowledges these differences, and presents general principles to guide interactions with your child to foster their development rather than specific things you need to do. It presents ideas about how to turn the “ways of interacting” into concrete things you can do, but these are just examples, and they can, and should, be adjusted and modified to make them fit within the cultural and linguistic practices of your language and community.

All children need a loving, supportive environment in which to grow. And all children need high quality language input from the very beginning of their life in order to thrive. But what that means, what that looks like, is different in different contexts and communities.

Milestones

Speech,

Language and Hearing Milestones – Prevent, Protect, Act

https://sac-oac.ca/sites/default/files/resources/SAC-Milestones-TriFold_EN.pdf

Birth to 3 months: Does the child:

• make cooing sounds

• have different cries for different needs

• smile at you

• startle to loud sounds

• soothe/calm to a familiar voice

4 to 6 months: Does the child:

• babble and make different sounds

• make sounds back when you talk

• enjoy games like peek-a-boo

• turn his/her eyes toward a sound source

• respond to music or toys that make noise

7 to 12 months:

Does the child:

• wave hi/bye

• respond to his/her name

• let you know what he/she wants using sounds, and/or actions like pointing

• begin to follow simple directions (e.g., Where is your nose?)

• localize correctly to sound by turning his/her head toward the sound

• pay attention when spoken to

By 12 to 18 months: Does the child:

• use common words and start to put words together

• enjoy listening to storybooks

• point to body parts or pictures in a book when asked

• look at your face when talking to you

By 18 to 24 months:

Does the child:

• understand more words than he/she can say

• say two words together (e.g., More juice)

• ask simple questions (e.g., What’s that?)

• take turns in a conversation

2 to 3 years: Does the child:

• use sentences of three or more words most of the time

• understand different concepts (e.g., in-on; up-down)

• follow two-part directions (e.g., take the book and put it on the table)

• answer simple questions (e.g., Where is the car?)

• participate in short conversations

3 to 4 years:

Does the child:

• tell a short story or talk about daily activities

• talk in sentences with adult-like grammar

• generally speak clearly so people understand

• hear you when you call from another room

• listen to TV at the same volume as others

• answer a variety of questions

4 to 5 years:

Does the child:

• pronounce most speech sounds correctly

• participate in and understand conversations even in the presence of background noise

• recognize familiar signs (e.g., stop sign)

• make up rhymes

• hear and understand most of what is said at home and school

• listen to and retell a story and ask and answer questions about a story Adapted

Sign Language Resources for Families

Are You My Mother?

https://youtu.be/As0eJ7KY7ZI

ASL telling of the children’s book via Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (SDHHS).

ASL Book Time

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PL0Rfmo1KQdZJqt5rQm_2Ul8hVolM0jet

YouTube channel via Transformative Deaf Education (TDE).

ASL eBooks and Resources for Deaf Kids

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rgAG1vqyU1RAlOZOXSvdyPk0Y4gPN51jOF TqLKN00hw/edit

Google Doc via the Deaf Hearing Communication Center.

ASL Stories Directory

https://deafchildren.org/knowledge-center/resources/sign-language-stories/ Via the American Society for Deaf Children.

ASL Videos https://rmds.jeffcopublicschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=1820905&pageId=2431169

Children’s stories in ASL by Rocky Mountain Deaf School.

Family Network for Deaf Children (FNDC)

https://www.fndc.ca/asl-resources-families

A comprehensive webpage of ASL Resources for Signing Families. Based in British Columbia, Canada.

Find-A-Sign

https://vl2.educ.ualberta.ca/find-a-sign

Visual language and visual learning, via the University Of Alberta.

Growing Together Creating Language Rich Environments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9-ieU0vl0Q

A resource for parents making language decisions for their deaf/hard of hearing children via VI2 videos.

Hands and Voices https://www.handsandvoices.org/ An American resource for parents and Supporting Success for Students with Hearing Loss.

Handspeak.com http://www.handspeak.com

Sign Language online – including ASL dictionary.

StartASL.com https://www.startasl.com/free-sign-language-asl1 Free online ASL classes available for instant download.

Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/ American website with information designed mainly for educators but also useful for parents.

Appendix D

Sleep Resources

Sleep: Key Messages for Parents from a Researcher

Wendy A. Hall, RN, PhD Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia School of Nursing

Parents may wonder why there would be information about sleep in a book about learning language. Many studies of children of all ages have shown that night-time sleep that meets children’s needs is associated with better problem-solving and communication skills, more vocabulary, better emotional functioning, and better performance at school. We have tables that show that very young babies require 14 to 17 hours of sleep a day, babies between 6 and 12 months need 12 to 16 hours of sleep per day, and toddlers and pre-schoolers need 11 to 14 hours of sleep per day, all of those amounts include naps. Five year-olds need 10 to 13 hours of sleep per day and 6 to 12-year-olds need 9 to 12 hours per day.

Parents decide if their child has a sleep problem. Some parents are happy to have a family bed from the time their children are small, following guidelines from health professionals about how to have safe sleep when sharing a bed: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/hlbc/files/pdf/safersleep-for-my-baby.pdf. Other parents do not want their children sleeping with them and only resort to bringing their children into bed when they are desperate to get some uninterrupted sleep. While newborns and young babies feed frequently during the night, by the time a baby is 6 months old parents are expecting he or she will sleep for a long period at night. Uninterrupted sleep is important for parents because it is hard for parents to be patient, warm, comforting, and confident about their parenting when they are sleep deprived.

Children beyond 6 months of age are very aware of their environments and they do best with predictable daytime routines for sleep, feeding, and play, and consistent bedtime routines. Parents can try to create the best conditions for older babies and children to fall asleep by keeping their sleep environments cool, dark, and quiet, having short (about 20 minutes)

sleep routines, and letting babies and children fall asleep independently.

That means without having a parent present rocking, feeding, or holding their children. Falling asleep on their own helps children learn to calm themselves when they are upset (self-soothing) and prevents them from fully waking up when, as often as 5 to 7 times a night, they move between sleep stages. Children fully wake up when their situation is not the same as when they fell asleep; they think they need those conditions, e.g. a parent present, to go back to sleep.

For young babies, it can help parents avoid being sleep deprived if they reduce their expectations about what they can accomplish in the daytime and try to sleep when the baby sleeps. Asking friends or family members to help so a parent can get some time is also important. Try to put a baby to bed drowsy but not fully asleep so they can fall asleep on their own.

For older babies, leave curtains and blinds open during the day so the child can see the light. Use daytime diaper changes and feedings to play, sing, and chat with your baby. At night keep rooms dim or dark and avoid talking to help children stay drowsy. Bedtime routines should have feeding at the beginning of the routine not at the end of the routine.

For all children, keep any activities after dinner calm and avoid strenuous physical exercise (increases core body temperature which interferes with sleep). Avoid screen time which also interferes with sleep. Bath time can be part of the routine if not too stimulating. Putting on pyjamas and then brushing teeth can be following by a short song and a short story. Kiss and hug the child goodnight and put them in bed. Leave the room. There are strategies you can use if your child is not sleeping through the night independently and you want to change the situation. Look at controlled comforting or camping out online: https://www.babysleep.com/. For pre-schoolers and young school-age children, it is important to set limits around the bedtime routine. Keep it short, no more than 20 minutes, and give them only one more chance for a drink or going to the toilet or a

song. Older school-age children benefit from parents setting limits on screen time and homework and actively getting them to bed by 9:00 pm.

If a child goes through some changes, e.g. new home, new daycare/school, new teacher etc., they may have some problems with going to sleep. Try to determine whether there are some worries or fears that are preventing the child from falling asleep. Talk about what is happening. There may be problems with the bedtime routine needing change as a child develops and grows. Review your strategies and perhaps move to reading only hard copy books before bed.

If your child is afraid at night, you can give your child a stuffed animal or special blanket to protect and comfort them. For older children, listen to their concerns and feelings. You may need to modify the sleep environment with a night light or a hallway light. While you want to talk with your child about nighttime fears too much talking can make the situation seem very important. You can invent a game to check for anything scary or have sparkles you can put under their bed. Comfort your child because this will pass. If you cannot see any improvement you may want to reach out to a professional.

I wish to acknowledge that this resource draws on information provided by:

Richardson

Sleep: Key Messages for Parents from a Pediatrician

Dr. Anamaria Richardson, B.Ed., MD, FRCPC Educator and pediatrician with a special interest in patient-centred care

Sleep continues to fascinate researchers … and frustrate families.

