Language development starts in the early years of childhood, it is the process by which children learn, understand and communicate language. There are various stages and phases of the development of language and it starts after a few months of a child’s birth. An infant starts to communicate and tries to speak a language, yet by 10 months, by making cooing, gurgling and babbling sounds, later in the 1st year they start communicating by picking up a First word ( it can be ma pa or any other two-letter word or a convenient word ) later by 18 months they know around 5-30 words gradually which is developed into a proper language by the time they are 2-3 years old. When your child starts with words, try to expand on those words. For example, if your child says “Orange,” you might say, “Do you want one orange?”

We as parents are their first Teachers and should start guiding them and teaching them from the very initial years of their childhood.
There are various methods and ways of teaching new words and making them start speaking, and all this starts at home. We can play, have fun and teach them a lot by engaging them in the daily activities which we all do at home. Being a parent I would like to introduce the way that I found the best and most engaging in teaching my Little one so many new things.
So according to me, Mealtime ( Family Meal ) are a Great Opportunity to bring the best out of any child.

Get the whole family involved and have a go!

So here are a few examples of how we can make the most of family mealtime and teach our kids a lot of new things –

Give Them an Empty Plate/Bowl/Glass

Your child will not feel a need to communicate or speak anything if he/she is given all the things they need. Let them try and speak up and ask for the thing they need. For example – Dnt fil water in their cup, wait and let me speak up and ask for it in their language, give them an opportunity to highlight the problem and request a solution.

One Bite Only

Give a bite at a time or just a little bit and give them an opportunity to ask for more, because hunger will Encourage them to speak up and they will try and communicate it in their manner and ask for more.

Give them Options and Choices

While serving food we can put a choice in front of our kids and ask if they would like to have their meal in red or green plate, If they want tomato or carrots in the salad, whether they want tomato ketchup or mint chutney with the snack etc. This will encourage kids to communicate.
Name the Food
Quite simple. As the name suggests, playful Name whatever you see whenever you are sitting with the child. Your child will listen and learn the vocabulary in a relaxed environment.

Describe the food

Food can be hot, cold, hard, soft, smooth, sweet, sour, creamy, bitter, the list goes on. While you serve and eat the food, describe the food you are eating. This way kids will learn new words and try and repeat the same. It’s a tendency that kids repeat if they hear something new.

Apart from the above-mentioned ways, we can also encourage Reading Habits in our kids, reading about different topics can expand the child’s vocabulary. It opens up the mind and helps in getting new ideas and words by making the child more imaginative and creative. Another great way to get them to talk is by describing what is happening in the daily routine. For example, “We went to the market, what did you like in the mart?” This helps kids in expressing their thoughts and imagination.

The best way to encourage your child’s language development is to do a lot of talking with the child about things that interest them or anything that will excite them and keep them engaged by doing all the activities which we do in our regular routine. Because learning anything from what’s happening around us and what we do daily brings in quick results and develops an interest in the child as all the family members are involved in the activity and it becomes way easier for both the child and the parents to perform better.

Remember that children develop language at their own pace, and the best way to help is to talk, sing, and read to them. Other than that, simply enjoy your child’s coos, ma-mas, and da-das while they last.

Happy Parenting !!

For more resources for toddlers and preschoolers visit ProEves.