One of my favorite language tips
Verbal Routines
One of the most powerful language strategies in my opinion. This is particularly great for toddlers who can sense any “pressure” to communicate. The beauty in this strategy is that you can do it all throughout the day and start at birth.
Verbal routines are a set words used at a predictable time during an activity. They are consistent and anticipated. We say the same words, in the same way, for the same things, at the same time.
Why do verbal routines work?
Our brains are wired for recognition right from infancy.
When you use the same words during a specific sequence of events, a child begins to recognize the routine and respond. Once the routine is familiar, the child begins to participate, link meaning to the words, and then finally, say the words himself.
Babies and toddlers also love repetition. The repetition helps them learn language and predict what will come next because they’ve associated the activity or object with the set of words.
How to do this
Pick a routine you do everyday- diaper changes, cleaning up after you eat, brushing teething, walking up the steps. And add a simple set of words and use them CONSISTENTLY.
Keep practicing and use this routine to your advantage. After a repetition you can pause before finishing the phrase or cue them with a gesture or sign. With TIME this is such an effective strategy.
-Every time you change your baby’s diaper sing the same song…”You have a clean clean diaper today..”
-Every time you put a bib on say “bib on”
-Every time you climb up the steps “up, up, up.”
-Think about songs you can tie to your every day routines. You can use a song but change the words to your routine such as “This is they way we brush our teeth” to “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.”
Books with verbal routines
Brown Bear Brown Bear
Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes
Pout-Pout Fish
Little Blue Truck
Blue Hat, Green Hat
Groovy Joe Ice Cream and Dinosaurs
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
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