Categories
Development

Tips on How to Encourage Your Toddler to Talk

Every parent eagerly waits for their child to talk. It’s a whole new world when your toddler starts talking and you would be at cloud nine! Remember that all children are different and develop at their own pace. Here are some ways to encourage your toddler to get these words flowing. 

Keep talking about everything

Talk a lot with your toddler. Exposure to the outer world is important to improve your child’s vocabulary. Speak slowly and smoothly using small simple words and very short sentences.

Keep narrating to your little one what you are doing, where you are going and all that you are up to. In your conversations, keep enough pauses in between, to listen to your child and wait for him to respond. 

Become your child’s echo

Repeat what your child spoke by adding on one or two words at a time. This will encourage toddlers to further develop their expressive speech. They will feel motivated.

Reward words

Be generous and appreciate when your baby talks. He will be happy getting applauded for his effort and will try speaking more. Also, share some additional words related to what he/she just spoke. 

Don’t anticipate

Make your little one work hard for what he wants. Wait until he or she asks, rather than anticipating their every need and request.

Be blind to gestures

Delay your response to your toddler’s gestures and help your little one work on his/her words. If you fulfil their needs with gestures, your child might be reluctant to work on his or her speech. 

When you respond to any request, ensure that you use the word repeatedly and make him understand that you are trying to emphasize a particular word.

Limit screen time

Only active interaction can help your child talk. When they are hooked up in front of a TV, this cannot happen. Researches have proved that with an increase in screen time, language acquisition gets delayed for children below three years of age. 

It is recommended that children over two years should not be allowed to watch television for more than 2 hours. Children below 2 years of age should be completely discouraged from watching TV.

Listen

Listening is equally as important as speaking. We always seek the person who listens to us when we want to tell something. The same holds with children. So when you give your child your attention when he is talking or making sounds, help him/her to understand that they are really important and worth your time. Sustain their interest in talking by paying attention and encourage them with supporting words.

Point and repeat

Point to things in your everyday life and repeat them until your child gets attentive. The more your child hears a particular word, the more they are going to comprehend it; so keep repeating. You’ll soon hear your baby repeating it! 

Remember these sets of words or phrases must include the words of items that the child is attending to, visually at that particular time and then label it for them. Some such words include: during bath time- water, bubbles, soap, bucket; during meal time- spoon, fork, plate, eggs, apple, banana, yummy.

Be animated 

Use lots of facial expressions and variations of tones when you talk with your toddler. This will help you create interest around the act of talking and you can retain your baby’s attention for longer periods. Use changes in volume, sing, recite and be narrative all the time. All this gives your baby even more opportunities to learn.

Give your toddler plenty of opportunities to talk during your everyday routine. Keep encouraging them by engaging in fun-filled activities. The more the better; they will get familiarized with words and our little ones will start playing with words!

Categories
Potty Training

Tips on How to Make Potty Training for Your Little One Fun

As your baby grows into a toddler, there are several ways she becomes more and more self-sufficient. You will love seeing all of these thrilling development milestones come and go, but one, in particular, may necessitate a little bit of your attention. That is when your child goes from diapers to being completely potty trained.

Potty training is a complicated process, and it can be tricky to know what the best method is as every child studies differently, boys might learn diversely from girls, and there is no specific way to teach the essential skills.

To assist you in your little one’s potty training venture, here are some tips to assist your toddler get the hang of potty training:

Ensure your child is prepared

Try not to hurry the process and begin potty training too early, before your little one can achieve success. Search for the symptoms of willingness in your child before starting to potty train your little one.

Get your kid involved in choosing the potty chair

If possible, shop for the potty chair or potty seat together with your child. It will make him feel more included and more thrilled about using his brand-new potty chair.

Shop for kid underwear as a sign of encouragement

Buy fun underwear, like ones with a preferred superhero graphic or cartoon character. Clarify to your child that after he learns how to utilise the potty, he can sport this fun kid brief. You can also allow him to wear this brief as a treat while potty training, as well.

