Is there any big secret for ealry talkers?

Early Learning Teaching Your Child - Signing, Speaking, Languages
1

Just curious :)! I seem to have very normal talkers - lol. My first had a good handful of words at 18 months and talking in short sentences just after he turned 2. He also communicated with sign language and we always knew what he wanted. My second child is now 12 months-old and has one clear word (ball!) and does sign language. I do most of the EL supported on this forum (LR, YBCR, etc), read aloud (about an hour with the 12 month-old and he also hears me reading to my older son a good bit of the day), and try to narriate/talk a ton. I tried the Doman approach awhile ago - with the singing a song over and over and have the baby fill in the blank - but I didn’t have much luck and dropped it - lol. Should I have kept that up?

I’m not at all worried because the communication has always been fine (sign language), and again they were/are “normal” talkers - but I’m just curious if there’s some big secret I’m missing out on :)! A couple friends of ours (two different families) have had very very early talkers (good bit of words at 11 months and short sentences at 18 months) and they do NOT do early learning. They couldn’t give any reason for why their children talked early. Does anyone know what I might not be doing? Any good books or articles on the topic? Doesn’t it seem like it would have to a simple thing since there are many families who just happen to have early talkers? :slight_smile: Just wondering!! Would love to hear your thoughts!

2

Talk.

That sounds funny to say but it is true. Just talk and talk to your kids. About everything. Both my children were “early” talkers comparitively. By 18 months my LO could say nearly anything he wanted to. At 26 months, he is speaking in 8-10 word sentences.

My husband, whose IQ far exceeds mine and probably my children’s, didn’t talk until he was 3. Then he spoke in long full sentences with perfect grammar. His mother said that he just didn’t have anything to say before that. He’s still not a talker. Talk - but don’t worry about it.

3

Well I guess that’s the simple answer I asked for :)! Does only talking directly to the baby count/ matter the most? Do they need to see your face? I feel like I talk all day…but if I were honest, a good chuck of it is directed to my older son…with the little one next to me.

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You talking to them is the best. Next would be music with lyrics, audio books and so forth. They need to hear lots of language. They first need to be filled with language before it spills out of their cup, if that makes sense. Talk to them about everything. That is the best advice I can give. I would tell my kids stories and make them animated and exciting, recite poetry and Psalms to them. They would be able to quote complete Psalms at 2 years old. Some kids are just more prone to speaking early though.

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Any good books or articles on the topic?
[i]Talking From Infancy[/i] by William Fowler

There’s going to be variation between children and environments, but there’s absolutely things that a parent can do to foster early talking.

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Honestly… I thought that there was something. But frankly I am not convinced anymore. I think sex has a lot to do with it. My son was in speech therapy and group class and none of the non talkers were girl. So statistically that makes a difference. I think maybe having an older, but close in age sibling may help. But I have heard it can hinder. I used to believe, if you talked they talked. But frankly. It is just not that simple. But it does not hurt at all.

I have raised 4 kids from infancy and frankly there ware different outcomes in all cases. I raised them the same way. We talked and talked and talked all the time. Played games, sang songs, learnt phonics. Oh, and we read at least 30 minutes a day. The only exception was that child 3, my son never saw TV, until 18 months, and only signing time DVDs. Oh and they come from 3 different families. So it might be all genetic. The mother of child 2 and 3 did speech therapy in school, not sure why. And my husband father father of child 3 was mute until 6. I was a precocious talker though.

Child 1. Girl. Very precocious talker. At 9 months she would walk up to the computer and say “puter on”

Child 2 and 3. Twin boys. Diagnosed with apraxia of the speech. (Verbal apraxia)

Child 3. Babbled at little bit at 12 months and then silence, babbled again at 16 months, but by 2 yeas could not talk at all. He is 3 in 2 months and is talking in basic sentences now. But still slightly delayed. His grammar is a mess but his pronounciations is pretty good. Possibly due to speech therapy.

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none of the non talkers were girl.

