I was one of those parents that didn't talk to...

2010-03-14T13:46:37.341-04:00

I was one of those parents that didn't talk to their baby. When Robotson was born, it felt forced and silly to be speaking to an infant. No one told me the importance and so we spent most of our time together in silence. I mean I played with him, danced, nursed, I wore him in a sling, we listened to music and slept together. I didn't ignore him, but I didn't talk to him either. The Pedi was the first to point out he had a speech delay. It wasn't until the girls came along and they were talked to non-stop that I realized how important that language is to a young child. I feel terrible about Robotson, but I can safely say that he is well caught up in the language department. The three of them talk constantly :)

All very interesting, thanks for the info. Strang...

2010-03-14T13:29:12.059-04:00

All very interesting, thanks for the info. Strangely, my Navajo students tend to know more verbs than nouns (I'm a speech language pathologist on the rez). I think it has to do with the Navajo language. It definately can influence test results. It would be interesting to see if the whole noun before verb thing held up amongst language differences.

About the moms responding to requests - I think the advantage here has to do with language development as well. When working with my really low functioning or nonverbal students, speech and language therapy is play directed and I verbalize what I think their requests are, like you would a baby - "Oh, I see! You want another toy car!" It's amazing to me how many parents don't seem to talk to their children. Responding to requests is one part of a larger language rich environment that parents can create for their children.

Comments on Raising Three Thinkers: Science for Sunday

I was one of those parents that didn't talk to...

All very interesting, thanks for the info. Strang...