Place the potty chair in a convenient spot

The bathroom is the best location but you can also wish to think about putting the potty in the bedroom of your kid for easy reach after rests.

Prepare a potty schedule

After your little one begins potty training, put into practice a simple schedule. For instance, you can encourage going on the potty after nap time or after eating. This allows your child to understand that going potty is a routine thing.

Do not flush immediately

If you are using your toilet to train, do not flush right after your child has utilized the potty. The sound of the flush can be very frightening in the early stages of potty training. Set up the idea of flushing slowly, after your tot has been familiarized with using the potty chair, and make a cool pastime out of it — almost like allowing your little one to press an elevator button.

Do not punish errors

Even though potty training struggles can be annoying at times, resist the urge to get irritated or discipline your toddler. Rather, let her know that it is okay and she can try again later. Additional pressure will not assist her to learn any faster. It might also be that your little one is not prepared yet, so think about placing potty training on hold for a few days or weeks.

Remember that potty training does not typically come easily, so do not underrate the process. It is all about hanging on for symptoms of willingness in your kid, preparing the stage and plunging in. Although the viewpoint of ditching the diapers is thrilling, getting there can be challenging from the point of view of parents’ patience. But do not lose trust. Potty training your kid may seem never-ending, but soon your kid will get the hang of it and stop using diapers.

Categories
Activities Education and Curriculum Fun Parenting and Childcare

Make Homework Fun and Engaging for Your Child

We all know homework is uninteresting, but there are some easy ways you can make homework more fun for the student. The time for homework can instigate growls from kids and parents. As a guardian, you know it is essential to make sure that your child is advancing academically; however, you also need to know that it can be taxing and a bit tedious too. After looking at the board for hours and bounded by quizzes and books, and taking note of lectures, there is a chance that kids will throw a fit of temper when you enquire them to complete their tasks.

The good news is that there are a few ways by which you can make homework fun for the children.  Few of which are explained below:

Make a creative and fun space

You may have found in your own professional or academic life, working in a distracting or boring space can make progress difficult. It is no diverse for children, so begin them off on the correct track. Prepare a creative, cosy, space for your child to work. Stay away from hectic areas of the home that may be disturbing, and keep TVs and any needless technology far-off. It is vital your child likes the space and feels at ease, so with her input, add some inspirational imagery, colour, and lots of academic essentials, such as pen pencils, markers, and paper. Just as it is typically suggested to only use your bed for sleep and not for work, your child will relate this space with just schoolwork and learning, instead of playtime.

Play an educational game

This tactic can work in a couple of diverse ways. You can turn the actual homework task into a game. For instance, if your student is working on vocabulary words, you can create a matching game or flashcard. If your child is learning concepts of mathematics, you can use small pieces of toffee to assist with the numbers. Division and subtraction units are so much more fun when they can eat a few of those toffees!

If you are not capable to find a way to turn the task into a sport, try playing a brain puzzle before your student begins studying to warm up, for instance, scrabble, chess, bingo, or connect four.

Track progress for rewards

Making a rewarding method to use as positive support can assist make homework appear less like a task. Set up some objectives with your kid’s contribution and match them with suitable rewards for something to look forward to. For instance, for every task completed on time, a star or a ticket is earned and placed on a chart in the homework space. Once the chart is filled, the child can choose a reward, such as getting ice cream, watching an entertaining movie, purchasing new attire, or acquiring a new game. Only ensure your child clearly understands the big picture of what good grades indicate for his future, so you do not fall into an entrap where your child exclusively studies as a way to earn treats.

Work beside your child

While your child is doing homework if the rest of the family is relaxing and having fun, then it can feel isolating for a child. Rather than leaving your child to work alone, join her and complete some work of your own. This can include checking emails, developing a budget, pay bills, or planning a trip, do it next to your child. It not only assist your kid feel that she is not the only one working hard, but it also offers an opportunity to spend time with your kid and be present for any questions she may have.

These are some of the simple ways that parents can follow to make homework fun for your child.