Your child’s most important teacher is you and the other adults around them. Children learn language through all of the hundreds of little conversations you have with them every day. 

There are lots of fun and easy ways to support your child’s language development at home. You don’t need lots of special toys, language learning happens all day as part of your everyday routines. The key thing is that children hear lots of talk and that the talk is about things the child is interested in and focussed on. 

 Our top tips are:

• Spend time watching what your child is doing and talk about the things your child is focussed on. This helps your child learn the meaning of the words you are saying more easily.
• Talk with your child as much as you can. Tell them about what you are doing, and point things out to them. 
• Help your child to learn new language by repeating the words that they say and adding new information. If your child says “shoe” you can say “yes, a blue shoe”.
• Look at books and toys with your child. Talk about what you see and what is happening.
• Sing songs and rhymes with your child, and if they have lots of actions, that is even better to help your child learn.
• Take a look at this quick video for more ideas.

Supporting children who speak more than one language/dialect

Multilingualism is an advantage to a child as they grow up and it is great to celebrate it. If your child speaks more than one language, encourage them to use these different languages every day. It is usually recommended to speak to your child in your mother tongue to provide a good language model. Don’t worry if your child mixes up their languages sometimes, this is perfectly normal and in fact is a very good sign that your child is making sense of the different languages they are learning and their rules. 

 

What to do if you have concerns about your child’s language

If you have any concerns about how your child’s language is developing you can speak to your family Doctor or contact the following organisations. They will be able to assist you further and may provide additional support if necessary. 

Egypt 

Egypt contacts