Who has the most influence on the development of a child's speech, language and communication?

Even if a child is in full-time day care, the parents still have the most influence on a child's communication development according to the latest research (Routledge et al 2012). This Hanen page shows parents why http://www.hanen.org/Special-Pages/BSHM.aspx?_cldee=bGliYnloaWxsMUBhb2wuY29t

Physical development: Tips for parents by parents

  

It is with a touch of sadness that we have come to the end of Chuckle Talkers 2. This has been a project with our Smart Talkers pre-School Communication groups in conjunction with Chuckle productions with the fantastic Sara Christie and some lovely families from Silkmore Children's Centre in Stafford. We started in June to look at communication and how to incorporate communication opportunities into everyday activities. The course since September  has looked at how to develop children's physical development and address other issues which the parents had requested. The parents report that have leaned so much which in turn has a knock on effect on their children. They feel that they have improved knowledge about how to help their  children’s communication and physical development which has given them more ideas to help at home. They also say it has made them feel more confident to talk to other professionals.

They have put together their own tips for other parents, which I can share with you:

1. Through play encourage all types of child development

2. Give your child opportunity

3. Encourage independence skills e.g. walking, dressing

4. Give children time to practice their skills

5. Encourage gross motor skills in conjunction with fine motor e.g. catching a ball before they write

6. Encourage co-ordination skills by dancing, swimming and other physical activities

7. Core stability must be strong (tums, bums, back and shoulders). Improve with games such as bridges, big arm movements with ribbons, mark making on easels, row row the boat and other action games

8. Encourage fine motor control by threading activities, drawing, sticking, cutting, ripping, different textures e.g. rice, pasta,play dough

9. Spatial and motor planning are important for development to encourage by jigsaws, inset puzzles, sticker work, throwing, catching balls, shape sorter

10. Be aware of the amount of fat, salt and sugar in foods especially ready meals and drinks!

It's been a privilege to work with them and a delight to see how far they've come. We'd love to do a third course but with all the cut-backs this is probably un-likely. They would love the outcome of the project to be  a book for other parents to share what they have learned.  

So keep your fingers crossed or find us a wealthy sponsor!

You can read more about Chuckle at http://chuckleproductions.com and Smart Talkers at www.smarttalkers.org.uk

Libby and Nicky

A potty list?? What's that?

You have all heard of a 'bucket list' but Parent Dish brought to my attention the 'potty list'. This is a must do list for 3 year olds. 

The 36 must-do activities that make up "The Potty List" are:

1. Made a mud pie

2. Baked a cake

3. Finger painted

4. Sung loudly in public

5. Climbed a big hill

6. Picked fruit

7. Danced with no inhibitions

8. Made sandcastles on the beach

9. Been chased by a monster

10. Jumped in a puddle so hard the water went in mummy's shoe too

11. Belly-flopped

12. Fed the ducks

13. Blown bubbles

14. Had a teddy bears' picnic

15. Chosen a favourite book

16. Ridden on the top of double-decker bus

17. Visited a museum

18. Been on a train ride

19. Fed an animal

20. Grown cress in the shape of your name

21. Worn pants on your head

22. Ridden the tea-cups at the fair

23. Flown a paper aeroplane

24. Pooed in the bath

25. Stayed the night away from home

26. Ridden on daddy's shoulders

27. Scribbled somewhere you shouldn't

28. Cleaned your own teeth

29. Answered the phone

30. Mastered a party piece

31. Had a "first love"

32. Bought something in a shop

33. Set your sights on a future career (pirate, fairy or builder, perhaps?)

34. Told a fib

35. Made up an inappropriate nickname for someone

36. Broken something valuable

Having said it's for 3 year olds, I do have at least one friend who is still revisiting this list. Not mentioning any names Helen! It's fun and lovely for your 3 year old or your 43 year old. However, it makes me really sad because there are so many children who won't ever do such fun activities. 

Do I mean the toddlers from war torn Iraq or youngsters from the Yeman? No! I am referring to children from our own families here in the UK. Children of parents who are just so stressed, busy , hassled or perhaps don't know about creating fun experiences for their little ones.

May be the Health Visitor's little red book ought to include the list so parents can consciously work though it?!!  What are your thoughts?

Check out Parentdish as it has some really useful articles www.parentdish.co.uk

Why I hate shopping!

 

Is it the hassle of handling the shopping so many times.... into the trolley, out again at the till, pack the bags, load the car?
NO! Its the rantings of other parents that make me mad. I get so irritated by the, usually loud 'Stop it!!', 'Come here!', 'I told you before!', 'Pack it in!' In short, the supermarket is a reflection and huge reminder of today's poor interaction between parent and  child. The parent is frustrated, hassled and completely fed up by the ordeal and the child, who has long switched off to his parents ranting, is just pain bored. The negativity from both sides is almost palpable.
It could be an ideal place for language stimulation and meaningful exchange: Consider 'Do you want red or green apples?', 'What would you like for tea?','Can you get me the Shreddies then the Cheerios please?' The above would have helped the child's attention, co-operation, listening, sequencing and more plus their self esteem because they would feel their contribution is valued. It takes no more time or effort and means that everyone would be happier.
Communication between adults is probably at an all time low but between parent and child it is frighteningly poor. I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush, I'm talking in general terms. The supermarket, however is an ideal place to observe a whole cross-section of society. It's not just a lack of education that is causing this..... look around and you see all walks of life falling into the same trap.
I've got two little boys who like to help and we chat all the way round the aisles. They enjoy going and feel they are helping .*
I know adults today are very stressed and they have a lot on their plate. I can sympathise but I can't understand why they can't just take a step back and look a how they are interacting with their children. What message are they giving them? It's a fact that the levels of language and communication skills in children are declining: around 40,000 start school each year without the necessary levels to cope with the written language tasks ahead. These are not children with speech or language disorder, these are children with transient difficulties through lack of appropriate stimulation.
What can we do about it? It needs a huge drive to emphasise what problems we are creating by not interacting and to show its an actually easier and much more pleasant option to communicate with your child. One of the main aims of the Smart Talkers Pre-school groups is to help to address this issue www.smarttalkers.org.uk. The development of human communication is amazing, fantastic, awesome... there aren't enough superlatives to describe it. We need to recognise it and know what part we can play in helping our own children.
In the meantime, I prefer to avoid the supermarket so I don't feel stressed by the other parents....
Tesco man here between 10 and 11!! .


*apart from they can't resist the shiny floors for knee slides but hey no ones perfect! There's probably another parent writing her blog about irresponsible parents who allow that sort of behaviour!