Free workshop to help parents help their children with speech coming to Stratford

Parents can help their children with speech and language in a variety of ways. Photo / Unsplash

A free workshop on child speech and language development takes place in Stratford next week.

Open to parents and caregivers of children aged from birth to seven years, the workshop is organised by the Taranaki Ministry of Education and will be delivered by speech-language therapists.

Taranaki based speech-language therapist Emily Clarke says the workshop will give parents some great strategies for helping their tamariki with speech and language. She says there are lots of simple, easy things parents and caregivers can do to help their children develop literacy and speech skills.

"Bring back the nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes and waiata are great for supporting the learning of early literacy skills through rhymes and sound awareness, as well as speech sound development and new words."

If parents speak more than one language, they should share them all with their tamariki she says.

"People often think being exposed to more than one language will harm a child's development but it's actually the opposite. Hearing multiple languages is extremely beneficial."

Most children should have started talking by around age 2, she says, but before that comes non-verbal communication.

"Are they showing you things by pointing or taking you by the hand, are they looking and engaging with people and communicating through babble? This is all communication and the building blocks to talking."

Understanding is just as important as talking, she says.

"Language is made up of two parts, expressive which is talking and receptive, which is understanding. Understanding is needed before you can use words in talking. When there is a difficulty with this crucial part of language it is often missed because children can still follow familiar routines and watch other people for clues. If you have difficulties understanding, it not only impacts the development of your talking but also communication in general.

There's a lot of things parents and caregivers do with their children quite naturally that help with language development, says Emily.

"Children are sponges, they soak up everything around them. All your comments in play, everyday routines, story reading and even when you're talking with other adults [words] are heard and absorbed by the children around you. Commenting on the things going on around you and the things the child is interested in are amazing tools for building language development."

There are some things parents should avoid however, she says.

"Try to avoid testing questions such as 'what's this' or 'what colour is that'. Instead turn your question into a comment so you are feeding in the language. Try saying 'it's a tiger" or 'it's orange and black' rather than asking the question.

"Make sure while you are doing this you are providing time and space for your child to take a turn at communicating back. After you make a comment, look expectantly at your tamaiti for five to 10 seconds in case they would like to respond in any way."

The workshop is designed for adults, so parents are asked to make arrangements for childcare if possible, she says. Places are limited so people are asked to register in advance, and all participants are asked to bring their vaccine pass and a mask. Anyone who is interested in the workshop but isn't vaccinated can contact the team on the same email for registrations to find out more.

The details:
What: Free workshop on child speech and language development
When: Wednesday, March 9, 7-9pm
Where: Gr8Kidz Childcare centre, 159 Orlando Street
Registration: email enquiries.newplymouth@education.govt.nz or call 06 757 6400
Covid requirements: Vaccine pass and mask, please.