According to Dr. Dana Suskind, professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, exposure to rich language during the first three years helps develop not only a child’s ability to pronounce more complex words, but many other skills. In her new book, Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain, Suskind shows how people’s achievements are heavily determined by the economic and social environment into which they were raised. Now, what can parents and caregivers do to provide such a “rich language” environment to their kids?
In practice, rich language development is about the four following Ts (as in good Tips): Tune in, Talk more, Take turns… and Turn off the technology:
TUNE IN:
Whatever you’re doing with your child, from changing diaper to going shopping or having a walk in the park, be attentive to your child’s interests and communicate about them.
TALK MORE:
From birth, talk with your baby a lot using language as rich as possible, about anything you’re seeing, thinking and doing.
TAKE TURNS:
This is the most important of the four Ts: Consider your baby as a discussion partner. From the very first days, infants are born fully ready to learn, long before they can pronounce any word.
TURN OFF THE TECHNOLOGY:
Whether it’s television, video games, smartphones or tablets, technology is a pervasive danger for a child’s healthy development. Digital tools are serial killers of the so important human interactions and conversations that any child needs to develop a rich language, and so much more.
Picture: Child & Mother, by Fritz Zuber-Bühler (Wikimedia Commons, w/Effects)
