I’ve thought about this before: What makes my conversations with babies different from other carers? Why have the babies and children I’ve cared for individually made excellent linguistic progress? This week I realised what makes the difference and how that expertise can be incorporated into a daycare situation.
When I’m holding an older infant who is curious about the world around them – looks up at lamps, fans, trees outside – I always comment “Isn’t that a pretty .…..?â€, “Look at the wind blowing the trees” or something similarly relevant. Within a couple of times of commenting, often on the same day (!) a young child will look at the object when I comment on it!
It’s amazing! Simply by commenting ‘clearly’ on what they are interested in a young baby has used his ‘receptive language’ abilities, they have already ‘learned’ a word and filed it away in their tiny brain.
Similarly, doing actions combined with the word allows an infant to learn the meaning of those actions — like ‘up’ and ‘down’. Which is why there are so many action rhymes for babies! The simple traditional ones work best of all. Actually they should be called ‘interaction rhymes’ because it’s essential that they should be participating WITH an adult!
The opposite of that situation is when an adult says “Don’t climb over the ottoman, walk round the other way†and then promptly lifts the child up and over the ottoman! This action and statement are not related and the child learns nothing, except that they can break all the adult’s ‘rules’!
This is how language is, or is not, taught. Which is why a high percentage of young children, even some 3 year olds, have no receptive language!
As a side note, one of the factors in the success of The Early Start Denver Model to combat autism is: one on one time with babies singing nursery rhymes and action rhymes!
Unfortunately it seems that one needs a Bachelors Degree or higher in a related field to even train as a ‘practitioner’!
What really needs to happen is that childcare workers (those on the bottom of the early education teaching rung) are taught small ways to integrate The Early Start Denver Model into their days with children.
Of course this would only be done if the focus was on the true needs of young children and NOT — drum roll please: PROFIT!
Dare I even suggest that a 1:6 ratio of caregiver to babies isn’t a good thing especially when so many babies are going into full time care at 6 weeks to 3 months of age?
I believe such an impoverished level of care for 10 or more hours a day is at the very root of why we are seeing so many developmental delays in young children.
There it is – another answer to developmental delays!
When speaking to a baby or young child use words which are totally related to what they are interested in – not what you as the adult ‘think’ they see or are interested in = continuity of knowledgeable carers/teachers.
Then scaffold (build) the child’s language from what they already know = continuity of knowledgeable carers/teachers.
Make children the focus of our work, not academic qualifications and profit = continuity of knowledgeable carers/teachers.
Simple awareness can really work on the ground floor in early care. Here’s an example:
Yesterday a father came and cheerfully greeted his 8‑month-old son. I looked at the baby and said “Daddy’s here!†and despite the fact that he was looking in the right direction he didn’t recognize his father!
Then I looked up at the father and realized his face was in total shadow because of the light behind him! I told the father: “He can’t see your face, move round behind me†and then the baby showed a smile of recognition!
Years on I now understand the difference between how my sons and the other children I cared for one on one learned their language.
I understood what they were looking at, what they saw and what captured their interest then I scaffolded on that knowledge day after day because — they had the continuity of a knowledgeable carer/teacher — ME!