Helping Children Find Their Voices: A Guide for Parents and Early Years Practitioners

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Introduction
	Why talking?
	The ‘Words Together’ series
	A bit about me
	About you
	If you only read one section
	Your role…
One What we need to know about talking
	Do we need to think about helping children to talk?
	What does talking involve?
	What is language?
	What is speech?
	What is communication?
	The importance of talking, for our children
	Building brain connections
	How do children learn to talk?
	Milestones guide
Two Baby steps and first words – how can I help?
	Should I really be talking to a baby before they can talk back to me?
	Speaking other languages
	They’ll talk when they’re ready won’t they?
	‘Parentese’
	Helping children learn to talk
		Following the child’s interest
		Responding to attempts to communicate
		Choosing when to talk and when to be quiet
		Making conversation natural
		Sharing books together
		Getting their attention first
		Talking in short, simple sentences
		Repetition
		Avoiding correcting a child’s pronunciation or immature language
Three The important two-word stage
	Pivot words
	Games you can play
	Tidying up
	Going to sleep
	Make your own slide
	Posting toys
	Bathtime
	Action words
	Asking for more
	The ‘Words Together’ series of books
Four Other things to think about
	Hearing difficulties
	How do I know what they mean?
	What about dummies?
	Do children benefit from screen time?
	What toys do they need?
	Is baby-signing helpful?
	Can music and singing help too?
Five What if things aren’t going to plan?
	Parenting and childcare is hard work
	I think there might be a problem
	Finding out more about the child’s development
	Stuttering / stammering / dysfluency
	Getting the right support
	Speech and language therapists
Six Next steps
	Two words and beyond
	Speech sound development
	Getting ready for nursery and school
	Anything else I should know (parents)
	Anything else I should know (all early years practitioners)
	Don’t just take it from me – what do other people say?
Further information
	Useful websites
	Information in books for parents and practitioners
	Acknowledgements
	My grateful thanks also go to
	Additional books in the ‘Words Together’ series
Index