Quality Conversations With Children

Caregivers can learn how to have quality conversations with children with these simple tips to promote language skills at home.

Research has shown that the more a child is able to talk and understand spoken words, the
stronger his future reading and writing skills will be. Help promote language skills with your
child at home with these easy tips:

• Ask your child open-ended questions (what, who, how, why).
  This gives your child the chance to think about the question, think about an answer and
  expand his logical thinking.
• Encourage your child to go further in his thinking. When he shares with you, ask him
  what makes him think that or what he will do next.
• Narrate your actions. By narrating your actions you will increase the amount of words
  your child hears in a day. “I am stirring the dough. Let’s add the eggs.”
• Narrate your child’s actions. For example, “I see you are running your car under the chair.”
• Use vocabulary words your child might not have heard before in everyday conversation,
  then take time to explain the meaning in simple terms.
• Give your child opportunities to have conversations with other children.
• Take time to talk, ask questions and listen as your child navigates oral language.

Take time to communicate with your child and try practicing one skill at a time to have quality conversations with children.