Many parents wonder: how to develop speech in a child? This is often due to the fact that all children are individual. Therefore, some peers acquire connected speech earlier. But this is not always a cause for concern. Minor deviations from the norm of speech development in a particular child may be its characteristic feature.
To find out how to develop a child’s speech, parents need to familiarize themselves with existing standards. You cannot demand the impossible from a child. Parents who do not know how to develop their child’s speech often make mistakes. Excessive severity can lead to the fact that the baby closes down and stops talking. Therefore, we develop the child’s coherent speech gradually. This will certainly bear fruit.
Norms of speech development
- Child 1 to 1.5 years old. At this age, children use individual words in conversation. By the age of one and a half years, the child composes simple sentences. For example, “give me some porridge” or “give me some water.” The child remembers the names of objects that surround him at home, as well as several basic verbs and adjectives.
- Child from 1.5 years to 2 years. Toddlers' vocabulary is expanding rapidly. Shortened forms of words are gradually disappearing. Children's speech becomes coherent thanks to pronouns and adjectives. By the age of two, the child begins to use sentences of 3-4 words. The more we develop children’s speech at home, the more expressive and emotional it becomes.
- Child from 2 years to 2.5 years. While studying the speech of your children, you can move on to simple poetry. At this age, kids remember quatrains well. Vocabulary increases due to the rapid acquisition of new phrases and expressions. Questions appear in coherent speech. The number of words in sentences increases due to conjunctions and prepositions. The child begins to communicate not only with parents, but with peers.
- Child from 2.5 years to 3 years. Children begin to understand the meaning of speech well. They can delve into stories about future and past time. The more often we develop children’s speech at home at this age, the faster their vocabulary increases. Parents become a source of information. Children can be assigned tasks that involve several activities. If we develop speech correctly, then numerals and cases appear in it.
- Child from 3 to 4 years old. Sound pronunciation improves. The child can talk about himself and correctly uses comparative adjectives, verb tenses and gender. Children are given generalizations (furniture, people, etc.). Vocabulary includes not only objects available at home, but also abstract concepts, phenomena and evaluations. At this age, we develop speech with the help of books and poems. Children like to reread the same thing several times, since familiar information is absorbed better. The child is able to memorize prose and poetry verbatim. However, retelling is difficult.
- Child from 4 to 5 years old. Children's vocabulary is rapidly growing due to adverbs. The child becomes interested in independently analyzing words, transferring their formation to others. Although it doesn’t always turn out correctly (“cuter is cuter”, “bright is brighter”). By the age of five, a child can use the plural fluently. However, when encountering unfamiliar words, children may have problems (“cucumber – cucumbers – cucumbers”). The child’s coherent speech is not yet sufficiently developed. When retelling events, inconsistency is acceptable. At this age, it is necessary to develop the child’s speech, working on the sound pronunciation of sonorant and hissing sounds.
- Child from 5 to 6 years old. At this age, correct coherent speech is actively developing. Children are able to compose stories based on visual material, retell stories in compliance with tenses and logical chains. Inner speech is formed, so children have the ability to plan their actions. Gross grammatical errors disappear. You will no longer hear from your child: “I’ll go to the store yesterday.” Sound pronunciation and sound analysis are normalized. The child’s speech becomes more expressive, accompanied by changes in intonation and volume.
- Child from 6 to 7 years old. Children fully master coherent speech. Sounds are pronounced correctly, temporal and logical sequences are observed. Errors occur only in complex sentences.
- Child from 7 to 8 years old. Stable and figurative expressions are added to coherent speech. The kid is able to read a poem with an expression, as well as explain its meaning. A child at the age of 8 begins to actively master reading and writing. By this age, he has developed all the skills necessary for studying at school. As a rule, at this stage, adults do not have the question of how to develop a child’s speech.
If a child does not have developed speech for his age group, then specialist help may be required. It is better to contact a speech therapist or preschool teacher. It is also necessary to develop the baby’s speech at home.
Methods for developing active speech in young children
Formation of active speech in young children is a necessity. This is due to the sensitive period of the child’s speech development and the active growth in the number of speech pathologies in modern society. This requires the use of a variety of methods and techniques for activating the speech work of a young child.
Stimulating the active speech of a young child is realized through the use of the following methods:
- Visual methods. They are associated with the demonstration of living objects, their actions, observation of processes and phenomena of the surrounding world.
