Working with parents

Supporting young children’s communication and language development

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The aim of this presentation is for participants to:

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• Understand the importance of parental support for the development of speech, language and communication (SLC)
• Consider activities and approaches that parents can use to support their child’s speech, language and communication development and the impact of these

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Components of being an effective communicator, with opportunity being one key component of the model.

What are speech, language and communication (SLC)?

With thanks to The Communication Trust for this model

How do SLC skills develop?

With thanks to The Communication Trust for this model

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Speech and Language Mind Map

What skills are needed for SLC development?

With thanks to The Communication Trust for this model

Why are parents so important?

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• Parents have more impact on children’s outcomes than any other factor / choice of primary school
• If parents know what to look out for they can be the first to identify any difficulties and access services and appropriate support if required
• The attachment to the significant carer that occurs during the neonatal period and around birth is the basis for communication development
• The amount and type of language used at home has an effect on children’s overall language development
• Good early communication sets the pattern for later childhood and adolescence.

Brain development

• From the moment a child is born, they are actively seeking out stimulation and opportunity
• Their brains have extra cell connections which are either strengthened or eliminated depending on the response from those around them
• Those opportunities need to be seized and nurtured as they are harder to develop in the future
• There is a clear indication that a reciprocal relationship exists between the child’s language and behaviour and the parents’ [adults’] interaction style .

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Specifically.......

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Parents have a very important role to play in supporting their children’s speech, language and communication development. This support brings many benefits both for their child and themselves.

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With thanks to The Communication Trust for this slide

Why involve parents?

“Parental involvement in the form of ‘at-home good parenting’ has a significant positive effect on children’s achievement and adjustment even after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken out of the equation.

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In the primary age range the impact caused by different levels of parental involvement is much bigger than differences associated with variations in the quality of schools. The scale of the impact is evident across all social classes and all ethnic groups.”

Desforges (2003)

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Why involve parents?

• The more engaged parents are in the education of their children the more likely their children are to succeed in the education system

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• School improvement and school effectiveness research consistently shows that parental engagement is one of the key factors in securing higher student achievement

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• Schools that improve and sustain improvement engage the community and build strong links with parents.

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How can parents �support SLC development?

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Understand the importance of supporting speech, language and communication

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Know what to expect at different ‘ages and stages’

Support speech, language and communication as part of everyday activities and routines

Make communication a high priority – include times and activities with a specific focus on communication

General advice to support �SLC development

• Give plenty of time for a child to initiate or respond (observe, wait and listen)
• Use simple sentences that are around one word longer than the child is saying
• Copy what your child is doing or saying. Build on it by adding one or two words to their sentence, for example ‘car’ ‘yes, a red car’
• Don’t ask too many questions, use encouraging comments or open questions, like ‘you like that‘ or ‘tell me about your day’
• Make time for communication every day – have a quiet time in the day where distractions are minimised
• Get their full attention when you are talking to them
• Use everyday routines and activities to practise communication skills, times like bath time and mealtimes are great.

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Mixing up the noisiness of sounds: Some sounds are ‘noiser’ than others.This refers to whether they are ‘voiced’-using the vocal cords, or ‘voiceless’- not using the vocal cords. Some children may mix this up and so ‘pig’ becomes ‘big’. This will usually have stopped when the child reaches 3 years of age.

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Stopping: Children may make longer sounds e.g., ‘s’, ‘f’, shorter. This is called ‘stopping’. For example , ‘fish’ and ‘soap’ become ‘tish’ and ‘dope’. This will have usually stopped by the time the child is 3 years old. Longer sounds such as ‘v’ and ‘z’ may also be ‘stopped’. For example ‘very’ becomes ‘berry’and ‘zoo’ becomes ‘doo’. With these sounds, this may continue until the child is 3 years and 6 months (3:6).

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Missing the ends off words: Children may miss the ends off words e.g., ‘ball’ becomes ‘ba’, ‘dad’ becomes ‘da’. This will typically disappear by the age of 3:3.

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Fronting: Children may make the sounds usually made at the back of the mouth and make them at the front. For example ‘car’ would become ‘tar’.This will usually have stopped by 3:6.

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Consonant harmony; This is where the sounds get muddled in the word e.g., ‘mine’ becomes ‘mime’ and ‘kittycat’ becomes ‘tittytat’. This will typically disappear by 3:9.

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Missing out the quieter syllable: Children may miss out the quieter syllable in word. This typical process will usually disappear by 4 years of age. For example ‘elephant’ becomes ‘efant’, ‘potato’ becomes ‘tato’ etc.

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Cluster reduction: Clusters are where two sounds are next to each other. Children may say this as one sound rather than two. This is called ‘cluster reduction’. For example, ‘spider’ may become ‘pider’, ‘spoon’ may become ‘poon’, ‘clean’ may become ‘keen’. This will typically disappear by 4 years of age.

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‘sh’, ‘j’ and ‘ch’: These are complex sounds to make and children may use an easier sound and make it shorter. For example ‘shop’ becomes ‘dop’, ‘jump’ becomes ‘dump’, ‘chair’ becomes ‘tare’. This will usually disappear at 4:6.

Gliding: This is when one sound appears to ‘glide’ into another similar sound e.g., ‘leg’ becomes ‘weg’, ‘red’ becomes ‘wed’. This will typically have stopped by the age of 5 years

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Supporting speech sound development

• Singing nursery rhymes

• Making up silly rhymes e.g., The cat has a hat on the mat with a bat

• Clapping out syllables e.g., Ann-a-belle

• Repeat the word and model sounds that are tricky

If a child is having difficulties with a particular sound, repeat the way the word is said to the child. This allows the child to hear the way the word sounds, without any pressure for them to repeat it back. Do not ask the child to repeat the word, unless following advice from a speech and language therapist. e.g., Child: ‘dog’, Adult: ‘yes, it’s a frog’

• Play in front of a mirror. Use this to try out tricky sounds and see if your child can copy. Talk about where your tongue is when you make the sound e.g., ‘When I say ssss, my tongue is behind my teeth’. If your child is very aware of their difficulties try not to draw attention to them.

• Provide a clear model. Use clear speech so that your child can hear the sounds. Seek advice from a speech and language therapist.

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Activities

Useful for:

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• Focused time on interaction and slc development
• A framework in which to practise / copy interaction skills
• Entertainment and learning opportunities for the children
• Practice for parents in sitting one to one with their child and being involved in an activity together
• Shared time and attention (useful for attachment)
• Somewhere to go for ideas on what to do.

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What are speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)?

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• Most children follow the expected pattern of development for their speech, language and communication at the expected times. Some, however, do not. These are described as having speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)

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• SLCN can impact on all areas of a child or young person’s development, including their learning, social and emotional development and their behaviour.

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With thanks to The Communication Trust for this slide