Developing Communication and Language at Home

Developing conversational skills at home

What do we need to be able to do at 3 and 4 years old?

Conversation is a huge part of our everyday lives and is one of the main ways in which we communicate with each other.

In order to have a successful conversation, some of the things we need to have are:

• A partner who will look and listen.
• A partner who will ask questions to continue the conversation.
• A partner who is able to share their own relevant thoughts and ideas.

These are some of the things we need to remember to do:

• Look at the person we are talking to.
• Give then other person a turn to talk.
• Be able to talk about the things we have done or are going to do.
• Listen carefully at what our partner says.
• Maintain the topic of conversation.
• Ask our partner (what, who and why) information.

Ideas to help your child improve their conversational skills

• Try and make statements and see if your child can join in for example, ‘I went shopping today and you went to……..’
• Deliberately try to say something that is not true and see if they can correct it for example, ‘Mrs McPhillips told me a tiger came for snack today. I bet you helped it pour some milk’. This sounds silly as parents though as children it’s exciting and fun!

Encourage your child to ask you simple relative questions.

• Ask directly e.g. ‘Ask Mummy, what you did today?’
• Ask indirectly e.g. ‘I wonder what Granny did today?’
• Encourage follow-up questions e.g. ‘I went for a walk with the dog today’, ‘What can you ask me about the walk?’ support your child by using encouraging statements, ‘Well done, that was a great question.’ Always give your child lots of praise and explain the reason for the praise e.g. ‘Thank you for asking if I put my coat on to keep me warm on my walk, you are really caring about me.’

Just a few tips parents, remember to become a good writer you must be a good talker!!