A few years ago I was deeply impressed by “The Word Gap” study; the idea that language development PRIOR to entering school was super important to the educational success of a child. I even wrote posts about it and shared it as proof that language development started AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE and it was key for the home environment (especially in those early years) to promote language learning.
Yeah, I got it a little wrong…. because the thing is, that study used the disparities of socio-economics to determine a child’s potential (not cool) by setting one language bar for ALL children (oh boy). Wrong, wrong, wrong! So yes, I disagree with the study and it’s overall findings.
BUT here’s the thing: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (of ANY language) is a wonderful asset to educational success. Because … the knowledge anyone has about a topic is based on the vocabulary of that information (Marzano & Pickering, 2005). Know the language, know the subject.
So how does this relate to my toddler?
Now I’m not saying that simply knowing the words in a textbook means I know the subject the textbook is written on. But think of it this way- if a toddler KNOWS the words, “street” “car” “safe”; they can better understand the direction, “Danger! DO NOT GO NEAR THE STREET!” and later “Look both ways before you cross the street”. Know the words, know the subject.
Language development can grow based on a child’s experience with language through “language opportunities”. These opportunities are everywhere in their life (the playground, Daycare, play dates, and any moment spent with you)! The key to language opportunities is not scheduling them but recognizing that they naturally occur constantly, like anytime you:
READ with your child: reading books aloud (and not shying away from books that include words that are more than one or two syllables… sure they may not know them UNTIL you teach them). Every picture book flipped through or read provides opportunities for hearing new, UNIQUE words.
SPEAK to your child: Use words that are more than one or two syllables in conversations with our babies/toddlers, engage in FULL conversation with babies. They are sponges! Recently my friend said, “We only get dumber as we get older”… unfortunately it’s true, children are able to learn and retain at an extremely high level. Never assume that because your infant doesn’t have the mouth muscle, they don’t have the brain power!
INTERACT with words with your child: Specifically with language; point out objects and name them, define words, play with words: sing songs and recite rhymes, etc. Interacting with words and language takes it from the abstract of seeing the letters in a book and cements it into their memory; creating and building their own vocabulary bank.
Storytelling with your child engages all three principles: Read, Speak, Interact! Storytelling provides children with language opportunities where they are able to hear AND play with words. This is what makes story telling such an integral part of Bendy Bookworm Yoga (and language learning in general)! It’s NEVER one single thing that promotes language learning… but ALL the things. Bendy Bookworm Yoga creates an actively engaged environment where your toddler INTERACTS with storytelling; we read aloud (so children can hear the words spoken), we learn new words, and we move to engage our whole bodies in order to tell the story. Bendy Bookworm Yoga teaches literacy with the WHOLE body using storytelling to facilitate the Read, Speak, Interact principles that promote language development.