Dos and don’ts: Strengthening a child’s vocabulary

Watching a child learn how to communicate with the world around them is incredibly exciting. For some parents, their child’s speech and language development can also elicit feelings of concern and anxiety if they feel their child is not meeting age-appropriate communication milestones. Every child learns at their own pace, but there are things parents can do to help strengthen and encourage vocabulary development.

Shelby Coren, a speech language pathologist at Advocate Children’s Hospital, offers the following tips for promoting verbal communication:

• Set up an environment that increase opportunities for communication. Provide a desired object in a closed container so your child can request “help” or “open” from a caregiver. You can also try offering a few pieces of a snack instead of the full serving so they can request “more”.
• Offer choices. “Do you want a cookie or cracker?” This provides a concrete language model and also allows your child to learn that making requests can get their wants and needs met.
• Use fill-in-the-blank tasks. You can use this in common phrases and songs. For example, say “Ready, set…” and wait for your child to fill in the blank with “go!”
• Model language appropriate for the child’s developmental level. If your child is communicating using primarily single words, model single words and two-word phrases. It is difficult for a child to imitate long sentences when they are communicating using single words.
• Allow your child time to respond. This can be challenging and might feel awkward because we often expect a response right away. However, children require time to process the information we just provided and to think of an appropriate response.
• Provide opportunities for peer interactions. Children learn through interacting with other children, whether that’s at school, through the community or during activities. This allows them to see how other children communicate and learn social communication skills.

Coren recommends avoiding these strategies:

• Asking too many questions. This puts a lot of pressure on your child to communicate. Try to ask questions approximately 25 percent of the time and use statements 75 percent of the time.
• Telling your child to “Say x.” Instead, provide the language model and allow time for your child to imitate. They are more likely to imitate when we increase the amount of language models and decrease pressure to speak.

“If you have concerns about your child’s communication skills, speak to their pediatrician about scheduling a speech-language evaluation,” Shelby says. “A speech-language therapist can provide strategies to promote communication skills based on your child’s developmental level.”

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