I started reading one of Thomas Sowell’s books on late talkers and can tell you that almost all (except maybe one of about 80) are male. Late talking is a different situation than early talking. There are plenty of late talking males that have high IQ. I haven’t gotten through the book, but he lists this out and there’s an obvious correlation.

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My first DD spoke fairly early though not superbly so, my second DD seems to be very slow with talking in comparison and yet she is about average when compared with milestones and I did catch her counting 6 objects the other day though she could not say three, four or five properly and mostly she talks by saying only the first sound of a word (she’s 20 months old) She hears a lot of speech but it is also a lot directed at my elder child rather than at her - I am trying to correct that, but she seems to learn even when its direceted at the other child. I’m just trying not to worry too much about it - she’s working on things in her own time.

My younger DD can hear and understand everything and will do what we ask her to do even with complicated instructions so I feel this is a muscle tone and developmental issue rather than related to anything I am doing. We have tried all sorts of things like repeating words, emphasising speech, letting her look at us talk, letting her blow bubbles and use straws to improve muscle control and her speech just continues to be average for now. I guess its wait and see where she goes - one day she’ll probably surprise us and just talk.

9

Absolutely do not stress, and absolutely do not inadvertently transfer that stress to the child!
Simply focus on a constant, running (no baby talk whatsoever!) dialogue… Ask loads of leading questions, give a second for response, ans supply the answer in a non-judgemental format.
…AND! Whilst you might explain things in a child-friendly, simplified, manner, NEVER, EVER simplify an answer to the point where you are providing incorrect information…if you are not sure, look it up!

The other thing major we insisted upon: do not condescend…and never use a basic word to describe something if you are familiar with a more powerful, correct, precise, more difficult word!!! I know it sounds silly, but will pay off powerfully.

We used A LOT of ASL signing with Alex, to the point where she would sign complex instructions and concepts, full sentences clear up until two years old. Her verbal ability was not NEARLY so advanced, and I can remember being hurt when it filtered through the university ‘grapevine’ that we were ‘damaging’ our child by using sign language…that it was OUR fault that she was signing so much and not talking…but I knew without a doubt what a massive receptive and signing vocabulary my kiddo had…

I will never forget when I read on the Signing Time website that the focus is on teaching ‘LANGUAGE’!!! Speech, verbal speech, is a skill!!! Why focus on when they are verbalizing if they are mastering the language itself…even my pediatrician said that the whole focus on ‘how many words’ milestone’ should include no -verbal communication…

Just before my daughter’s second birthday, she went from speaking about 30 words (with whole signed sentences) to speaking in complex paragraphs, complex grammar, and very descriptive language!!! And all those ‘ridiculous’ words and vocab we used with her? That exploded at the same time!

When asked if she wanted to put her pants on right leg first, left leg first, or simultaneously? Guess which she chose :biggrin:
One of her first full sentences? Okay mommy, but I would prefer orange juice!!!

So yes! Focus, focus, focus on talking and explaining…but do so in an advanced, respectful manner. Giver the child a moment to supply the answer, cheerfully build on THEIR answers, and make sure you are putting no pressure on them!

Whilst I do not agree with some of her techniques, Testing Mom Karen Quinn has some really great advice on HOW to talk to your child. Nee1 and others have previously mentioned her work, and you can actually read a very helpful chapter (chapter 10) from one of her books on how and how not to talk to your child:
http://testingforkindergarten.com/book/read-a-chapter

Most importantly!!! Trust in yourself and trust in your child! If you feel that their receptive vocabulary is growing regularly, and they are clearly communicating well, regardless of speech, the. Focus on the imput!
If you sense something isn’t right, that there is not great understanding, communication, communication issues you just can’t put your finger on? Take your kiddo in to ensure it is not a hearing issue or speech issue that can be dealt with by professionals…

Most importantly: never, ever listen to the nay-Sayers that try to tell you that because your child is not speaking complex sentences at 12 months, they are anything less than brilliant!

