Ways to encourage your child to talk less and communicate more

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was written by Speech Pathologist - Au Thi Hoa, Cell Therapy Center, Department of Regenerative Medicine - Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.
In the first years of life, every parent wants their child to develop comprehensively, one of the areas of great interest is the child's language. In fact, nowadays, there are quite a few children who are quiet, when asked, they only answer briefly without taking the initiative to tell stories and ask questions. If you are wondering about this problem, try to refer to the suggestions in the following article.

1. Provide language "tasks" that are suitable for children's abilities

Parents, please make sure that the questions given to the child need to be specific and suitable for the child's ability to understand, even with the quiet child. With children who have gone to kindergarten or kindergarten, we often expect them to come home and tell us what happened at school today. Parents often ask their children that question with questions, for example, "Did you have any fun at school today?". Children say no and the story stops there, gradually we just ask like a habit. Instead, parents should ask "Who are you in class with today?", "Did the teacher praise/criticize you in any activity?",...
We need to pay attention to the sentence form. Ask the Who, What, What, How, Why,... and whether the child can answer the question. If the child repeatedly has to answer that the child does not know, the child can respond by staying silent or answering "I don't know" to avoid being asked next time.
MORE: How to develop language while playing with your child?

2. Model the language appropriately

Children learn languages ​​mostly from the world around them and especially from those close to them. Children will listen, understand and apply what they hear. If possible, try to take the time to observe what the current sentence length is, 3-4 words or 7-8 words. And how long are you telling your child? The secret to modeling language is to talk to your child in sentences that are 1-2 words longer than the one he's talking about. If your child tells you “Eat cake” is a two-word sentence, guide them with a 3-4 word sentence like “I eat cake” or “I want to eat cake”. This is also a way to encourage children to talk more that parents need to pay attention to.

3. Spend time talking with your child

You come home and are reeling from cleaning the house, cooking, teaching your kids,... and it seems like you can't talk to your kids while doing these chores? Along with cleaning the house, your child will clean the clothes or you can encourage her to play in an open space (on the foam carpet, on the sofa, ...) and talk to her.
If the above suggestions may not be suitable for your family schedule, then spend 10 full minutes listening to your child every day. It's the first 5 minutes you see your baby after you get home and the 5 minutes before you go to sleep. This time we will spend with our children completely, no phones, no distractions, just listening, sharing and connecting.
SEE ALSO: Developing children's language through food

4. Encourage your child to participate in group activities

Each environment gives children different experiences. When children participate in many different activities such as singing, dancing, MC practice, sports, ... in addition to providing children with knowledge and skills of that field, it also gives children a lot of benefits. something more than that. It is confidence, emotions, opportunities for children to express themselves. At the same time, having a communication environment also creates conditions for children to enhance interaction and language development. This is also a way to teach quiet children to begin to express themselves and communicate among the crowd and their peers.
With instincts as a parent and love for your child, you will surely be able to do more than the simple suggestions above. Because they are the ones who know their child best and will know what is best for their child.

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