Sleep is extremely important for brain development, which is why our child needs to have time with uninterrupted sleep. During sleep the brain seems to be developing and synthesizing everything that’s happened during the day.

Dr. Tisha Gangopadhyay, Dr. Andrew Macnab and Dr. Anamaria

Here are some facts about sleep:

Sleep is fundamental to life and survival. Our brain releases transmitters and hormones that respond to the light cycle (day-night cycle or circadian cycle), and guides our brain into sleep mode. Sleep is a complex series of stages that we cycle through multiple times per night. Blue light which is created by screens confuses the brain into thinking it is daytime and can interrupt the natural sleep-wake cycle.

What is a sleep cycle?

Sleep is divided into non-REM (stages 1-4) and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; in each stage the brain waves slow down and we enter deeper sleep until we enter REM, when the brain re-activates and we experience dreams. Each cycle takes about 90 minutes, and later in the night we spend more time in REM; babies tend to spend more time (about half) their sleep in REM!

How long is normal sleep (including napping)?

Age Duration

0-3 months * 14-17 hours 4-11 months 12-15 hours 3-5 years 10-13 hours 6-13 years 9-11 hours 14-18 years 8-10 hours

* Newborns need to wake every 3 hours to feed. They are not able to sleep longer until they are a little older.

Bedtime is usually dependent on when our child needs to wake up, and our cultural background as different cultures go to bed at different times. By listening to our child’s cues during the night and during the day we can figure out if they are getting enough sleep.

Common issues:

Difficulty with sleep is usually divided into two main categories:

Sleep onset (difficulty falling asleep)

• Restless leg syndrome or periodic limb movement syndrome

• Myoclonic jerks – experienced while falling asleep, and can wake little babies

• Behaviour (including fears, wanting to spend time with us, or exerting independence by resisting bedtime

Sleep maintenance (difficulty staying asleep)

• Parasomnias (Sleep walking, sleep talking)

• Night terrors (usually in the non-REM sleep, children “wake up” crying, or screaming, but are actually sleeping)

• Bedwetting – up to 5% of children will wet the bed until about 10 years of age

Why does this matter?

When our child can’t sleep, usually we can’t sleep either. When we are sleep-deprived it is difficult for us to be the patient, responsive and fully present parent we want to be and that our child needs. When our child is sleep-deprived it is difficult for them to get what they need to be able to learn, grow and regulate their behaviours during the day.

Learning to fall asleep or self-regulate takes practice, and we can often help by creating consistent bedtime routines.

Sometimes, however, our child has difficulty with sleep. There can be a variety of causes of poor sleep. Stress is a common one and can come from exciting things about to happen or worries that are on a child’s mind. This may be an opportunity to reflect on our week to see if there have been any new stresses that are making sleep harder.

If our bedtime routines are consistent and there are no apparent external reasons for poor sleep, this may be a sign that something else is going on beyond our reach. Our

child may have an internal driver for sleep disturbances. In this case we should seek out medical support from someone, such as a pediatrician. Our child may be dealing with anxiety, sleep apnea, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or another neurodevelopmental delay or disorder related to brain structure or chemistry. Having the guidance of professionals who care about families and study sleep issues can provide us with much-needed support.

Additional Sleep Resources

“Safer Sleep for My Baby” Perinatal Services BC, BC Ministry of Health https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/hlbc/files/pdf/safer-sleep-for-my-baby.pdf

Best Start Resource Centre: Ontario’s Maternal, Newborn and Early Child Development Centre “Sleep Well, Sleep Safe”

https://resources.beststart.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/K49-E.pdf

Appendix E

Speech Sound Development Summary

Carla Hudson Kam, PhD; Caitlin Bittman, SLP

Producing speech involves coordinating a lot of moving parts: the jaw, tongue, lips, vocal folds (what people often call vocal chords) and diaphragm (breath control is crucial to speech production) to name just a few. As children grow and mature and practise vocalizing through cooing and babbling (and yes even crying), they gain more control over the muscles involved in speech production. At the same time, their articulators themselves are maturing and developing, so they are learning to control a system that is physically changing. For instance, the size of their mouth and how much of it their tongue takes up changes a lot over the first year of life, and their teeth, which are important for the production of sounds like “f” and “th,” start to erupt. It’s a lot to handle, and not surprisingly, it takes most children several years to master the production of all of the speech sounds in their language. Every child is different, and will follow their own path. But there are some common trends in speech sound development that researchers have documented.

One way to divide sounds up is into consonants and vowel sounds. Technically, consonants and vowels are divided based on how they function in a language, but they are also generally dividable based on their articulation (how you make them) too. Vowels involve more of an open mouth, consonants typically involve some degree of contact between the articulators in the mouth. Many consonants involve contact that leads to closure of the oral cavity. Vowels are easier because they don’t involve contact. However, getting the vowel just right still involves a lot of learning. Not all consonant sounds are equally easy or hard, and there is a fairly predictable order in which children master speech sounds. Some sounds consistently tend to be produced well(ish) early on:

• Sounds that we represent with “p” and “b,” These are called bilabial stops because we make them by closing the lips together and completely blocking the

air exiting from the mouth for a brief moment. They are early sounds for most children

• “t” and “d” also tend to show up early, e.g., in early words like “doggie.” These are also stops. In English these are produced by stopping the air by putting the front of our tongue up to the hard ridge behind our teeth – called the alveolar ridge. (In other languages the tongue touches the teeth instead of the alveolar ridge)

• “g” and “k” are velar stops. They are produced by stopping the airflow farther back in the mouth at a spot called the velum. They are other early consonant sounds.

• The nasal sounds “m” and “n” are also early – but sometimes a child’s “b” or (“d”) might sound a bit more like “m” or (“n”), or the other way around (their “m” might sound more like “b”). This is because the two sounds are very similar, the difference between a “b” and a “m” is whether or not air is flowing through the nasal cavity (it is for “m” but not for “b”). Sometimes the child lets a bit of air through when they shouldn’t, or blocks it when they should let the air through. These small mistakes can make a big difference in the sound that we hear.

Other sounds take a long time to master:

• Sounds that involve letting some air through the vocal tract (called fricatives) are harder because we need to have just the right amount of air moving at just the right speed, or they don’t sound right. Sounds like “s” or “sh” are like this. “z,” “f,” “v” and the sound we write with “s” in the word “measure” are also English fricatives, as are the two sounds we write with “th” (the sounds at the beginning of “this” and “think”), and languages other than English have other fricative sounds.

• “r” and “l” are also often late acquired sounds. These sounds involve very specific tongue shapes and locations. R is especially interesting: the sound we write as “r” is actually very different in different languages (think about a Spanish r or French r compared to the English r). But it is always hard and late acquired.

What makes a sound easy or hard is partly about the child’s experience and partly about the articulators and movements involved. Sounds that the child can see other people produce are earlier – sounds like “p” and “b” that are articulated at the lips. It’s much easier to attempt something when we can see and hear others making those sounds. They also don’t involve any tricky tongue movements, so they are easy from an articulatory point of view. “T” and “d” aren’t as visible, but they just involve launching a movement toward a target – as long as we get the target right, we’ll get the sound right. A fricative like “s” or “z” on the other hand, involves letting just the right amount of air move through at just the right speed. If the tongue is not just the right distance from the alveolar ridge, we don’t get the right amount of air and then we don’t get a fricative: if it’s too far away then there’s either no sound (for “s”) or something more vowel-like (for “z”); if it’s too close it becomes a stop (something very “t” or “d”-like). The language itself can affect sound mastery too. Sounds that are very frequent tend to be earlier. And the function of a sound also affects its acquisition. The “th” sounds in English, for instance, are common, but they don’t play much of a role in distinguishing one word from another. In other languages where these sounds occur in more words, and so are more important for distinguishing one meaning from another, they are mastered earlier than they are in English.