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Beautifully said Keri. :slight_smile:

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Just adding one more thing. :biggrin:
I think it’s not just important to talk talk talk but to be sure you talk in a way that makes each word clear. Of all the people I know with kids ( Ok let’s just say it’s a big number! :tongue: ) the 2-3 year olds who chatter ALOT almost all have parents who speak clearly. They never mumble or blend words in together. Their parents are usually quick to engage in conversation also.
In the playgoroup I spend years running, the kids who spoke later had parents who spoke a sentence like it was one word or two. With less inflections. In saying this all kids eventually talk, it may take longer but the late talkers often quickly skip ahead to complete sentences.
All mine talked early. My first said “hi” to a stranger jogging past at a couple of months old. ( yep we were surprised, the jogger nearly tripped over lol ) she hasn’t actually shut up since! :mad:
I think it is because I talk ALOT ( yep even more than I post on the forum! lol ) so they heard lots of speech, but I also stopped to articulate certain important words clearly. " would you like a DRINK? " let’s play some BALL" put the emphasis on the word you want them to say, but try to keep it fairly natural so you don’t think you are crazy. :biggrin:

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Especially in the beginning, words need to be associated with something, otherwise they’re just noise… until the baby figures out the patterns, and that can take many months

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PokerDad, did Thomas Sowell say anything insightful about children’s speech in the books you read? You’ve mentioned once that in one of the books, he gave strategies for getting kids to talk more. What were the strategies, and is there anything we can learn/adapt? Thanks.

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I haven’t finished that book yet, but he mentioned how he eventually got his boy to talk. He used a tape recorder and recorded his boy when he made sounds and then played it back for him. The boy loved it and through his enthusiasm began to talk more and more. While the tape recorder idea isn’t one of Fowler’s, he does mention encouraging dialogue.

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Thanks for the response. Please update us more on his insights when you finish the book. By the way, what is the book’s title? Is it ‘The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late’?

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I find this subject very interesting and have tried to read up on it as much as I can without spending too much money on books! I would love to read William Fowler’s book but I can’t afford it.

There is a chapter in Nuture Shock that is pretty interesting. I got the book on my kindle through my library. I am guessing it is the publisher who decides if they want libraries to be able to lend their books this way so I would think that other libraries that do digital lending may have it also. I love my kindle so if you have one too you might check it out.

It seems one of the biggest things you can do besides talking a lot yourself is listening and responding. I repeat a lot of what my son says. He likes it and he will often then repeat me. So we sometimes repeat the same thing back and forth to each other 10 times. I think it must be forming all kinds of language connections in his brain to have that much practice. I sometimes repeat it back but in a different way so he can learn different ways of saying the same thing. Or I expand what he says a little bit.

My son will say something like, “Molly is sad because she wants to go for a walk.”
Me: “Yes, Molly is sad because she wants to go outside, but she has to stay inside.”
Ian: “Molly is sad because she wants to go outside and has to stay inside.”
Me: “That’s right, Molly is sad because she wants to go for a walk, but she has to wait. We are taking Lucy outside first.”

etc.

I also think it does not matter if they can do sign language or speak; it is all practice using language. Even when using two languages practice with one language makes them more competent in the other. The book The Bilingual Edge says this and that learning two languages does not delay speech. I am not sure if that is true but seems to be the case for us. Of course to be fluent in two languages you need to practice both, but it seems when my son learns something in Spanish he then easily learns to say the same thing in English and vice versa.

As for baby talk, it is important not to confuse baby talk with motherese. Motherese is speaking clearly, slowly, and with varied inflection. This actually helps them to understand and to learn language. I think one thing that helped my son a lot was the fact that Spanish is my second language so I naturally speak it a lot more slowly and carefully. I think that has helped him to hear more clearly what I am saying. Unfortunately now he is getting so good that I am starting to feel inadequate to teach him, but I will keep trying. It is good practice for me too!

