Many people don?t realize just how many words a child under two actually knows. You may think you?re talking over your baby?s head, but watch out: you may be surprised at how much is getting through. And with so many words in their heads, it seems likely that kids this age have plenty they?d like to say ? about their needs, their feelings and the whole wide world around them.
Fact is, that?s just what Doctors Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn discovered after years of research. That?s why they developed a vocabulary of hand signs, a kind of code very young children can use for basic communication before they?re ready to talk. It?s a system that was played for laughs in the movie ?Meet the Fockers,? but it?s also serious science.
Have you or anyone you know ever used hand signs with their children? If not, how do you communicate with kids who haven?t yet learned to talk? And by the way, does anyone think we should just let kids be kids and speak when they?re ready?
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Comments: 7
Now at 10, she talks non-stop...and most of what she says I can understand. If we had waited any longer without help, I don't know if Angela would be speaking as well as she is now. Since she didn't hear well during the critical language developement period, she has a lot of phonics issues. Her spelling and reading have been impacted also.
I talk to my kids and look them in the eye. And listen along with encouragement.