People who study language development have found a lot of patterns in children’s developing (mis-) pronunciations, and we may notice our child making some of these “mistakes”:

• Consonant clusters (more than one consonant in a row, like “tr” in trick or “ns” in pins) are hard, and children often drop one of the consonants. For instance, they may say, “tick” instead of “trick” or “pata” instead of “pasta”

• Children often drop consonants at the ends of syllables, saying something like “do” for dog, for example

• Words with more than one syllable are often reduced, usually by dropping the unstressed syllable, so a word like “banana” becomes “nana”

• Especially early on, many children often “solve” their difficulty in coordinating different movements within a word by repeating the same movement instead,

for instance, saying “baba” for bottle. This process (called reduplication) maintains the right number of syllables in the word, but makes it easier to produce. Many children drop final consonants in syllables too

• Particular sounds or types of sounds can cause children difficulty, which can result in the child substituting one sound for another. Some common substitution patterns include:

• “Stopping:” when children produce a stop instead of a fricative (e.g., “t” for “s”)

• “Fronting:” when a child produces something more forward in the mouth than it should be, e.g. saying “t” instead of “k”

• Substituting “s” for “sh” and vice versa (these sounds involve a very small difference in the location of the tongue)

• Nasalization: saying “m” instead of “b” for instance, or “n” instead of “d”

• Voicing and devoicing: some sounds are distinguished by whether or not the vocal folds are vibrating (say “t” and “d” while feeling your throat – “d” is voiced, “t” is voiceless). Children sometimes produce too much or too little voicing for the target sound, so a “t” comes out as a “d” or a “d” as a “t.” for instance

• Most children don’t do these all the time – they might be able to say a sound perfectly in some words but not others, or in some places in a word but not in others. Sometimes they even seem to regress or go backwards. In other words, a sound our child could say before suddenly seems too hard for them. As they start producing two-word utterances, individual words can get worse.

Talking is hard! There’s so much to coordinate. Ideas have to be mapped onto the right words, then the words have be planned and produced. Multiple words have to be coordinated with each other – it’s a lot for a little brain and mouth to handle. These are perfectly normal processes, but some children do need extra help getting past these early adjustments. We can talk to our doctor or other health professional if we are concerned about our child’s speech. These professionals can help to put us in touch with the resources we and our family need to best support our child’s development.

Stress Relievers for Kids (and Their Parents)

Too much cortisol isn’t good for anybody. An easy way to reduce levels of this stress hormone is through breathing and gentle body awareness. It only takes about 10 deep breaths to move to our parasympathetic nervous system (the relaxed one) from the sympathetic nervous system (the stressed one).

A breathing exercise kids find fun

Explain to your child the goal of the breathing exercise and how you are going to do it.

Ask your child to choose a favourite teddy bear or other stuffy. Explain that you and your child and their stuffy are going to breathe together. First you are going to practise while sitting or standing. Then you are going to do it with your stuffy on your belly when you are lying down.

Method

Lie down on the floor on your back with your child lying on their back next to you. Place their stuffy on their tummy. The goal is to watch the stuffy rise and return to the starting point as your child does slow breathing.

Ideally, do this four times. You may have some giggling at first but after a while your child may settle down.

The breathing

With your young child who can count to 6 but cannot yet hold their breath:

Part I (sitting or standing)

1. Count to 4 as you and your child breathe in through your noses if possible (use “kid counting” – so it is not too slow for them)

2. Count to 6 as you and your child blow out all of the air through your mouths

Part II (lying with stuffies on your bellies)

1. Count to 4 as you and your child breathe in through your noses if possible (use “kid counting” – so it is not too slow for them)

2. Count to 6 as you and your child blow out all of the air through your mouths

As you breathe in the stuffy rises. As you breathe out the stuffy lowers.

With your child who can hold their breath:

Part I (sitting or standing)

1. Count to 4 as you and your child breathe in through your noses if possible (use “kid counting” – so it is not too slow for them)

2. Count to 7 as you and your child hold your breath (this is why the kid counts need to be fairly quick – so they can hold their breath for a count of seven)

3. Count to 8 as you and your child blow out all of the air through your mouths

Practise a few times.

Part II (lying with stuffies on your bellies – see above)

Body awareness for relaxation

Through tense and release from toes to top, you can help your child focus on different

With your child in a lying down position (in bed is perfect) use your best soothing voice, and ask,

• “Can you clench your feet as tightly as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you tighten your legs as much as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you pull in your tummy as tightly as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you clench your hands as tightly as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you tighten your arms as much as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you scrunch your shoulders as much as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you scrunch up your face as much as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

• “Can you tighten your whole body as much as you can? Can you hold that tight feeling? (pause) And now, let go.”

You may notice as you do this that your child releases their breath as they let go. Hopefully, by the end of the exercise their whole body is relaxed and they are ready to sleep.You may be too.

In General

There are no specified ages for doing these relaxation techniques. You can modify and simplify them so that they work with a toddler or make them more complicated (using left side and right side of the body) for an older child. Sometimes just asking your child to breathe in for a count of four and out for a count of six a few times can do the trick. Breathing out longer than breathing in has a more calming effect.

Many parents have found the resources of Kira Willey, such as “Breathe like a Bear,” helpful: https://kirawilley.com/contact

3

Appendix G

Technology

Children and Screens

Abstract

Since the advent of television in the 1950s, parents, educators, researchers, and policy makers have been concerned about the effects of screen time on children’s development. Then, when computers became widely used, a new wave of interest in the positive and negative effects of this new medium was generated. Within the past 15 years, the development of the smartphone and tablet have completely changed the landscape of screen time. This review examines the current state of the research regarding the relation between children (from infancy to age 8 years) and screens. Using principles from the Science of Learning as a guide, we invite content creators and researchers to create a new wave of the digital revolution, one in which we need to prompt rather than substitute for social interaction.

Authors

Brenna Hassinger-Das,1 Sarah Brennan,1 Rebecca A. Dore,2 Roberta Michnick Golinkoff,3 and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek4,5

Authors’affiliations:

1 Psychology Department, Pace University, New York, NY 10038, USA; email: bhassingerdas@pace.edu

2 Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43201, USA

School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA

4 Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA

The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC 20036, USA

To read the full article in the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology,Volume 2, 2020: https://arevie.ws/ChildrenScreens

Sincere thanks to the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology for providing this special link so that readers can access this article free of charge.

Glossary

Affixes: Things that can be added to words at the beginning (prefixes, e.g., pre-, un-), end (suffixes, e.g., -ing, -ly, -s), or even internally (infixes) that add to or change the meaning of a word.

American Sign Language: (ASL) The sign language used by many in the Deaf community in the United States and the English-speaking parts of Canada. It is not a manual version of English, but rather, a distinct and independent language that naturally emerged and evolved within communities of Deaf people.

ASL: See American Sign Language

Atypical: Development that does not progress as anticipated based on general age expectations and milestones of typical development. Atypical development may have an identifiable cause, such as a developmental delay, but sometimes there is no known cause.

Atypical repetitive behaviour: Repetitive behaviour that is unusual in intensity, frequency, and/or function. This kind of behaviour may include repetitive movements with or without objects, or repetition of sounds, words or sentences. It may take many forms, but some common examples may include: rocking, flapping of the hands, lining up objects, strict adherence to order, repeating words or sentences out of context, playing with the same toy exactly the same way each time, or repetitive use and fixation on non-toy objects such as light switches, faucets, doors or the toilet flush handle. These activities may interfere with a child’s ability to engage in other activities, or may interfere with their ability to play socially.

Authentic questions: Questions in conversation where one person genuinely wants to know how the other will respond. With a child for example a parent could ask, “Do you want a banana?” Asking “What colour is a banana?” is not an authentic question but more a “testing question” because the person asking already knows the answer.

Baby sign: Individual signs (like isolated spoken words) mostly based on real signs in American Sign Language. Baby sign is not a sign language. In a real sign language, signs are part of sign sentences, not produced as isolated forms, and the sentences also have a structure that the child has to learn. Some families find baby signs helpful. Baby signs sometimes help a child communicate simple things before they can say words in a recognizable way. There is no evidence that baby sign helps children learn spoken language faster or that it interferes with a child’s learning of a spoken language.

Bilingual: Involves two languages and can be an adjective or a noun. There is no real definition of a bilingual person because there are many ways to be bilingual. In general this suggests that someone is comfortable communicating in two languages. Children can handle being exposed to two languages (or more) from the beginning of life.

Code-mixing/mix: Mixing forms from two or more languages or language varieties (e.g., dialects). Mixing can be accidental (for instance, while a child is just starting to learn their languages) or demonstrating mature competence (for instance, when a bilingual teenager mixes languages while engaged in a conversation with another bilingual).

Code-switching/switch: Switching between two or more languages or language varieties (e.g., dialects) in the same conversation (usually intentionally). See code-mixing.

Conversational input: The language and information a child gets from and through conversational interactions with the people around them. Conversational input is needed for learning conversational skills, varied sentence types, building vocabulary and general knowledge.

Critical thinking: Skills needed to help children (and adults) learn to think in an objective way so they can problem solve and make balanced decisions.