I always wonder if I have another baby how will he develop speech. My son is an early talker, but so was his dad. My MIL said that when he started preschool at 2 he said that he didn’t like it because the other kids sounded stupid. lol I can see the way my MIL is with my son and she does do all the things recommended so that doesn’t help the nature vs. nuture debate.

Anyway, I think that different kids will always develop differently, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help them a long.

17

My twins (now 3) had very high comprehension even at 12 months, but said only 2-5 words by age 2 and never made certain sounds (like ‘baba’, ‘dada’), so I panicked. I gave them Baby Babble 1 & 2 DVDs to watch and all of a sudden they were saying sounds and then speaking in sentences shortly after that. I have no idea if it was the result of the DVDs or they were just ready. Maybe the ‘problem’ was that I was speaking to them in full sentences, adult language (which they understood), but they just needed to practice basic sounds (which is what the Baby Babble DVDs do). I’m trying them out on my 12 month old boy now, and he still isn’t saying much but has a wider range of sounds than his sisters had at his age. I think each child just develops language different, though.

18

I can tell you a story about my first kid. Since her 7 to 20 months I was working at home and we had babysitter. From 7 to 11 months she come just few hours a day but later she was here 9 hours per day, 4 days a week. Her task was to distract my girl from me; we had 2-room flat and I was working at the computer. So, babysitter was nicely talking to my kid all the time :smiley:

My girl spoke earlier and better than any other kid I know (I know that there are earlier talkers but I do not know them personally). She had just 8 abbreviated words at 12 months. The explosion of vocabulary was at 14 months. I found in my records that she said “mummy sleeping” at 17 months. at 26 months, she spoke in sentences with correct grammar (I do not know the terms; she had all the little words, past and future).

at 17 months she had also the understanding about “if you will do A, you will get B” (if you will let me dress yourself, you will get milk).

my second kid is not speaking that well. although he has EL since his birth.

google “dialogic reading”, it really helps us.

19

I also believe that early talking is connected with kids temper. my girl newer played alone since she was 2. she was very unhappy without interacting. she always wanted someone talking to her. she is also a highly sensitive child.

my son likes to play alone. when he finds something interesting, he just “switches off” his ear for 30 minutes.

I also find this paper very useful
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/1/342.full.pdf+html

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I talk(ed) a lot to my little boy, 2 next week, but I felt he was fairly slow at grasping speech although he could sign several hundred words by 18mths. He is beyond regular milestones but I think I compare him to children on this forum lol We are in an unusual situation where we are far from family & friends. The local friends/ people wouldn’t dream of talking to a baby & we definitely get odd looks in the shop when we count out the items as they go on the conveyer belt.

He could say very few words at 18 months prior to our trip to Canada. We were with family & lots of people were down on the floor with him & interacting, not just my husband & I. I was amazed at how many spoken words he came home with after just a month. He kind of plateaued, then at 21 months we had lots of visitors including my parents & sisters who came for a fortnight, again they were down at his level making eye contact & he was “included” in all the conversations (he’s the most interesting one out of all of us anyway, haha). Since then we have several new words every day with no coaxing, it really does all just seem to come flooding out.

He may have figured it out anyway at 21 mths but I found it interesting how it seemed to coincide with a variety of people talking to him rather than just mummy.

The only thing I notice now is that as he gets more fluent he sometimes doesn’t take the time to enunciate properly since he has so much to say… mama, became mummE, which now can be u-E-u-E-u-E. If I ask him what my name is he’ll say Mummy just fine, & perhaps just a little bit sheepishly :nowink: .

The other day, we were going through the alphabet - usually e/ e is for egg, but spontaneously he came out with “ellow”… he doesn’t say yellow very well yet… although can say yoyo perfectly:-) I was pretty impressed how he made that connection, even if it was incorrect. He’s not reading (& I do say & spell yellow with a ‘y’ :slight_smile: ) I’m going on the “he’s phonetically aware” bandwagon :yes: