Advise needed: Kid cant talk!!

[bluemarinesg]

Yup Snowball, Junior is now into this phase already – the why/what stage. But as he’s just entering this stage, it’s more of ‘what’ then ‘why’ at the moment. I envisage to be bombarded by his “why” very soon….

Actually we didn’t correct Junior when he was not pronouncing the words correctly. As he’s started off early, talking at 12mths, we didn’t think we should be too critical. Moreover, I read up quite a bit on baby and speech and one author says this – don’t go over board with the correction. The control of the mouth and tongue muscle for speaking takes time and practice. Too much correction may cause frustration in both the adult and kid, resulting in a dent in the self esteem of the child. The child may simply clam up as he’s not confident enough to speak up.

All we did was to repeat the word with the correct diction. E.g.
Junior - thin ker thin ker little tar…
Me – Yes, it’s Twinkle twinkle little star!

We would just emphasize on those bits that he’s missing like the “S” or the “Th”… After a few times or days, he’s on the right diction already. Not frustration on my end, no ‘no face’ on his end

 

[wasabee]

i agree with samantha!

 

[wasabee]

LOL so cute snowball32!

 

[bluemarinesg]

Actually in many aspects, we don’t correct our child outright – we just show him the correct way. We believe ‘leading by example’ is a more convincing and effective way (without driving ourselves nuts!). So far, it works great for us. It is not just speaking but also tidying up the place. I don’t pick after Junior, he puts his toys and books back after play and bring his shoes and socks to the correct place after coming home.

We are a little like the 3 bears in the Goldilocks and the 3 bear story. Junior has a book shelf, mummy has one too. Papa also has one. So when we tidy up our book shelves, he would join in too. After a while, it becomes natural to him to tidy up.

 

[csmummy]

Yup the book I read also advocates wat Samantha mentioned.. subtly correct the child in pronounciation

 

[bluemarinesg]

Actually, besides what the book says, I am more concern with the confidence/self esteem of the child. You see ah, if you are learning a new language and someone keeps pointing out every single word u are trying to pronounce, wouldn't that makes u uncomfortable to try again when this person is around?

Also, I want to live longer - keep correcting Junior but he may not be able to pronounce the correct diction straight away. Then I end up being pek chek, and he too!

 

[snowball32]

Hi Samantha,

Yes, I totally agree with you to lead by example. My 2 kids know keep their own toys after playing. They do throw tantrum sometimes. But, I still insist that they keep their own toys/ books, put away their shoes into the shoe cabinet. At times, a little reward for them will get them get the job done. When my dd1 does it, her mei mei will follow. So far, it works for us.

I am also training them that they wash their hands and feet after coming home from outside (a habit my mum cultivated in us when we were young as my mum was very particular in cleaniness).

 

[wedgee]

Scary, my wifey is a messy lady who doesnt pick up her stuff and prefers to dump them in a pile next to her bedside...now worried my kid will follow in her footsteps haha.

Now I wondering if I shld teach the lady first or the little one? On the other hand she has been lovin and teachin him to speak wonderfully.

Anyways, to the TS (blurblur28), I have seen some kids start talkin only after 2 yrs plus, and once they do, the words just increase exponentially, so I guess its a matter of time for some kids...

 

[csmummy]

Hello mummies

Its been some time. An update.

My girl can speak words already! She started with papa n mama and the words come out beautifully.

She still cant speak alot of words, but she's picking up fast. On good days she can learn to speak 1-2 new words!

She is now 21 months. Finally..

 

[bluemarinesg]

hello CS Mummy! Good to hear update from you

Thumbs up for your princess. More (words) will come soon. One day, she would surprise you with all the things that you have been telling her.

I just finished a book about toddler. In it, it explains the brain development at each phrase of the child's life e.g. 12-18mth, 18-24mth, 24-36mth etc. Wah, to be able to speak, a child's brain has to coordinate 6 parts before she/he can successfully sprout something out. That's no easy feat for a child who is not too far away from baby-hood!

If any of the 6 parts is not mature enough or if the child has not mastered how to coordinate the 6 parts, the child will not be able to speak as yet.

 

[shan33]

hi CS Mummy,
my girl is also 21months & i've also been pretty worried about her speech development. she just doesn't seem to want to talk & will only say certain single words (like "ball" or "car") when she pleases.

took her to the PD recently when she was ill & there was this other girl there who was about 5months older & she could speak in whole proper english sentences! i just wonder if my girl'll be able to do the same when she's at that same age considering her reluctance to speak now. wonder if i'm being paranoid...

 

[mumofamelia]

Hi all mummies,

My gal who is coming 26 months also cannot talk well. She can only say some word. So we are worried, we sent her to childcare march this year and she starts to learn more words and become more independent.

But sometimes, when she wants something, she refuses to talk so we are worried. We sent her to KKH speech therapist last Friday. After examined her, she told me that she was a bit speech delay. She wants us to talk to her more often, talk to her thru play, teach her sounds of animals etc. These are the things that we have been doing since she was young. I even flash cards to her. So, my husband said that going there was useless. My gal still not confident to say more words. Ha ha ha. So have to wait for her to open her mouth.

 

[bluemarinesg]

Hi Angela,

In my personal opinion, flash card system does not help directly with speech development. To me, flash card is more for word recognition/literacy. I have never done a single flash card with my kid, too lazy la.

Sometimes kids do not realise that verbalising their needs will speed up/improve things. If you do know what she wants, you can say things like,"oh, u are hungry?" or "oh, u want story time?"

U may like to move up and read all the posts here. Many mummies here contributed much ideas that you can adopt. But I personally believe the key is to build the child's confidence (to speak up) and vocabulary bank.

 

[malka]

I strongly agree with Sakura.

My 32 months old son is very active and his nursery 1 teacher told us that based on their experiences, he is on the hyper active side. On my part, I limit him to 30 mins a day of tv programs. Engage him with Puzzles, Drawings, h20 play, kite flying, playing ball, take him to e park and exhaust him out of his energy and he is able to learn and focus better...

 

[mumusings]

I have never used flashcards either. Prefer to use concrete objects that my son can relate to and encourage verbalising of words/phrases when we play.