Cross-language transfer skills: The ability to transfer skills from a first language to another language. Parents who speak, tell stories and read to their child in their heritage language can feel reassured knowing that their child will be able to transfer the language skills they have learned in that language to languages they will later learn.

Crying: When babies cry they are communicating. Sometimes parents learn to recognize the meaning of particular cries. There are many reasons why babies cry. One is “language practice.”

Cultural codes: Features that have meaning within a specific cultural group. These codes help people communicate among themselves and feel that they belong.

Cultural language differences: Linguistic and cultural groups often have distinct ways of using language that are different from what another group might consider acceptable or typical for that language.

Dysfluencies: The disruption of ongoing “flow” or “smoothness” of speech. Everyone has dysfluent speech sometimes. Many children will have periods of dysfluent speech, or stuttering, and then will “grow out of it” as a part of natural development. However, some children will maintain their dysfluent speech and have a persistent stutter, or fluency disorder (see Fluency disorder).

Expressive language/communication: The use of gestures, verbal communication or a sign language to communicate. Conversations include receptive language which means “listening” and expressive language which means “talking” or “speaking.”

First Language: The language, or languages, that a person learns first (if they are learning more than one at the same time). Usually a first language is learned in infancy.

Fluency disorder: Speech disorder where the ongoing “flow” or “smoothness” of speech is disrupted by repetitions of sounds, words, or phrases, sound prolongations, silent “blocks” or pauses, revisions, or interjections such as “um” or “uh.” Difficulties with fluency are often called stuttering. Stuttering can be developmental or persistent. Developmental stuttering is more common. It can start around 18 months to 5 years and can disappear without intervention in 6 months or less. Persistent stuttering, which lasts much longer, occurs in about 1 percent of children, generally boys (4:1 ratio of boys to girls).

Friendly Sabotage: Also known as “communication temptations.” This involves creating communication opportunities for children. It may mean doing something silly or unusual and then waiting to see if the child will comment. Examples may include: giving a child a boot when they need their hat, their snack or drink bit-by-bit so they need to ask for more, or putting a favourite toy in sight but out-of-reach so the child needs to ask for help. After using friendly sabotage, it is important to wait for the child’s response.

Gaze alternation: Leads to joint attention. Describes the action of looking back-and-forth between a person and an object, possibly to direct the person’s attention to that object. When children shift their eye gaze from focusing on an object to focusing on a person, they are communicating. A preverbal child may look at a parent, then at a desired toy, and then back at the parent to signal that they want the parent to hand them the toy. When they demonstrate gaze alternation, children show they are developing joint attention.

Good errors: Some “errors” are good when they show that a child is understanding the pattern of a language. A child learning English has to learn that the past tense form of “go” is “went” but that there is also a pattern that applies to most verbs (-ed). When a child says “goed” instead of went, they are demonstrating that they’ve learned the pattern for how to say a past tense verb in English. They are simply over-applying the generalization to an exception.

Gross motor: Large muscle movements, such as moving the arms, legs, torso, or whole body. When children are young, gross motor movements include things like pushing up off their tummy, rolling over, or sitting without support. As children get older, gross motor movements may include things like walking or running, climbing, jumping, riding a bike or doing chores. Some very active children may find it difficult to learn while sitting still.

HealthLinkBC: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/

Home Language: Also referred to as first language this is the language a parent naturally speaks at home.

Infant-directed language: See infant-directed speech (IDS)

Infant-directed speech: The exaggerated way people often naturally speak to infants. IDS tends to have a wider pitch range (voices go higher and lower in pitch) than adultdirected speech (ADS). IDS is slower, so many speech sounds are more distinct than in ADS. It often contains sound effects and baby-talk words (blankie for blanket). Infantdirected sign also exists. In IDSign the hand, arm, and facial movements are exaggerated and slower (instead of sounds).

Intentional, gestures, no words:  In this book, the communication stage where children use sounds or gestures directed to a person. See page viii.

Intentional, one-word:  In this book, the communication stage where children are using single words (verbal or signed) to communicate. See page viii.

Intentional, two + words to say a phrase:  In this book, the communication stage where children are using phrases (verbal or signed) to communicate. See page ix.

Intonation: The melody of speech, mostly carried by pitch. Intonation is used for many reasons, such as to convey emotions, and/or to focus attention (see Infant-directed Speech). It can also be an integral part of the meaning of an utterance, for instance, indicating that something is a “Yes/No” question.

Jargon: A form of babbling that consists of a long string of consonant and vowel sounds with sentence-like intonation. Often sounds like “nonsense conversation” in the family’s language, with rises, falls, pauses etc. Can be vocalizations or signs. Not real forms in the language. Jargon usually appears around 9-12 months or shortly before first words.

Joint Attention: When two people are jointly looking at the same thing, and they both know or understand that they are looking at the same thing. Can be demonstrated through gaze alternation, or through the use of gestures. A child may point at something and then look back to see if the adult received their message. An important skill for

communication and play development. It allows children to pay attention to objects and people at the same time, contributing to learning. Delays in developing joint attention can lead to delays in developing language.

Joint narrative creation: An aspect of storytelling that builds a child’s imagination. Pretend play where two or more children invent a story with or without an adult. They may or may not use props such as stuffed animals, toys or materials in nature.

Label: A word or sign referring to a single object (a name) or category (a word like “dog”). A preverbal child may use eye gaze or gestures to ask someone to label what they are looking at. Every response enriches the child’s language development. When children start to communicate using single words or signs they often name or label what they see to show what they have noticed. Labelling something is different from using a word to ask for something. When parents match words to their child’s experiences this helps build their child’s language skills.

Langue des signes du Québec: (LSQ) The predominant sign language used by Deaf communities in francophone Canada, especially in Québec.

LSQ: See Langue des signes du Québec

Match + 1: A language stimulation strategy where the adult matches the child’s interest or communication, and then adds onto it with something small. This strategy looks different depending on the child’s stage of development. It can be used to help children learn to match words to gestures, combine words into phrases, or increase the complexity of a sentence. (See the Match + 1 section in this book for a more in-depth description and examples.)

Milestones: The general age ranges at which experts expect to see certain skills emerge as children grow and develop. Based on patterns of learning of thousands of children. No milestones are exact, and the age ranges listed are guidelines only. Milestones are used to help monitor development and identify when a child might need a more in-depth assessment and support.

Mirror: Mirror neurons in the brain facilitate learning and attachment. When parents “mirror” – imitate and reflect their child’s facial expressions, feelings and body language –they are giving their child the opportunity to experience connection at a deep level. This contributes to their child’s emotional and language development and to their ability to form and maintain social relationships.

Mother Language: The language learned as a child in the home.

Mother Tongue: Older term for Mother Language.

Motherese: An old term for infant-directed speech.

Multilingual: Someone who knows more than one language (usually used for more than two languages).

Narrate/Narration: A strategy where caregivers talk about what they or the child are doing as they are doing it. Matching language to what a child is experiencing supports communication development, in particular, understanding and use of language.

Narrative structure: A narrative is a description of events that is longer than a sentence. Narratives have certain features that can differ by culture and genre. For instance, the opening “once upon a time” is typical of European and other Western cultures as is the tradition of having a beginning, middle and an end. The amount of background information that should (or shouldn’t) be provided, or the typical length of a narration varies within and between cultures.

Need for repetition: Very strong need for repetition sometimes referred to as atypical repetitive behaviour. All children love repetition and frequently demonstrate a need for it. The behaviour becomes atypical when a pattern develops where a young child cannot be distracted or an older child cannot be encouraged to change focus without great effort.

Parentese: Formerly called motherese. Another term for the modified way language is used with children. It acknowledges that it is not just mothers who speak/sign this way with children (see infant-directed speech).

Pre-intentional:  Communication that is not directed to another person. In this book, this is the first stage of communication that children experience as they develop. See page vii.

Pre-literacy: What children know about reading and writing before they can read and write. Parents can help their child from the start of life to develop these skills by: telling stories and creating a positive association with print materials; providing a rich vocabulary; listening to and playing with the smaller sounds of words (phonological awareness); giving their child opportunities to handle books; teaching that letters are different from each other, have names and sounds; asking questions that encourage their child to describe and predict events and practise narrative structure.

Productive or expressive vocabulary: Vocabulary items (words) that a person can produce spontaneously (without prompting), either in speech, sign, or writing. Productive (expressive) vocabulary is often smaller than receptive vocabulary (words a person can understand).

Prolongations: A type of dysfluency where sounds are involuntarily stretched out. For example, “Sssssssee the big truck?” or “I want an aaaaaaple.” Prolongations can be a sign that a child has a fluency disorder, or stuttering.

