Talk To Me
Excepts from www.zerotothree.org
Even very young infants are able to recognize a familiar caregiver’s voice. Infants love to listen to voices and prefer speech to other sounds. Infants love to hear the different sounds, pitches, and tonal characteristics of speech that adults tend to use naturally with babies. It is through hearing your words over and over in early conversations that an infant’s language capacity grows. Engaging infants in communication begins to provide a solid basis for later success in learning. This pathway to literacy starts with everyday adult behaviors as simple as talking to an infant about what you are doing while changinghis diaper, dressing him, or fixing a bottle. Hearing your familiar voice also reassures an infant of your closeness and love.
Providing infants with experiences that promote early language and literacy does not have to require more work or extra time. In fact, talking, singing songs, and communicating with infants throughout the day can make caregiving more enjoyable and sometimes easier. Young infants often settle down to the rhythm of rhymes, chants, and songs. Infants become especially vocal when in a good mood, such as after being fed, and they often respond positively to social interaction at this time. Having early conversations with an infant can help make transitions easier and relieve stress for the both of you. Such conversations early in a baby’s life help to foster healthy social-emotional development.
When babies receive warm, responsive care, they are more likely to feel safe and secure with the adults who take care of them. These strong relationships or secure attachments are the basis for all the infant’s future relationships.
Research has shown that children who receive warm and responsive caregiving and are securely attached to their caregivers can more easily deal with difficult times when they are older, such as starting a new school, making friends or moving to a new place. They are also more likely to be curious, get along better with other children, perform better in school and manage stress more easily. These earliest conversations in the child’s native language not only provide the basis for learning language, but also the foundation for later success in learning and in school.
