A study from UCLA has found that activities that get children, aged 2 months to 4 years, talking are most helpful to language acquisition. Even more than exposure to one-on-one reading, adult-child conversations have more of an impact on language development. The study was published in the July issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

This fits a tip I shared earlier. Children will practice conversation turn-taking as well as build their vocabulary through conversations. By giving them the chance to have a conversation, with a give and take, they’ll make mistakes, learn correct words and sentence structure, and use language purposefully.

Thanks to Parenthood.com for sharing this study with the rest of us.

Does the baby you’re holding talk to you? You might not hear it, especially if they are very young. Yet watch the baby’s face, and you’ll see her talk.

We just can’t help ourselves. We have to talk to babies. And they will take part in a conversation if you pause to let them. Their mouth will move. They may move their head. Their eyes will show a new expression.

Now it’s your turn. Act like you heard them. Perhaps ‘repeat’ some part of what they asked or told you. Then reply.

Your conversation may start something like this:

“How are you today?”

“Really? Did you sleep well?”

“Oh good. I slept well too. What do you think we should do today?”

“Going for a walk sounds fun. I hope the weather stays sunny.”

In the InBrief summary titled InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development, from scientific presentations at the National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy, researchers state that the absence of such interaction affects the brain’s architecture and can lead to disparities in learning and behavior.  http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu/content/publications.html#inbrief

Yet you’ll be having conversations and naturally teaching that precious baby that you value them and want to interact with them. If it’s an older infant, perhaps adopted or in your foster care, you’ll be promoting the bonding process. For all children, you’re modeling taking turns in conversation, facial expressions, sentence structure, and new vocabulary. All things that will enhance brain development.