Children Chatter Matters 

1. 50:50 Talking Time

Try to get 50:50 talking time between parents/ guardians and children. This can be very difficult to achieve in the reality of a busy household. A great way to help reach this goal is to ask open- ended or complex questions. Ask your child questions beginning with ‘Why…’, and ‘How…’. The child must then use more words to answer. Another tip is that if your child asks you a question (as they do hundreds of times per day!), pose that question back to them e.g. That’s a good question. What do you think?

2. Length and rate of speech

When speaking to your child, try to keep your sentences to about 8 words in length. Get to the point and ‘cut the fluff’. Too many words will take up crucial processing time for your child and they may not get the intended message. Try to speak at a slightly slower speed to assist processing also.

e.g. Ok now Betty, we are going to the park so can you please get your pink hat and the sunscreen (20 words).

vs.

Betty. We’re going to the park. Get you pink hat and sunscreen (13 words, 3 different sentences).