Last week the New York Times highlighted language and learning in little ones in the well received article “The Power of Talking to Your Baby.” The article was one of the most shared stories online last week, helping to spread the important message of language development in children.
The article introduces a concept that our speech-language pathologists and audiologists strongly believe and support, that the key to early learning is talking! Research shows that a child’s exposure to language spoken by caregivers and parents to their child from birth to three significantly increases their ability to understand and express language. The article gives a great example of the often-ridiculed stream of parent-to-child baby talk, that is now known to be an important factor in a child’s development — Feel Teddy’s nose! It’s so soft! Cars make noise — look, there’s a yellow one! Baby feels hungry? Now Mommy is opening the refrigerator!
So put away those smart phones and laptops and start talking to your little one – the more the better!
(photo by Rose Blake) Read the entire article, which also highlights the difference in communication at different income levels, here.