Prosocial behaviours: A key aspect of social and emotional development where children gradually learn to act in ways that benefit others, such as sharing, helping, co-operating and comforting others.

Protective childhood experiences: Also known as Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE’s). While a lot is known about the negative impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s), less is known about the ability of PCE’s to modulate the harm of

ACE’s. Research indicates that safe, stable and nurturing relationships in childhood lead to resiliency and improved mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. Key factors include: loving, supportive and responsive parent(s)/caregiver(s) who listen to, talk with and read to their children; secure attachment; feeling protected by an adult in the home; a sense of belonging to a community; communication skills, including the ability to talk in the home about feelings.

Purple crier: A young infant who cries persistently. A developmental phase that occurs most often between 2 and 12 weeks of age where crying can last from 35 minutes up to several hours, most often in the late afternoon or evening. See Dr. Ron Barr http:// purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php

Recast: Naturally repeat back a child’s words or sentence, but in a corrected form with the changes highlighted. This is a strategy that can be used to indirectly support language or speech sound development. Children are not expected to repeat it back, but they might! For example, if a child says, “He brung the tar,” a parent could recast back, “He brought the car? That’s great!”

Receptive language/communication: The ability to understand the meaning of gestures, verbal communication or sign language. Occurs much earlier than expressive language. Receptive language abilities are typically greater than expressive language abilities.

Redirect: A valuable parenting strategy that helps parents avoid saying “no” and usually provides a positive outcome for parent and child. It involves replacing undesired or concerning behaviour with an acceptable alternative. If the child is holding a fragile object the parent can say, “That is not a toy. You can play with this instead” and enthusiastically present a toy to the child as a replacement, gently removing the fragile object. If it is consistently difficult for the parent to redirect their child it may be helpful to have input from a professional.

Reduplication: Very common in early babbling (ba ba ba). Repetition, of a syllable but can also be of a longer portion of a word. In some languages, reduplication is a way to change word meanings.

Register differences: Registers are ways of using language that vary according to the social setting, such as, formal versus informal language. Different registers can involve distinct pronunciations, words, or kinds of sentences.

Regression: When a child no longer demonstrates skills that were previously common. For example, if a child was previously using words, but seems to have “lost” the ability to use them. This is a reason to seek professional help right away.

Repetitive play: Play that is done repeatedly and/or in the same way each time for an extended period. Some examples might include a child completing and then dumping a puzzle many times in a row, or insisting on completing a play routine in the exact same way each time. Sometimes children may also focus on only one aspect of a toy, such as watching very closely as they spin the wheels of a car.

Responsive caregiver: Pays close attention to the child and responds in a nurturing way to meet the child’s needs and communication attempts. Has a positive impact on children’s social-emotional and communication development.

Self-care: Positive actions a parent can take to promote their own well-being and happiness, especially when feeling stressed.

Self-regulation: The ability to understand and appropriately manage emotions, the body, and behaviours based on the situation and environment. Self-regulation is important for overall development and learning. It allows children to focus, make friends and behave in socially acceptable ways, learn in school, and manage stress.

Self-soothe: Related to self-regulation. The ability for an infant or child to calm themself down. This is particularly helpful when a child wakes up at nighttime because selfsoothing helps them fall asleep again without outside intervention.

Sentence users:  In this book, the communication stage where children are using sentences (verbal or signed). See page ix.

Serve and return: Similar to turn-taking. The essential aspect of conversation and relationships that can start from the beginning of life. Can take place between a parent and a nonverbal child when the parent comments on an action or sound the child makes. As the child grows, the back-and-forth interactions can last longer, deepening the connection between parent and child.

SLP: A speech-language pathologist

Social and emotional: Related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviours. Children who are well-nurtured are on the path for social and emotional health. They are learning to form and maintain relationships, recognize and control their emotions, co-operate and help others. As adults they can communicate to resolve conflict, maintain personal and professional relationships and be contributing members of their community. They are responsible and respectful individuals who are able to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and engage in lifelong learning.

Speech-language Pathologist (SLP): Provincially licensed professional with a Master’s degree. Has expertise in communication development and disorders, and swallowing. SLPs are trained to work with all ages to assess and treat communication and swallowing needs. Many SLPs will specialize in a particular age group, population, or area of practice.

Stutters/Stuttering: See dysfluencies, fluency disorder. The disruption of ongoing “flow” or “smoothness” of speech. Many children will have periods of dysfluent speech, or “stuttering,” and then “grow out of it” as a part of natural development. However, some children will maintain their dysfluent speech and have a persistent stutter, or fluency disorder, requiring professional help.

Successive single-word utterances:  Also called “Vertical Constructions.” It is common for a child to say something like “Duck. Big.” where each word is clearly its own utterance but also related to the other word. The word order is often incorrect as a single utterance. This provides an opportunity for informative recasting.

Temper tantrums: A form of communication that includes an emotional outburst. Often brought on by frustration if desires are not met. A child may not have the words to express what they are trying to say or the self-regulation to manage their emotions. Adults can provide the words to help the child feel understood. Everyone benefits if the adult can recognize the child’s genuine distress and comfort the child, trying to meet their underlying need.

Two-word utterances:  Children combine words to communicate in phrases. They typically start to do this when they have about 50 words in their vocabulary. See page ix.

Vocalizations: Sounds made using the vocal tract, whether or not they are language or language-like.Vocalizations include speech, babbling, cooing, and vocal play (such as screeches).

AAboriginal Infant Development Program 170 Aboriginal Supported Child Development 170 abstract word 170 accent 170 addictive 170 additional language 170 adolescent 170 affixes 151, 170, 220 afraid 170, 208 alphabet 170 American Pediatric Society 2 American Sign Language (ASL) 2, 132, 136,142, 204, 205, 220, 221 angry 3, 163, 165, 194 anxiety, anxious 3, 163, 165, 194, 211 assessment 3 assistive communication device 3, 163, 165, 194 attachment 3, 163, 165, 194 attention 3, 163, 165, 194, 211 attention span 3, 163, 165, 194 attentive 3, 163, 165, 194 atypical repetitive behaviour x, 33, 220, 226 audiologist(s) 33, 170, 226 authentic questions 33, 220, 226

B

babble, babbling 33, 36, 212, 226 baby sign 36, 142, 221 baby talk 36 back-and-forth 36 barriers 36

BC Family Hearing Resource Centre 136 BC Newborn Hearing Screening Program 134 bed, bedtime 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 218 behaviour(s) 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196, 210 behind schedule 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 bilingual 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196, 221 biology 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 blending languages 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 blind 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 blue light 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 bond, bonding 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196

books iii, v, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 50, 53, 58, 59, 64, 65, 78, 93, 126, 131, 136, 138, 143, 156, 160, 161, 165, 174, 175, 177, 186, 187, 195, 227 boundary, boundaries 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 brain 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196, 208, 209, 211, 215 brain development 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 breastfeeding 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196 breath, breathing 43, 59, 130, 152, 185, 191, 194, 195, 196, 216, 217, 218

C

Canadian Pediatric Society 2 caregiver(s) ii, iii, v, ix, 1, 3, 5, 7, 22, 32, 68, 125, 166, 226, 228, 229 cause-effect 75 cell phones 45 chant(s) 45, 139

chaotic environment 126 citizen 83 cochlear implant 134, 135 code-mixing, code-switching 63, 221 comfort 4, 7, 83, 126, 131, 196, 231 communication delay x, xi, 155 communication stage(s) vii, ix, x, 224, 229 community ii, iii, v, 8, 24, 30, 47, 61, 63, 65, 66, 93, 94, 97, 111, 125, 135, 136, 137, 182, 188, 220, 228, 230 complex ix, x, 10, 57, 60, 64, 65, 101, 117, 121, 142, 151, 156, 182, 191 complicated 15, 78, 100, 114, 151, 156, 160 comprehension 10, 159, 160, 167, 174 condition x, 191, 195 confidence, confident iii, iv, 182, 188 connection(s) 3, 9, 10, 14, 49, 54, 67, 69, 79, 107, 108, 122, 131, 192, 226, 230 consistency, consistent 125, 131, 194, 197 consonant(s) 36, 171, 212, 213, 214, 215, 224 contingent responsiveness iii conversation(s) iii, x, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 36, 38, 39, 44, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 59, 60, 63, 64, 66, 70, 73, 74, 78, 80, 84, 86, 92, 94, 98, 111, 113, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 125, 126, 131, 132, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 152, 158, 160, 166, 174, 181, 183, 185, 186, 187, 194, 196, 202, 203, 220, 221, 222, 224, 230 conversational input 2, 145, 221 conversational partner 20, 24, 144 conversation turn 20 coo, cooing 25, 147, 171, 212, 231 co-operate 230 co-sleeping 190 cries vii, 1, 9, 113, 146, 196, 222, 228 critical thinking 121, 221 cross-language transfer skills 61, 221

cry, crying vii, 1, 4, 6, 9, 17, 83, 183, 185, 194, 200, 209, 210, 212, 222, 228 cuddle 13, 18 cue 139 cultural, culture ii, 18, 22, 24, 35, 38, 60, 61, 64, 65, 93, 94, 97, 107, 123, 135, 166, 181, 182, 187, 200, 209, 222, 226 cultural codes 61, 222 cultural language differences 64, 65, 93, 94, 222

