There is one thing that unites parents of Aotearoa, Early Childhood Educators and the New Zealand government. We want our children growing up safe, cared for, loved and in environments that contribute to their development.
There is a wealth of research that discusses the impacts of maternal and non maternal child care on children’s development. The NICHD study (1) is an older but valuable report. It states that the biggest impact on child development was the quality of parental care and home environments and subsequent research validates this. So perhaps one of the most important things that an early child education centre can do is support parents to improve parenting skills and the home environment.
To communicate well a child needs to have someone to communicate with, a reason to communicate, a way to communicate and opportunities to communicate. How can knowing this help us create language rich learning environments?
Firstly let’s think about why children communicate. At a recent workshop I asked the participants to explain the reason for their last communication exchange. The answers varied but could be put into categories such as giving and seeking information, requesting, protesting, connecting with someone socially. Children and infants communicate for the same reasons as adults but perhaps in different proportions given their dependence. What ‘reasons’ for communicating do you see at your centre? How do you think you could set up the environment to give children more reason to communicate?
Who does a child communicate with in an educational setting? Booren, Downer, & Vitiello (2012) more positive peer interactions in child led free time activities and more positive teacher interactions during adult-led activities. More dependent infants and children will have more interactions with adults than other children. When setting up the environment or supporting children with disabilities or behavioural issues it’s important to think about what is typical and support these children to interact positively with their peers as well as the adults in the centre. When it comes to communication teachers and peers are one of the most important ‘tools’.
The third thing a child needs is a way to communicate. Having sound knowledge of the development of communication is essential for evaluating and supporting children in the ECE. Early on adults need learn to understand the child’s non verbal and early verbal communications, parents can be very helpful here. These non-verbal communications are an important part of the development of verbal language. Some children use non-verbal communication for a lot longer than others and some children require alternative or augmentative communication systems (AAC). Other children may arrive with a different home language and be in the ‘silent’ period. Communication passports and profile are valuable tools for ensuring that all centre staff and visitors know how a child communicates. These could be as simple as a poster on the wall or a book that is shared by the child with each visitor.
The last item that children require is an opportunity to communicate. For some children this might be as simple as a micro second pause on behalf of their ‘communication partner’. For other children particularly those who are more reluctant have communication disorders, disabilities or are learning a new language, they may need a much longer opportunity to communicate. In resources from The Hanen Centre. There are plenty of strategies around creating opportunities for a child to initiate an interaction. My particular favourite is called OWLing Observe Wait Listen. Observe what a child is doing and what they are interested in, Wait for as long as possible for the child to start the interaction then Listen (look) to what they say and respond accordingly. ‘Waiting’ is the most powerful strategy you can use when it comes to encouraging a child to initiate an interaction.
So what activities have the best chances of developing children’s communication skills? It’s important to look back on what children ne
ed to communicate to answer this question. There are very few activities that won’t provide an opportunity to communicate. From daily care tasks to oral language activities like singing and reading. ECEs can enhance the communication opportunities by analysing activities to find the ‘why’, ‘who’, ‘how’ and the ‘opportunities’ in each one. Try doing this with the activity of ‘nappy changing’. What do you come up with?
Free play is such an important component of a language rich environment. Allowing young children freedom to choose what they will engage in and how. There doesn’t need to be a ‘right’ way. Teachers can join in from time to time or if invited but follow the child’s lead, copy what they do and then add only one new idea at a time. In my practise I have seen time and time again how this can lead to increased interaction and new words.
Try and ensure children have access to plenty of open ended activities and toys. Language specific activities such as songs, nursery rhymes and books allow children to engage with words and concepts that they might not otherwise and have the built in repetition that children need. Pretend play is especially important given it’s links to social, cognitive, language and literacy development.
So what about technology? Where does this fit in? Well research indicates that the more screen time a child has the more likely the are to have delayed expressive language (5.) If using as part of children’s exploration of their world then choose programmes that encourage interaction. For some great ideas check out http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/technology-corner.aspx
LEARN MORE VIA OUR ONLINE LEARNING HUB COURSE: CREATING LANGUAGE RICH LEARNING
Guest Author: Alison Bruce, Speech and Language Therapist
Your Potential Speech and Language Therapy
Alison has spent the last year working in the child development service in Nelson. Prior to that she spent over six years working in a remote area of North West Australia as a generalist speech pathologist. Before moving to Australia Alison worked in both private and public services. This has given her a knowledge of a range of areas of speech and language therapy including early development of communication and early intervention.
References:
The NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD): Findings for Children up to Age 4 1/2 Years (2006) U.S Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Booren, L. M., Downer, J. T., & Vitiello, V. E. (2012). Observations of Children’s Interactions with Teachers, Peers, and Tasks across Preschool Classroom Activity Settings. Early Education and Development, 23(4), 517–538. http://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.548767
Campbell, F. A., E. P. Pungello, S. Miller-Johnson, M. R. Burchinal, and C. T. Ramey. 2001. The development of cognitive and academic abilities: Growth curves from an early childhood educational experiment. Developmental Psychology 37:231-242. Google Scholar Medline
Vandell, D. L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Vandergrift, N., & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, L. (2010). Do Effects of Early Child Care Extend to Age 15 Years? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 81(3), 737–756. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01431.x
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2017, May 4). Handheld screen time linked with speech delays in young children: New research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting suggests the more time children under 2 years old spend playing with smartphones, tablets and other handheld screens, the more likely they are to begin talking later. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170504083141.htm
www.hanen.org – More Than Words, It Takes Two To Talk, Learning Language and Loving It