Why do we partner with parents?
As a parent, you are your child’s first teacher. You are also an expert on your child and spend a lot of time together. Therefore, you are in the best position to support your child’s learning. Children learn language through interactions with their parents and other adults. You can support your child’s language throughout your day by using specific language support strategies.
What does the research tell us?
There have been many research studies that investigated the ways in which parents can help their children to learn language. Dr. Roberts and colleagues combined the results of 76 of these studies to see an overall trend. The studies included children who had, or were at risk for, language impairment. The results showed that children whose parents were taught language facilitation strategies made more progress than children whose parents were not taught these strategies. This tells us that teaching parents to use language support strategies is an effective way to improve children’s language.
What does this mean for my child and me?
You can play an important role in supporting your child’s language. Ask your speech-language pathologist to teach you specific strategies. When you use these strategies, your child can have rich language experiences every day of the week! In addition, consider spending the therapy sessions practicing the strategies with your child while your therapist helps you. The opportunity to practice and get immediate feedback is important for your learning. It can also help you feel more confident using the strategies during your daily life.
Where can I learn more?
Roberts, M.Y., Curtis, P.R., Sone, B.J., & Hampton, L.H. (2019). Association of parent training with child language development: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1197