D

dangerous 43, 86, 88 day, daytime iii, iv, ix, 7, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 31, 38, 39, 44, 53, 71, 78, 96, 102, 107, 109, 111, 112, 113, 126, 145, 166, 174, 181, 183, 188, 191, 192, 194, 196, 197, 206, 207, 208, 209 deaf 8, 64, 132, 134, 135, 138, 141, 142, 204, 205

Deaf Children’s Society of BC 136 delay, delayed x, xi, 33, 35, 63, 142, 155, 211, 220 developing brain 2, 45 developmental delay x, 220 device(s) 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 45, 47, 49, 53, 71, 111, 112, 166 distracted 47, 226 distress, distressed 4, 231 dominant language 63 dysfluencies, dysfluency 23, 28, 30, 172, 173, 222, 227, 230

E

early intervention 160 ear-nose-and-throat specialists 170 e-book(s) 11, 13, 15, 18 echolalia 125, 172 educational professional v educator iii, vi, 208, 219 electronic(s) 2, 15, 49, 111

emotion 60 emotional development 134 empathy 161 error(s) 30, 92, 223, 151 evaluated, evaluation 33, 55, 60 exaggerate, exaggerated 24, 59, 69, 88, 139, 224 exercise 177 expectant waiting 149 expose 10, 35, 64, 165, 175 expressive 60, 132, 150, 154, 222, 227, 228 expressive language/communication 222 expressive vocabulary 150, 227 extra support 3 eye contact, eye gaze 45, 107, 223, 225 F face iii, iv, 2, 7, 31, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 68, 69, 75, 85, 87, 101, 107, 127, 137, 138, 166 face-to-face iii, iv, 2, 31, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 75, 107, 138, 166 facial expression(s) 17, 23, 30, 60, 78, 132, 138, 226 falling, fall(s) asleep 190, 191, 194, 195, 206, 207, 210, 229 families, family iv, 8, 13, 30, 32, 35, 38, 47, 53, 58, 61, 65, 66, 67, 81, 96, 97, 135, 136, 137, 143, 145, 151, 166, 168, 170, 185, 192, 197, 198, 204, 206, 207, 208, 211, 215, 221, 224 fault 109, 188, 195 fears 195, 196, 208, 210 feeling(s) ii, 3, 7, 11, 14, 17, 38, 39, 93, 103, 108, 111, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 178, 181, 186, 188, 195, 196, 198, 218, 226, 228, 229 fine-motor 18 first-borns 84 first language 65, 185, 221, 222, 223 first word(s) 106, 157, 224

fluency 222, 227, 230 fluency disorder(s) 24, 30, 222, 227, 230 friendly sabotage 50, 223 frustrated, frustration 3, 4, 6, 84, 138, 160, 163, 164, 231 fun 15, 17, 27, 28, 44, 53, 59, 60, 71, 73, 75, 81, 90, 103, 104, 128, 165, 170, 177, 178, 179, 180, 198

G

games 48, 54, 59, 60, 70, 77, 78, 79, 123, 126, 127, 128, 129, 141, 146, 147, 172, 175, 178, 180, 186, 187 gaze, gaze alternation 8, 17, 26, 45, 49, 55, 107, 111, 115, 223, 224, 225 genes, genetic 32 gentle 4, 86, 125, 137, 194 gestures iii, 36, 55, 57, 102, 142 good error(s) 30, 92, 151, 223 grammar, grammatical 24, 63, 64, 94, 132, 136 gross motor 18, 223 guess, guesses, guessing games 4, 6, 77

H

habit 2, 38, 96, 156, 178, 194 hand-over-hand signing 138 handshape 138 hard of hearing, hard-of-hearing 132, 134, 135, 141, 142, 204, 205 harm 2, 45, 47, 181, 227 health v, vi, 3, 9, 33, 35, 37, 80, 111, 123, 125, 130, 136, 157, 167, 168, 170, 173, 181, 182, 183, 190, 191, 195, 228, 230 Health Authorities 190 HealthLinkBC 170, 223 health professional(s) 136, 170, 191 healthy food 177 hearing assistive technologies 134

hearing loss 134, 205 hearing test 168 heritage language 8, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 221 hiding 77 home language 65, 223 hug 125, 195, 207

I

imaginary, imagination 10, 14, 28, 54, 70, 100, 103, 106, 118, 198, 225 imitate(s), imitation 18, 49, 60, 74, 75, 226 Indigenous 132 infancy, infant ii, 2, 3, 7, 45, 48, 49, 53, 68, 77, 78, 107, 141, 167, 171, 173, 182, 190, 196, 222, 228, 229 Infant Development Program 170 infant-directed language 107, 224 infant-directed speech 25, 67, 68, 102, 139, 147, 181, 224, 226, 227 intentional vii, viii, ix, 224 intentional, gestures, no words  viii, 224 intentional, one-word  224 intentional, two + words to say a phrase  ix, 224 interaction iv, 13, 15, 45, 46, 47, 106, 119, 147 interest(s), interested 3, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 24, 39, 47, 48, 49, 52, 54, 58, 70, 73, 74, 81, 85, 90, 91, 100, 106, 108, 115, 119, 139, 141, 147, 149, 163, 166, 172, 183, 186, 225 internet 8, 88 interrupt 22, 145 intervention 160, 167, 222, 229 intonation 36, 68, 103, 224

J jargon 224 joint attention 55, 223, 224, 225 joint narrative creation 71, 225

K

kind 7, 86, 89, 187 Kindergarten 178 kiss, kissing 186, 195 knowledge 38, 61, 64, 80, 94, 119, 160, 161, 221

L

label, labelling viii, 4, 41, 55, 70, 120, 163, 225 language language acquisition i, ii, iii, iv, 151 language community ii, iii language deprivation 134, 135 language development i, ii, iii, iv, v, 2, 9, 23, 31, 32, 35, 54, 70, 90, 98, 107, 125, 131, 132, 135, 147, 172, 173, 175, 189, 225, 226 language learning 2, 20, 22, 33, 38, 45, 47, 67, 70, 79, 80, 81, 85, 90, 122, 125, 126, 127, 131, 166, 189, 190, 197 language structure(s) 63, 151 Langue des Signes du Québec 132, 142 learn, learning ii, iii, viii, x, 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 97, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 109, 111, 114, 115, 117, 118, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 151, 152, 154, 157, 158, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168, 173, 174, 175, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 197, 198, 205, 206, 212, 219, 221, 222, 223, 225, 226, 227, 229, 230 letters 78, 79, 174, 175, 177, 178, 179, 180, 186, 227 librarians, library 130, 136, 177 linguistic 222

linguists 71 listen 11, 18, 20, 31, 39, 47, 80, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 96, 108, 120, 145, 166, 196 listening iii, 38, 67, 71, 83, 84, 85, 87, 108, 135, 144, 145, 151, 177, 187, 194, 198, 202, 222, 227 literacy ii, iii, vi, 3, 11, 61, 141, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 180, 227 love, loved, loving 1, 8, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18, 33, 44, 50, 80, 83, 84, 89, 97, 106, 109, 111, 114, 118, 123, 127, 137, 138, 141, 146, 160, 161, 166, 174, 177, 182, 183, 185, 188, 226, 228

