Ready, Set, Talk: Ready, Set Series

By Anna Barton

She never worried about her baby until listening to her nephew of eighteen months expressing exactly what he wanted.  It seems odd that this would be alarming, but this mom's own child of two hasn't started using ten words yet - and tantrums are rampant.  Immediately she questions what is wrong with her precious child. 

If this, or a similar experience sounds familiar, Ready, Set, Talk is a perfect resource for you.  Boost your child's speech through techniques listed within these pages and give your child the best possible opportunities for success.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anna Barton
• Release date: Mar 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386788898

Book preview

Preface

Alarms go off in a mother’s mind when their nephew, who is 3 months younger than their daughter, is speaking in full sentences while little Jane hasn’t reached 10 words yet.   All those excuses for the slow speech development or the cute attempts at speech that are so endearing, suddenly dissolve into worry as little Jane throws her fifth tantrum of the day because she couldn’t make you understand what she wants.  Frustration increases with both parent and child and that is an emotion that only slows or even reverses progress.

If this, or anything similar, sounds familiar, this book potentially can change your lives.  Ready, Set, Talk was conceived and written for parents just like you, who want their children to thrive and succeed, but are stumped as to help them out.

Working with children is rewarding.  Part of my job as an early intervention specialist, is to coach parents in techniques to help their children with language development.  The rewards are unbeatable.  Children’s hugs and gratitude in parent’s eyes are payment far beyond any monetary compensation. 

Often parents ask me questions regarding what developmental milestones they should see in their children at different ages.  As a result of answering this question, I began making a list of some of the language milestones that children birth to 36 months should be doing.  Because this time is a crucial learning period, I added a few ideas on how parents can maximize their abilities to help their children reach those milestones. 

Ready, Set, Talk is the end result; the answer to milestone questions asked by parents such as yourself.  This book is filled with ideas on how to help your child along their early language pathway and to give them the best possible potential success.  Using the included techniques, parents bond with their children and gain a greater understanding of them as they interact together.

This guide took nearly two years of actual writing along with a lifetime of learning.  Thank you to all of the children and parents who have influenced my life, enriching the ideas included in this book.

Ready, Set, Talk was written with numerous resources at my fingertips.  I have included many of these sources at the end of this book, for your use and further information.  Other resources available to vitalize Ready, Set, Talk, include working directly with other early intervention specialists; allowing for discussion on ideas and firsthand experience.  Special appreciation to my family, friends, and coworkers for their support and encouragement along with their ideas and suggestions.

Early Language Development

Before birth, babies begin hearing patterns and rhythms in their mother’s speech.  For this purpose, talking and reading to an unborn infant jumpstarts language development.  After birth, infants meet certain language milestones at very early ages.  Babies will communicate in some degree with their parents through cries and eye contact; and parents communicate back to their infants, whether or not they realize they are doing so, by smiling and talking as well as taking care of the child’s physical needs.  What is being communicated varies in many ways affected by parent’s mood, self-concept, understanding of their child, and etc.  This book’s focus is to help parents as they commit to their communication journey with their child.  It takes a listener and a talker to communicate a want or a need.  Watching for a child’s cues and responding to them appropriately will not only change the way a parent communicates with their child, but also strengthen their relationship.

This chart roughly shows when thinking skills (Cognition), language skills, and vision and hearing development begins in a fetus.  As shown above, thinking skills are developing as early as 6 months gestation and peak at near two years old.  Language skills start about ten weeks before birth and peak around one year old.  This helps visualize the importance of speech and language emphasis from birth to 36 months.

Understanding one another builds bridges that link parents with their children.  Language is a two way path with a lot of turn-taking moments that occur without being noticed.  For example, imagine visiting a foreign country where you do not understand the language.  How do you make your needs or wants known?  You may use all the words you want and still not be able to make yourself understood.  This occurs because language consists of