Let’s Talk About What Words You Should (& Shouldn’t) Be Teaching Your Toddler…
I see parents all the time with the best intentions working on words with their toddler saying things like “what color is this?” or “this is a circle! Say circle!”
While it is helpful for your child to hear any and all talking, as it provides exposure to various speech sounds, syllable patterns, and grammatical structures, there are words that are great to focus on as your child is learning to talk and words that can be saved for later! So which is which?
Words to focus on:
Functional words: these are words that will help your toddler express themselves and get their needs met as they learn to use them. Many of them also happen to have a very simple sound structures and thus are easy to pronounce, which makes them perfect for your toddler to try as they are learning to talk! They are words like more, go, up/down, on/off, in/out, yes/no, and all done.
Words to describe what’s in your child’s immediate environment: think about when you’re learning a new language. Isn’t it much easier to understand and remember a new word when the speaker is talking about something you can actually see? They naturally point to, gesture toward, or interact with the object while saying the word, making it much easier to connect the sound of the word with its meaning. The same is true for your toddler! When choosing focus words, start with words for things that are right in front of your child- toys, pictures in books, household items, items from your daily routine, etc. For example, if Grandma isn’t in the room, “Grandma” probably isn’t the most helpful focus word at that moment. Instead, focus on words your child can see, touch, and experience in real time and wait for Grandma to come over before practicing that word with your child!
Words that start with developmentally appropriate sounds: did you know that children acquire speech sounds in an expected order? Vowels come first, then think about the lip consonants (P & B), sounds made in the front of the mouth (T & D), the back of the mouth/ throat (G & H), and nose (M & N). A little saying to help you remember these sounds is “My Two Pet Dogs Now Go Barking Home.” As words that start with these sounds match up with the developmental skill level of a new talker, they are easier for them to try!
Words to save for later:
Academic words: for young children, this typically means letters, colors, and numbers. Though these concepts are important, they are too difficult for children of early language learning age to grasp. Thus it is difficult for them to connect the meaning to the word and therefore challenging for them to figure out when it is appropriate for them to try saying it!
Abstract words: words that have meanings that are conceptually challenging are also going to be difficult for your child to learn! Among many other examples, this could sound like words that are time-related words (tomorrow, later, sometimes), social concepts (be nice, be careful, take turns), location-related words (behind, between, here, there), and other words (special, same/ different, hard, easy, fun, ready, etc.) By no means am I recommending that you avoid saying these words to your child- keep saying them! I would recommend using the language learning strategies of repetitive modeling and and practice during play to include words that are more clear and concrete in meaning!
Words that begin with difficult and later developing speech sounds: some of the more challenging speech sounds to pronounce are R, Th, Sh, Ch, and J, so it makes sense that they develop later when a child has better control over their speech mechanism. I love including these sounds in everyday speech with young children so their brain can hear them and start to develop a mental concept for them, which is foundational for being able to say them later on. As far as focusing on these sounds at first? I would instead stick to the early developing sounds listed above!