LSQ 132, 225 lullabies 66

M

make-believe 70 match, matching vii, 39, 40, 41, 42, 85, 90, 91, 93, 154, 155, 161, 166, 180, 187, 225, 226 Match + 1 iii, 26, 74, 90, 91, 225 math 78, 134, 145 meal(s), mealtime 53, 54 meaning, meaningful 13, 26, 40, 41, 52, 58, 59, 91, 93, 112, 138, 142, 151, 158, 175, 179, 186, 198, 220, 222, 224, 228 medical, medical professional 170, 191, 196, 211 meltdown 4, 164 memorize, memory 18, 122, 192 mental health 9, 125, 181, 182, 191 message(s) vii, 6, 47, 84, 88, 136, 128, 198, 224 milestones ii, 32, 33, 35, 37, 160, 167, 201, 203, 220, 225 mimic 17, 139 mirror, mirroring 75, 164, 198, 226 misbehaving 89 mistakes iv, 24, 78, 183 modelling 22, 64, 118, 138, 144 mood 191

motherese 226, 227 mother language/tongue 226 motivated 90, 128 multilingual, multiple languages ii, 63, 64, 65, 137, 226 music 66, 78, 97

N

name, naming 3, 15, 26, 39, 47, 54, 59, 91, 96, 121, 127, 156, 171, 177, 180, 186, 225 nap(s) 4, 96, 127, 156, 192, 206 narrate, narration 226 narrative structure 11, 226, 227 naturally ii, 28, 39, 40, 49, 57, 60, 63, 65, 66, 68, 70, 79, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 100, 114, 115, 143, 149, 166, 175, 181, 182, 220, 223, 224 nature 32, 67, 103, 105, 225 need for repetition 33, 37, 123, 226 networks 192 neurons 122, 123, 226 neuroscientists 122 newborn(s) 6, 107, 146, 150, 171, 192, 206, 209, 211 night, night-time, nighttime 8, 108, 131, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195, 196, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 229

nightmare 196 nonverbal 52, 230 noun(s) 158, 161, 221 number of words 36, 63, 145, 158 nursery rhymes 66, 179 nurture, nurturing 32, 114, 182, 183, 228, 229

O

obsessive 33 one-word ix, 98, 104, 224 open-ended iii, 98, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 115, 118, 120 overhear, overheard 84, 104, 137, 151

parentese 67, 227 patience, patient 7, 84, 131, 196 pattern(s) 31, 33, 37, 123, 167, 192, 223, 225, 226 pause(s) 26, 27, 50, 105, 127, 128, 138, 139, 149, 222, 224 pediatrician(s) 71, 170, 208, 211 perfect vi, 22, 52, 70, 107, 108, 109, 136, 183, 188, 197 phrase(s) ix, 4, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 41, 60, 91, 102, 106, 128, 147, 172, 222, 224, 225, 231 physical health 3, 80, 228 pitch 67, 68, 224 play, playful, playmate, playtime 8, 28, 29, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 48, 50, 52, 59, 60, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 88, 98, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 113, 118, 120, 126, 127, 131, 137, 142, 144, 146, 163, 164, 171, 172, 175, 177, 178, 180, 183, 185, 187, 189, 194, 196, 198, 220, 225, 228, 229, 231 point, pointing 4, 10, 15, 26, 49, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 115, 117, 121, 128, 138, 150, 154, 155, 161, 171, 175, 224 positive 86, 142, 174, 188, 191, 227, 228, 229 potential iii, 1, 32, 83, 170, 198 predictability 19, 126, 179 pre-intentional  vii, 25, 39, 40, 96, 227 pre-literacy ii, iii, vi, 175, 227 presence, present vi, 78, 98, 107, 108, 109, 111, 113, 123, 228 pretend 18, 27, 28, 44, 71, 88, 102, 103, 106, 171, 198, 225 preverbal, preverbally 70, 223, 225 print 11, 13, 123, 177, 227 problem solve, solving 78, 177, 206 productive (expressive) vocabulary 227 productive vocabulary 157

professional(s) v, vi, 33, 35, 37, 123, 125, 167, 170, 173, 182, 191, 195, 196, 211, 215, 228, 229, 230 prolongations 30, 167, 173, 222, 227 pronounce 22, 23, 63, 173 pronouns 84, 96 prosocial behaviours 182, 187, 227, 230 protect 128, 183, 188, 194, 196 protective childhood experiences 85, 227 psychologist(s) iv, 170 purple crier 185, 228 puzzles 60, 78, 104

Q

questions iv, 20, 43, 71, 73, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 108, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 161, 166, 171, 186, 220, 227

R

rate of learning x read, reader(s), reading ii, iii, iv, v, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 44, 52, 53, 59, 61, 65, 66, 102, 131, 136, 141, 145, 159, 160, 161, 174, 175, 177, 178, 179, 180, 186, 196, 221, 227, 228 reading comprehension 10, 159, 160, 174 reassure, reassuring 33, 35, 83, 109, 123, 167, 196 recast 26, 28, 90, 91, 228 receptive language/communication 132, 154, 222, 228 reciprocal relationship 84 redirect 35, 228 reduplication 122, 228 referral 31, 37, 167, 168, 170, 173 reflexes vii register differences 71, 229 regressing, regression 31, 37, 167, 173, 229 relationship(s) 2, 3, 13, 22, 31, 32, 38, 45, 47, 81, 84, 85, 114, 141, 144, 146, 161, 165, 180, 182, 187, 188, 189, 196, 198, 226, 228, 230

relax, relaxation, relaxing 67, 127, 195, 196, 217, 218 repeat 23, 28, 66, 69, 70, 74, 85, 90, 122, 125, 128, 130, 138, 155, 172, 228 repetition iv, 17, 18, 19, 26, 33, 37, 60, 79, 122, 123, 125, 126, 131, 138, 139, 141, 143, 165, 220, 226, 228

repetitive 33, 35, 123, 126, 172, 220, 226, 229 repetitive play 172, 229 rephrase 90 respect, respectful, respecting 6, 20, 74, 75, 83, 86, 121, 128, 182, 230 respond response(s) vi, vii, viii, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 20, 25, 26, 27, 39, 53, 57, 59, 66, 70, 73, 75, 81, 85, 98, 100, 101, 102, 104, 108, 114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 127, 128, 143, 146, 147, 149, 151, 152, 171, 182, 183, 220, 223, 225 responsibility, responsible 47, 93, 181, 182, 230 responsive iv, ix, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 45, 100, 114, 166, 228, 229 responsive caregiver(s) ix, 1, 3, 5, 7, 22, 166, 229 return 20, 25, 26, 31, 45, 48, 68, 77, 89, 141, 143, 144, 147, 148, 180, 181, 198, 230 rhymes 17, 66, 88, 123, 179, 203 rhythm 75, 139 ritualistic 125, 172 rituals 61 routine(s) 17, 38, 43, 44, 49, 59, 83, 108, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 141, 177, 179, 190, 191, 194, 196, 206, 207, 208, 210, 229 rules 43, 48, 63, 74, 79, 126, 132, 142, 180 S sabotage 50, 223 safe, safety 8, 17, 24, 41, 43, 47, 67, 74, 78, 83, 86, 98, 103, 104, 106, 109, 111, 126, 127, 130, 131, 178, 179, 185, 190, 194, 228 schedule 112, 188, 197

school 53, 66, 93, 94, 106, 114, 134, 160, 203, 206, 208, 229 screens, screen time iv, 2, 7, 8, 191, 195, 207, 208, 209, 219 secure, security 80, 83, 125, 126, 182, 228 self-awareness 161, 165 self-care 111, 137, 183, 229 self-regulation 84, 161, 165, 181, 187, 191, 229, 230, 231 self-soothe 190, 229 sense iii, 45, 49, 61, 65, 74, 117, 126, 131, 150, 154, 167, 168, 173, 187, 228 senses 45, 85, 122, 135 sentence(s) ix, x, 4, 10, 11, 20, 24, 26, 27, 28, 36, 40, 41, 44, 60, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 89, 90, 91, 92, 101, 105, 108, 118, 120, 127, 128, 132, 134, 142, 147, 151, 152, 155, 156, 174, 220, 221, 224, 225, 226, 228, 229 sentence-users  ix, 39, 96 serve and return 20, 45, 48, 68, 141, 143, 144, 146, 148, 180, 181, 198, 230 show and tell 153, 154 siblings 84, 137 SIDS 190 sign, signing, sign language ii, 1, 2, 8, 36, 52, 64, 67, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 141, 157, 174, 204, 205, 220, 221, 222, 225, 227, 228 silly 27, 44, 80, 81, 118, 139, 175, 185, 223 sing, singing 4, 25, 49, 50, 58, 60, 65, 67, 68, 75, 77, 96, 113, 123, 127, 147, 156, 179, 181, 185, 194, 195 single word, single-word viii, ix, 4, 40, 91, 102, 224, 225, 230 sing-song 4, 25, 96, 113, 147 slang 94 sleep, sleeping, sleep-wake cycle iv, 7, 43, 102, 108, 112, 130, 152, 177, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195, 196, 197, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211 slow-wave sleep 191 SLP xi, 23, 28, 30, 33, 35, 36, 168, 170, 230