- Verbal methods. They are associated with reading children's literature, pronunciation of rhymes, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and stories.
- Practical methods. As a rule, they include play activities. Special classes on speech development can be organized, but in this age period they do not have an active impact. Therefore, didactic games are used.
- Folklore. It is oral folk art that has an active influence on the development of a child’s active speech. Lullabies, nursery rhymes, and rhymes captivate the child and direct his attention to the adult’s speech. In addition, they stimulate the work of thought processes, which activates speech development.
- Onomatopoeia. This is a special technique aimed at activating the child’s speech work. Sounds and their combinations are given that reflect the actions of objects, the sounds of animals: ku-ka-re-ku, woof-woof, chug-chukh, top-top.
- Exercises to develop speech breathing. They are necessary in order to develop the basics of correct pronunciation. Children are given exercises to deflate and blow something out, and perform rhythmic inhalations and exhalations.
- Exercises to develop motor functions of the body. Motor skills stimulate speech development. Finger games, finger gymnastics, artistic creativity - modeling, finger painting are used.
- Sand therapy. This is an innovative method used in child development. Playing with sand promotes the development of motor functions of the body, which stimulates speech and helps form the foundations of a coherent statement.
Figure 1. Games and activities for speech development. Author24 - online exchange of student work
Speech development at home
Many are not interested in how to develop a child’s speech; parents think that this is the task of speech therapists and teachers. However, it is adults who teach children to speak at home: from the first sound to an interesting fairy tale. Contacting a speech therapist is required only if problems arise. We develop children's speech at home by commenting on our actions, communicating with each other and reading books to the baby at night.
If you don’t know how to develop speech in a child, then take the advice of experts. Many interesting games have been developed. They will not bother parents, and will also help in developing children’s speech.
Forming correct breathing
To correctly form the speech of young children, it is necessary to teach them to speak words as they exhale. For this purpose, special training for the respiratory system is used. With their help, the child will be able to fit more words in one exhalation. The following activities are suitable:
- blowing away feathers and light objects;
- playing the harmonica, flute or pipe;
- blowing soap bubbles;
- inflating balloons and so on.
Parents can use anything that can be blown into. Training should be regular.
Working on articulation
How to develop correct sound pronunciation and intelligible speech in a child? Pay attention to articulation exercises. They are necessary for the development of facial and oral muscles, as well as the speech part of the brain. Articulatory gymnastics is very important for the speech of young children. The following games are suitable.
- "Happy Bee" These insects collect flower nectar using their proboscis. Tell your child about this, and then ask them to pretend to be a bee. To do this, you need to fold your lips like a pipe and draw air through them. Don't forget about incentives. The longer the baby sucks in air, the better.
- "Sly frog" Tell your child how frogs catch flies. They sharply pull out their tongue in different directions and then hide it. Ask your child to pretend to be a frog. A mobile tongue is very important for the formation of developed speech.
- "Fast horse" Teach your baby to click his tongue, imitating the fast gait of a horse. The jaw should not move.
- "Zoo". If you don’t know how to develop a child’s speech in a playful way, then you will definitely like this exercise. Show your baby how different animals talk (cat – “meow-meow”, dog – “woof-woof”, lion – “r-r-r-raw”, cuckoo – “ku-ku-ku-ku”, donkey – “eeeeah”) -eeaaa"). Let the baby depict different animals, and you try to guess.
By developing your baby’s speech at home, you create a favorable environment. He sees that learning is very fun and interesting.
Replenishing vocabulary
- "Chain of words." Everyone is familiar with the game "Cities". But it is only suitable for those who already have well-developed speech and erudition. When playing with your baby, it is better to use a simple option when you need to name words starting with the last letter (watermelon - tooth - beaver - sleeve - wafer).
- "Hike." Ask your child what he can take with him on a trip to the sea, to hot countries, to the forest, and so on.
- “Describe the apartment.” While outside the house, ask the baby to tell you what is in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and so on.
Developing speech skills
These exercises are suitable for children whose speech is already well developed.
- "Imagine this". Give your child a fantasy topic, for example, “imagine that our cat has learned to speak.” Let him come up with a short story.
- "Museum". Let the baby give his parents a tour of his room, apartment, or playground. Ask him questions about different subjects. Let him tell you what it is and what it is used for.
