Toddler Talking On Phone
As I reflect on the last two years, I wonder what happen to the days, weeks, months as my granddaughter has grown. As she now approaches her second birthday, each day that I am with her is such a joy. Miley called the other night to say ‘Gamme, nigh, nigh’ and ‘lu u’. Now, as a grandmother, I know exactly what she’s trying to tell me. Afterwards, her mother informed me that she wouldn’t lie down until she had called me, that it was her own idea. A few nights later when it became time to leave, she said ‘No, Gamme house’ , and began to reach for me. For the first time, she verbally voiced her desire to sleep over at my house instead of going home with her mother. Also, on the days we drive into town, Miley sings ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ all by herself. Miley can speak and be understood about half the time(it’s the other half that leads to exasperation) and may even be able to carry on a (very) brief conversation….which leads to some not so pretty forms of expression, such as whining, screaming, or maybe even tantrums. All of this happening within a month of her second birthday has left me in awe of the developmental stages Miley progresses through at her age.
Children develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when your child will learn a given skill. The following developmental milestones will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect by the time your child reaches 24 months:
- she enjoys simple stories, rhymes, and songs, even to the point that they will try to hum or sing the song.
- she uses 2-3 word sentences
- she says names of toys
- she enjoys looking at books,
- she points to eyes, ears, or nose when asked
- she repeats words, using 50 or more recognizable words appropriately
- she is interested in learning how to use common items
We have read to Miley since she was born, knowing that the best way of promoting language development is through books. She enjoys watching me read books. Through watching you, and reading with your child, she quickly learns reading behavior, which is how books work: turning pages, following pictures, and print, etc. The other day I discovered Miley ‘reading’ a book. She held the book appropriately, just a jabbering. I could only understand about every third word, but the book’s main character was a dog, and she repeated dog frequently. Miley had heard the story enough times that she was trying to retell it, practicing language development as well as cognitive skills.
Reading To Toddler
From age two and above, it is the most important age for speech development as your child begins to link two and three words to communicate his needs. Use fact and story books that reflects his everyday activities…for example… getting dressed, mealtime, bath time, bedtime, playtime, etc. are important to emphasize and introduce the idea of a sequence of events. There may be single line text, which describes the pictures … for example…under the bed, on the chair. This can help develop his vocabulary and understanding of positional words. Prints in his story books need to be large and bold. As he begins to speak, his vocabulary grows and becomes more fluent for slightly longer books, which may have a simple story… one that has a beginning, middle, and end. He can cope with a small number of characters. Pictures need to be large and colorful. Allow him to get actively involved in playing or reading books but always be gentle in handling them. If children would learn to value books at an early age, they can be successful through school and life.
As your child’s collection of books grows, provide a safe, easy accessible place for him to store his books. At two years of age, he is never too young to learn to properly place his books on bookshelves, in book totes, or whatever you may design for him to use.
Time To Read Revolving Bookshelf
One creative design of bookshelves, made by Levels of Discovery, revolve around, taking up very little space, but very user friendly. They come in many innovative designs and fun themes such as the Rock-It Spaceship Revolving Bookshelf or the Alphabet Soup Revolving Bookshelf. They provide easy accessibiliy for the toddler to take his books on and off the shelf. Other unique bookshelves made by Teamson Design Corp. feature carved hand painted shelving units such as the Frog Bookcase.
Frog Bookcase
This frog themed bookcase features an all wood, three shelf unit sized for a toddlers room. But no matter what you use, as long as your child knows there is a special place for his books, and to always put them up when he finishes with them, your child learns not only language development, but responsibility.
How To Teach a Toddler To Talk
