Try to 'tune in' to the different messages young babies are attempting to convey.
Find out from parents greetings used in English and in languages other than English; encourage staff, parents and children to become familiar with them.
Recognise and value the importance of all languages spoken and written by parents, staff and children.
Watch children and think about how they tell you what they want, for example by cuddling in when they want more cuddles, wriggling their fingers when they want to be picked up and crying to show they are uncomfortable or wet.
Respond to children's attempts to communicate so they know they have succeeded.
Put into words what you think children are trying to tell you.
Play games such as peek-a-boo and recite rhymes such as 'Pat-a-cake' and 'Round and Round the Garden', using associated actions and gestures.
Play give-and-take games where toys and objects are exchanged.
Share books to promote shared attention - books help you to know you are focused on the same things as you talk about them.
Tell children the names of the things and people they see in books and all around them.
Recast what children are trying to communicate by taking their incomplete utterances and giving them back the language they need. When a child pushes something away you might say "You don't like that, do you?".
Copy the first attempts at words that children make so that they can see and hear the full version. When a child says "mo" you might say "More? You want more?".
Talking at the table - In a childminder's home, the childminder supports a small group of children, including a baby's non-verbal communication, at a shared snack time. [transcript]
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Language for Thinking
Talk to babies about what you are doing, so they will link words with actions, for example, preparing lunch.
Enjoying a snack - In a childminder's home, the childminder supports a baby and toddler at snack time by talking and listening to them. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Linking Sounds and Letters
Share the fun of discovery and value babies' attempts at words, for example, by picking up a doll in response to "baba".
Watch and interpret children's behaviour and praise word-like sounds.
Play peek-a-boo and action games to support babies' attention, sometimes over long periods of time. They also help to develop anticipation and offer children many opportunities to imitate and join in, which they will now do increasingly.
Imitate the noises babies make, such as laughter and other vocalisations.
Use bubbles to encourage repetition of the 'pop, pop, pop' sound you make as the bubble bursts.
Don't correct children's attempts at words, but simply repeat what they are trying to say correctly.
Respond to children's attempts at words by commenting on them, for example, when a child says "dogon", you say "Yes, the dog's gone home. He might come back later".
Reading
Tell, as well as read, stories, looking at and interacting with young babies.
Let children handle books and draw their attention to pictures.
Writing
Talk to babies about the patterns and marks they make.
Handwriting
Describe the movements young babies make as they move round and round, or ride a push-along toy in a straight line.
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
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