- "Puzzles". Make a wish for a simple object. The kid must guess it by asking questions that can be answered “yes” or “no.” For example, “is it big?”, “is it edible?”.
If we develop a child’s coherent speech through games, this gives the best effect. The baby is interested in the process, so the exercises do not bother him.
Recommendations for parents: “Developing a child’s speech at home”
DEVELOPING A CHILD'S SPEECH AT HOME
(recommendations for parents on organizing correctional work at home)
Currently, special attention is paid to creating conditions for the integration of children with disabilities into society, as well as providing assistance to families with children with developmental problems.
The birth of a child with developmental disabilities, regardless of the nature and timing of his illness or injury, changes and often disrupts the entire course of family life.
Everyone wants him to be the smartest, healthiest, most beautiful, to study with interest, joy, and diligence.
But have you done everything to ensure that he is ready for this?
Sometimes children with disabilities experience difficulties in mastering speech.
Individual work is usually required with such children. And parents should provide great help in this.
What should you pay attention to when organizing activities with your child at home? How to help a child?
You don’t need to organize anything special for this. You don't need complex manuals and techniques. You just have to tune in to your daily work and carefully look around you or even just in front of you. The reason and subject for children’s speech development can be absolutely any object, natural phenomenon, your usual household chores, actions, mood. Inexhaustible material can be provided by children's books and pictures in them, toys and cartoons.
Don't miss the slightest opportunity to discuss something with your child. Just discuss it. One-sided “talking” without dialogue is of little use. It doesn’t matter who is silent: a child or an adult. In the first case, children do not develop active speech, in the second - passive speech (the ability to listen, hear, understand speech; follow speech instructions in a timely and correct manner; enter into partnerships; empathize with what is heard). Let's consider several situations suitable for speech classes.
On a walk
. At this time, you can instill knowledge in your child and strengthen his speech skills on the topics “Clothes”, “Shoes”, “Autumn”, “Winter”, “Spring”, “Summer”, “Toys”, “City”, “Transport” ", "Birds" and others.
It is useful to carry out various observations of the weather, seasonal changes in nature, plants, birds, animals, people, and transport. All this must be commented on, discussed, and framed in the form of a conversation. New, unfamiliar words to the child should be explained, repeated several times, and the child should be taught to pronounce them clearly.
It is useful to listen to the sounds of the street: the rustling of leaves, the noise of footsteps, the hum of cars, the voices of birds, the sounds of wind, rain, snow, hail, etc. This develops auditory attention. The child will be interested in the games “What did the street say?”, “Shut up and tell me what you heard”, “Attentive ears”, “Who called?”.
Speech development techniques
If you want to find out how to develop your child’s speech skills, then use special literature. Experts recommend publications by the following authors:
- A. M. Borodich. The author touches on the issues of improving speech skills among preschoolers. The main attention is focused on the formation of coherent speech.
- E. V. Kolesnikova. The program includes teaching materials for teachers and working materials for children of different ages. It includes illustrations, games and various fun exercises. In addition to tasks aimed at developing speech skills, the program contains tasks aimed at preparing the hand for writing. The material is very extensive - poems, tongue twisters, songs, fairy tales, books and so on. The teacher does not have to look for anything himself.
- O. S. Ushakova and E. M. Strunina. The program is designed for teachers and adults who want to independently develop their child’s speech before school. It includes many games and tasks aimed at comprehensive stimulation of speech - sound, grammatical and lexical.
There are many techniques written by various authors. A speech therapist will help you choose a specific one, based on the level of speech development of your child.
If you are faced with problems of delayed speech development, then it is better to contact the NEAPL speech therapy and psychology center. Self-diagnosis and self-medication cannot be practiced. Speech problems do not go away on their own. Only an effective correction program will allow the child to speak on par with his peers.
Ways to develop speech in a child
- "Mom doesn't understand." If the baby can already name objects, but does not do this, parents can pretend that they do not understand what the child wants from them, forcing him to say: “What can I give you? Teddy bear? A spoon? Kitten? The baby usually easily buys into such a technique and names the item he needs.
- “What will we choose?” In everyday situations, ask your child his wishes. “Will you go for a walk in a yellow or blue blouse?” “Do you want fish or salad for dinner?” Thus, the child will learn to formulate his thoughts and present them in verbal form. In addition, such an exercise will lay the foundation for independence and responsibility.