smartphone 47, 219 smile 1, 25, 69, 85, 120, 147, 149, 164, 183 social and emotional vi, 2, 85, 134, 181, 227, 230 social-emotional development iii social well-being 80 song(s) 4, 18, 25, 50, 58, 60, 65, 66, 75, 88, 89, 94, 111, 113, 123, 127, 128, 129, 130, 139, 141, 147, 156, 179, 185, 207, 208 sound play, sound(s) vii, viii, 1, 4, 6, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36, 37, 40, 48, 52, 54, 64, 68, 78, 85, 96, 122, 127, 135, 146, 157, 158, 171, 172, 173, 175, 178, 179, 180, 186, 187, 194, 201, 202, 203, 212, 213, 214, 215, 220, 222, 224, 227, 228, 230, 231 speak, speaking 4, 11, 28, 40, 41, 47, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 71, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 100, 114, 115, 117, 119, 120, 137, 142, 145, 155, 163, 170, 174, 203, 220, 221, 222, 224, 227 specialist(s) 3, 109, 170 speech-language pathologists vi, x, xi, 23, 28, 33, 35, 63, 114, 160, 168, 170, 230 spoken language ii, 132, 221 stage(s) ii, vii, ix, x, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 25, 28, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 49, 54, 59, 65, 70, 73, 77, 78, 86, 90, 91, 96, 101, 104, 105, 111, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 147, 154, 156, 163, 164, 173, 178, 181, 185, 195, 224, 225, 227, 229 staying asleep 191 stories, story, storytelling 10, 11, 14, 18, 19, 65, 71, 84, 89, 94, 100, 103, 123, 130, 132, 136, 141, 156, 161, 165, 166, 174, 175, 176, 178, 186, 195, 196, 197, 221, 225, 227 stress 38, 108, 131, 183, 188, 191, 195, 196, 210, 216, 229 structure 11, 30, 65, 101, 142, 151, 152, 221, 226, 227 stutter(s), stuttering 23, 28, 30, 167, 172, 222, 227, 230

successive single-word utterances ix, 230 Sudden Infant Deaths (SIDS) 190 support v, x, xi, 1, 2, 3, 9, 32, 33, 35, 64, 84, 98, 123, 135, 142, 143, 155, 170, 180, 196, 198, 211, 223, 225, 228

T

temper tantrum 4, 7, 84, 231 tense 92, 151, 223 tested, testing 73, 114, 115, 119, 120, 220 testing questions 114, 119 therapy 135 tickling 77, 127 toddler(s) 7, 77, 78, 80, 91, 122, 138, 167, 171, 173, 196, 206, 218 tone 53 tongue twisters 180 tool(s) iv, 13, 115, 142, 181 touch 4, 25, 45, 111, 135, 141, 146, 158, 196 toxic waste 191 tradition(s) 38, 61, 166, 187, 226 trust, trusting, trustworthy v, 33, 85, 111, 130, 141, 167, 183, 189 turn 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 39, 58, 73, 75, 113, 118, 119, 127, 128, 144, 145, 147, 149 turn-taking iii, 21, 25, 31, 59, 75, 79, 100, 111, 113, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 166, 174, 181, 230 TV 2, 7, 8, 53, 137 two-word utterances, two words ix, 23, 115, 190, 215, 231

U understand iv, iii, 4, 6, 7, 8, 22, 30, 31, 52, 53, 58, 80, 83, 86, 88, 89, 109, 111, 128, 134, 146, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 165, 171, 174, 175, 179, 181, 224, 227, 228, 229

understood 6, 22, 75, 85, 89, 143, 151, 152, 164, 231 utterance(s) ix, 36, 57, 224, 230

V

values 20, 112, 182 verb(s) 92, 151, 158, 161, 223 verbal attempts 143 video(s), video chat 8, 47, 64, 131, 137, 143 vocabulary iv, ix, 8, 10, 11, 23, 24, 27, 30, 43, 53, 64, 65, 81, 84, 85, 90, 91, 94, 128, 139, 150, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 166, 172, 206, 221, 227, 231 vocalizations vii, 224, 231 vocal play 36, 231 vowel(s) 36, 212, 214, 224

W

wait, waiting viii, 23, 25, 30, 37, 53, 59, 75, 83, 89, 100, 109, 118, 119, 120, 128, 144, 147, 149, 151, 168, 172, 173, 198, 223 wake, waking 190, 191, 192, 194, 195 well-being 9, 80, 183, 229 word approximations 36 word attempts 85 word count 157 worried, worry, worrying 18, 28, 35, 57, 63, 64, 81, 89, 93, 94, 109, 145, 167, 173, 188, 191, 196 writing ii, 78, 174, 198, 227 written material 177

Acknowledgements

All four authors deeply thank the following people who made time to review our work from their various professional and personal backgrounds.

Acknowledgements

Lynn Abbott

Khalilah Alwani

Basil Antle

Dr. Padmapriya Arasanipalai Kandhadai

Bryn Askwyth

Dana Brynelsen

Dr. Helen Burt

Jennifer Cain

Evie Chauncey

Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal

Diana Elliott

Sana Fakih

Dr. Tisha Gangopadhyay

Stéphanie Gingras-Hill

Madeline Green

Michelle Horn

Sandra Katz

Lisa Lightening

Dr. Andrew Macnab

Heather McQueen

Ruthild Ohl

Diane Pinch

Jennie Roberts Shantael Sleight Christine Soon

Bonita Squires

Special Thanks

Our heartfelt thanks go to the following people and organizations who provided feedback that greatly added to the content and quality of this work.

Dr. Roberta Golinkoff

Dr. Wendy A. Hall

Dr. Jon Henner

Dr. Kathryn A. Hirsh-Pasek

Amy Ho

Rosalind Ho

Kelty Mental Health

We Acknowledge

The Province of British Columbia

UBC Language Sciences

The Victoria Foundation

The Soon Family Fund

Private donors

Dr. Klaudia Krenca

Daphne Macnaughton

Métis Nation

Kim Reid

Dr. Anamaria Richardson

Dr. Janet Werker

We are indebted to all those who contributed their expertise to this book.Your input has made it better. Any errors are our own.

About the Authors

Dr. Carla Hudson Kam, Professor of Linguistics and Canada Research Chair in Language Acquisition from 2010-2020 at the University of British Columbia, studies first and second language learning, focusing on the relationship between input – what learners hear and see – and what they learn about the language.

With a background in brain and cognitive sciences, linguistics, and developmental psychology, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her work. She has investigated the learning of sounds, words, and sentences, as well as conversation management and social markers in language, from books, gestures, and speech.

Caitlin Bittman is a registered Speech-Language Pathologist in Victoria, BC. She has extensive experience in public health and private practice settings, working with preschool-aged children and their families to diagnose and treat a wide range of communication needs. Caitlin recognizes the critical role parents and caregivers play in helping their children develop to their maximum potential. Through everyday routines and playful interactions, Caitlin builds capacity in both parents and children to expand children’s communication skills and enhance their overall

Estelle Paget is the Founder and Executive Director of KidCareCanada Society, a registered charity focused on social and emotional development in infants and young children. The highquality, innovative and trustworthy resources they produce are widely used by families and professionals. For almost 30 years Estelle taught in universities in France and Canada and designed and led university-wide programs, based on her background in linguistics, second language acquisition, international education and pedagogy, informed by cognitive science. Estelle is the lead author of ABC’s for New Parents.

Elizabeth Wellburn has an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of British Columbia and a background in research and instructional design. She has been with KidCareCanada since 2015 and prior to that worked for or taught at several postsecondary institutions in BC, including Royal Roads University, University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, and Camosun College. She also spent fifteen years with the BC Ministry of Education, focusing mainly on curriculum design and the role of technology in K-12 education.

Sari Naworynski is a freelance graphic designer in Victoria, BC. She was the senior designer at McClelland & Stewart and has over 25 years of freelance experience. Clients include Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Discovery Channel Canada, The Dominion Institute, Douglas & McIntyre, ECW Press, Firefly Books, Groundwood Books, Harbour Publishing, House of Anansi, KidCareCanada, National Arts Centre, Natural Heritage Books, Nimbus Publishing, Penguin Books, Quarry Press, Raincoast Books, Random House, STEP Canada, Tundra Books, as well as many self-publishing authors.