- 24 Aug, 2024
- 0 Comments
- 2 Mins Read
Recent Press Around Children’s Speech.
On the back of an ERO study on language skills of children as they enter school published Thursday 22nd August, there’s been a bit of press around it, which is good as it brings awareness to the general public.
The article in the ODT Friday 23rd August has some salient points but also a few contradictions and poorly chosen words to describe socio economic areas.
Covid has pretty much taken the blame here and so has screen time. Fair call. But there are also many other factors as well not mentioned.
There are many factors involved, and they start in early childhood; how much time is spent in an early learning centre and from what age? How much time is spent speaking to children from a very early age, how often children are read to at home? How much screen time do they spend on a daily basis? Do they play outside often? Do they experience new activities that exposes them to new vocab on a regular basis?
A child’s level of oral language is a good indicator as to how well they will read and write (not an exact indicator but it’s pretty good) Put simply, they have to be able to enunciate a letter sound correctly to use in words which makes it easier for them to read the sound, and write that sound too.
This most recent study said “Delays in oral language in the early ears are reflected in poor reading comprehension at school”. Agree.
So how do you boost a child’s oral language? Speak to them. It really is that simple. Look them in their eyes as you speak, speak in full sentences, using appropriate and correct language (sorry, but slang like ‘youse’ is out and so is swearing. Teachers have anecdotally reported the huge upswing in swearing coming from our children but they are just repeating what they hear at home).
For more in depth tips and techniques below are links to my free resources, books and courses.
Do get in touch if you have any concerns about your child’s speech, my email is also below and I can offer some further suggestions.
Here’s the link if you want a read – Low levels of language skills: study.
Harvard Graduate School of Education Family Dinners Project.
Top tips for speaking with your child
Say It Clearly, your guide for clear and confident speech in children
Clear Speech for Children – an online course of videos and pdfs to support, that show and explain how to speak clearly for you and your family to watch and follow along with.
Email – miriam@sayitclearly.co.nz
Have a great week, Miriam.