top tips for parents literacy: talking and listening - talking and... · top tips for parents...

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Depending on your child’s age and stage of development please turn over to find some suggestions to try at home Literacy is an essential part of our everyday lives. It helps us to understand our world through what we hear, see, say, write and read. Through play and daily activities children can develop the literacy skills that are so necessary for everyday living. What do we mean by talking and listening? Talking and listening are two important aspects of our literacy skills and are part of almost everything we do. The two aspects cannot be separated. We need to listen in order to respond correctly and so talking and listening are always inter- linked. Spending time talking with and listening to your child, will help them to build vocabulary and understanding, as well as learn how language lets us communicate with each other. Literacy: Talking and Listening Top Tips for Parents earlyyearsscotland.org As you talk with your child, giving them your full attention and having good eye contact, you will be strengthening your relationship and helping build their self-esteem. As parents we are often so busy multi-tasking that we ask a question of our child and don’t take time to listen to the answer. This can give the impression that we are not really interested in what they have to say and can limit real conversation and good communication. Taking a bit of time to really listen and talk to your child from birth means they will know and understand many more words by the time they go to nursery or school. It is never too soon to start chatting to your baby even if you think they can’t possibly understand what you are saying! As they listen to you talk they will start to become familiar with the patterns of communication. They will learn to tell a question from an instruction or a statement by the tone or rise and fall of your voice. This will give them a pattern for their own communications as their speech develops.

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Page 1: Top Tips for Parents Literacy: Talking and Listening - Talking and... · Top Tips for Parents earlyyearsscotland.org As you talk with your child, giving them your full attention and

Depending on your child’s age and stage of development please turn over to find some suggestions to try at home

Literacy is an essential part of our everyday lives. It helps us to understand our world through what we hear, see, say, write and read. Through play and daily activities children can develop the literacy skills that are so necessary for everyday living.

What do we mean by talking and listening?

Talking and listening are two important aspects of our literacy skills and are part of almost everything we do. The two aspects cannot be separated. We need to listen in order to respond correctly and so talking and listening are always inter-linked. Spending time talking with and listening to your child, will help them to build vocabulary and understanding, as well as learn how language lets us communicate with each other.

Literacy: Talking and Listening

Top Tips for Parents

earlyyearsscotland.org

As you talk with your child, giving them your full attention and having good eye contact, you will be strengthening your relationship and helping build their self-esteem. As parents we are often so busy multi-tasking that we ask a question of our child and don’t take time to listen to the answer. This can give the impression that we are not really interested in what they have to say and can limit real conversation and good communication. Taking a bit of time to really listen and talk to your child from birth means they will know and understand many more words by the time they go to nursery or school.

It is never too soon to start chatting to your baby even if you think they can’t possibly understand what you are saying! As they listen to you talk they will start to become familiar with the patterns of communication. They will learn to tell a question from an instruction or a statement by the tone or rise and fall of your voice. This will give them a pattern for their own communications as their speech develops.

Page 2: Top Tips for Parents Literacy: Talking and Listening - Talking and... · Top Tips for Parents earlyyearsscotland.org As you talk with your child, giving them your full attention and

© Copyright Early Years Scotland, December 2017Early Years Scotland, 23 Granville Street, Glasgow G3 7EE • Tel: 0141 221 4148 • Fax: 0141 221 6043 • Email: [email protected] Early Years Scotland is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland Registration No 86932 and a Scottish Charity Registration No SC003725

SOME SUGGESTIONS TO HELP YOUR

CHILD DEVELOP THEIR TALKING AND

LISTENING SKILLSLet your child

know you are really interested in what they have to say by giving

them your full attention and by having good

eye contact.

Children learn by imitation so be a good role model! Speak clearly and try to introduce new

words into your conversations. Use ‘real' words not ‘baby' words.

Chat to your baby and in time they will start to babble back to

you mimicking your tone and the rise and fall of your voice. Always give them time to respond in this

way. Encouraging these early ‘conversations' will help them

towards real speech. Read stories to your child regularly.

This helps to expand their vocabulary and is important for

babies too. Make up stories together

with your child. Also encourage and join in

imaginative/pretend play with them. This is great for both imagination and building

language skills.

Encourage your child to use all their senses to tell you what they can see, hear and smell, or get

them to describe the taste of what they are eating or how something feels. You can introduce new words to help them. Using new

words in real life situations helps understanding of

these words.

Play listening games outside.

What sounds can they identify with their eyes

closed? This is a good game to play while waiting for a bus.

Hopefully these suggestions have sparked some ideas of your own. Have fun trying them with your child.

Talk about daily routines/

tasks to your baby as you do them. With older children you can

discuss and help them plan the day with you.

Make a shopping list with your child and get them to recall what was on it when

you get to the shops.

Try to ask questions that

encourage talk and don't just require a one word answer, for example, ‘Tell me about your day at nursery' rather than ‘Did

you enjoy nursery today?'

Play ‘I packed a

suitcase and I took...' where each person has

to repeat what others have already put in the suitcase and then add

their own item.

Ask your child about their

day when they return from

nursery or from playing at a

friend's house.For older children a game of ‘I spy' encourages them to really listen to words as they identify the first sound

of the object's name. Always play the game

using the first sound of the object's name rather than

naming the first letter.