Watching him Learn Language - Phase 1
Watching my son learn has been one of the most incredible experiences I have found as a mother. Language was always something that I thought had to be taught with flashcards and sitting down in a classroom, but I found that language is a very natural thing for children to simply pick up on as long as we model correct, accurate language for them in natural conversation on a daily basis.
Over the last two and a half years I watched my son go from understanding verbal language, to repeating, being able to understand the phonetic sound, to an absolute intense concentration on writing language and deciphering written words by sounding it out.
This is my experience of how my son learned the language throughout the first three years of his life.
Disclaimer: This is my experience with my children based on my own research and decisions. I am not an expert in this field. Do not take what I say as medical advice. If you need help, please seek advice from a professional pediatrician, language specialist or speech specialist.
Phase 1:
Spoken Language & Building Vocabulary (Oral Language)
Step 1: Associate Pictures with Words
I started with classification cards (a.k.a. language cards) and printed off several of them to match with a set of small objects of things (pictured here is a set of insects for example, but intentionally I bought a set which looks realistic.) At first the cards did not have any words and he was simply matching the pictures. As time went on we moved onto printing a second set of cards with the same objects with words on them.
Here I was very intentional to ensure that the card matched the figure in his hand almost exactly even in size so that it was an exact match.
Step 2: Communicate with Pictures
When he was speaking roughly under 50 words I could tell that he wanted to tell me that he wanted to go somewhere such as outside because he was using his finger to point and so I got the idea to take pictures of the different places where we most commonly visited such as the playground, grandma's house, the grocery store, home, the backyard, etc. And I made a board so that he could point to the picture or pull the picture down and show me that was where he wanted to go. The smile on his face when he realized that he could use this as a means to communicate to myself or my husband where he wanted to go was incredible. A connection was formed that language could be used to connect with other people. (Picture shown here has words but at this phase I did not have words on the cards. This picture is from later when I printed with words.)
Step 3: Grow the Vocabulary
I continued to introduce him to new words also in the same format on cards without the written words to grow his vocabulary.
Once I felt comfortable that he had started to master understanding of the association that the horse figurine in his hand matched the horse card, we moved on to showing card with the words (pictured to right).
Step 4: Be Specific & Expand to Types of _____
While we were in this phase I made sure that I used proper words such as “lady bug” instead of “bug” or I said “Monarch butterfly” instead of “butterfly” or “orange butterfly” to him.
A great example of this is when he was very excited about penguins and so I found a set of cards of all different types of penguins and different figurines of penguins to match the card.
Other Recommendations
Here are some other recommendations for expanding and reviewing vocabulary in Phase 1 before moving forward.
Tip 1: Role Play and Discuss
I used this passion for learning about penguins as a way to also have some open-ended free play with water and ice to allow my son to move the penguins around and explore almost like a tiny little iceberg home. I would then casually use the specific types of penguins in language as we played.
Tip 2: Incorporate Hands-on Learning
We incorporated a lot of hands on learning by doing things such as teaching him about tools and allowing him to watch my husband work with tools out in the garage and use the language as he was using the tools. He would say hey Isaac grab your screwdriver and… we did this with several different topics such as pumpkins, tools, insects on nature walks, watching safari animals, emptying the dishwasher, etc.
Tip 3: Articulate with Mouth Formation
When teaching someone language it's really critical to speak slowly and clearly. This way they can watch how your mouth moves to form the sounds.
Tip 4: Board Books with Real Pictures
Another great way to incorporate some real photos and words without having to print off the cards is that you can buy for a few bucks with real pictures such as the size that you see here. These are perfect for tiny little hands. I recommend put them out where your child can reach them, maybe two or three at a time, and allow your child to explore independently. I did this while cooking or hand-washing in the kitchen or while reading a book in the same room to model reading for my son.
Tip 5: Read, Read, Read, Read,… Oh, and Read Some More!
We had books out on a forward facing open shelf, and we would read books every night for bed.
What I didn’t do
Two things that I intentionally did not do while he was learning language at this phase was:
Pressure to repeat back the words
Often you hear people say "what is this called?” But I refrained from asking that because I thought the provider pressure on him to get it right.
Correct him by saying no
If he ever handed me an object and used the incorrect term, I would not say “no, that is not the elephant, that is the cheetah” but instead I would say “you brought me the cheetah."
Language Recommended Products
All the items pictured here can be found in my Amazon shop.
