How to Boost Baby's Vocabulary Before the First Word

How many times today have you used words to get what you want or need, to pass on information, to express your feelings, or to influence others? All of these things are possible if you know language. How and what we say is an important part of who we are. Our ability to understand and use language affects our success and happiness throughout life. You can begin to boost your baby's vocabulary long before he can express his first show-stopping word. What tools will your need? Just your daily routine - your errands about town, your trips to the supermarket, and your chores around the house. No flash cards, no special equipment, no time squeezed out of an already overburdened schedule. According to Ellen Markman, a Standford University Psychologist, when children begin to say words, they don't need to know the meanings of every word in the language. This is because they start with three basic assumptions that help them simplify what words mean: First, children innately know that labels belong to whole objects, not just a part or a quality of something. For example, they understand that the word cup refers to the whole item, not just the handle. Second, children assume that a word label does not refer to just one thing, but a class of things. This enables them to make generalizations, although not always correct ones. For instance, your child may assume that because a beach ball is a ball, and because a baseball is a ball, that an orange is a ball too. Third, children assume that everything with a name has only one name. The natural way for your baby to learn the meaning of words is to listen to you talk in relation to the events going on around you. In this manner, he will learn to associate the words you say with the actions, objects, or thoughts you describe. Experts believe the more live language your baby hears, the greater his vocabulary and the greater his IQ. This is because frequent daily exposure to words helps brain pathways that foster language learning to develop more fully. It is important to remember that just because your baby isn't talking yet doesn't mean he is not listening and learning the meaning of words and actions. That first show-stopping word will most likely be the name of a person or thing that he has heard often. Initially, babies understand many more words then they can say. The average one-year-old understands about 55 words, but might say one or two. The average sixteen-month- old child understands about 179 words, but can say only about 25 of them. Hearing your voice is a pleasant experience for your child. To a young child the whole world is new and he can learn from everything around him: including people, objects, sounds, smells, and tastes. Use your daily activities to talk to your baby often about what you are seeing, hearing, feeling, and doing as it is happening. Notice what he is focusing on, or doing, and comment on it. Use short, simple phrases and sentences. Your baby will most likely tune out if you deliver a steady commentary with no chance for comments. Therefore, at times, ask your baby questions and give him time to delight you with his special coos, smiles, or gestures. While dressing your child, help him learn language by using many different words that are a natural part of the dressing routine. You can talk about body parts, different kinds of clothes, parts of clothes items and even where clothes are stored. This will help boost your child's knowledge of labels and categories. (Shoes go on your feet. Shirts go over your head.) At the supermarket, most products come in different sizes, colors, and shapes. As you push your cart down the aisle, you are constantly making choices. You may choose a large box of cereal, but a small bottle of salad dressing. Use words to compare the products you see and choose. Your will help your child learn how to describe and compare things in his environment. (This bag is small. This box is big.) At the playground, give your child simple directions to help him learn about spatial concept words such as: on, under, around, and over as well as understand and follow simple directions. (Look over your head. You are going down the slide. Go up the ladder. Let's walk around the jungle gym.) While cooking dinner, use action word to explain what you are doing. (I am stirring. I am opening the oven door.) Explain what you are doing first, next, and last. This will help him learn abut the logical order of events. Experts agree that parents' interest and interaction with their baby from the moment of birth is essential as they "shape" and strengthen the trillions of brain connections that are formed during the first years of life. Some experts have even said that talking and interacting with a baby early in life can actually make a difference between low-average and high-average communication skills.   Dorothy P. Dougherty may be contacted at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399527311/ref=ed_oe_p/002-0659993-8001642 dockx2@aol.com. Click here to view more of their articles. Dorothy P. Dougherty, MA, CCC-SLP, is a Speech/Language Pathologist and author of How to Talk to Your Baby: A Guide to Maximizing Your Child's Language And Learning Skills. (Penguin/Putnam, 12/99) For 24 years, Ms. Dougherty has worked with children and adults in school, clinical, and private settings. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Speech Pathology from West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1978, her master's degree in Speech Pathology from the College of New Jersey in Trenton in 1980, and her Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1981. In her book, she shows busy parents how to enhance a young child's language skills as they go about daily life activities. How children learn to talk, what to expect at different ages, and brain boosting tips from birth to three years are also included