Language and Communication

Language is the human use of spoken or written words as a communication system. As our

children grow they learn to use language to communicate with others their wants and needs. As

parents we have certain expectations of how much our children should know at different stages.

Learning language is a natural process. Our children are born with the ability to learn language

and it begins there, at birth.

As babies children learn to use certain ways to communicate; for example if a babe is hungry he

will cry to let his mother know that something is wrong. THe parent reaction to the baby lets

hem know that when I cry my parent will come to my aide. As they continue their growth, they

will learn sounds and words to help them communicate. They can use "mama", "daddy" or even

more complicated words like "water, milk, peepee".

Once a child learns words they begging to use those words in phrases. "Want more" , "give me"

and my favorite "I't mine" Children will make mistakes but at this stage they are trying to make

sense of what they learn and learning how to use it. As they grow out of this stage they move to

complete sentences. Children learn a great deal of language in a short period of time, but even

those children that seem to have great language skills will benefit from the language activities

from a preschool.

Children typically learn about five new words a day. We must also understand that oral language

is followed by written language. We encourage story reading to help children understand that

writing is also part of communicating.

So remember to read to your child as often as possible and encourage language communication,

using positive enforcement.

Let's Begin Reading Right: A Developmental Approach to Emergent Literacy, by M.V. Fields,

L.A. Groth, K.L. Spangler, 2008 edition,