Creating opportunities for learning

Curiosity drives learning

By talking to your baby as they have learned to play you have provided them with the sound of your voice and pointed out the sounds of their immediate play.

Now, your baby is curious!  They are becoming an attentive listener and watcher. Continue to provide this type of learning in a meaningful way. Learning to listen takes time – therefore it is very important to make it a rewarding and successful experience for both you and your baby.

The key factor is timing!  If your child attempts to get your attention, respond appropriately as soon as you can.  Enter into your baby’s conversation.  They are then likely to use their voice more and will be more attentive when you speak.  Even though your baby’s first words will not be perfectly articulated, respond to them.

During the early years of life, most learning is a result of many meaningful and informal experiences. This includes learning to communicate. As your child grows and develops, they take in what goes on around them. They then become more communicative.

Your baby will interact more with you if you are quick to respond to their attempts to express themselves. These casual, spur-of-the-moment learning opportunities take place whether you are with a deaf child or a child who can more easily hear your conversation.

Vocalising is fun!

You may sometimes hear your child chattering in a kind of conversation with themselves. They may imitate or repeat her own actions or sounds. Vocalising in this way is fun for your baby – and vocalising is beginning speech. Perhaps your baby even decides to act silly, as babies often do as their sense of humour develops.

Because your baby’s spontaneous giggles, noises, gurgles and raspberries get a laugh from you, they may go on making these sounds to get your attention. Continue to observe and respond to your baby’s jabbering and chattering, and they will keep practising these important sounds which are the beginnings of speech.

Creating opportunities everyday

As well as making the most of spontaneous language-learning opportunities that just arise everyday, you should also try to create extra opportunities for your baby to learn language in a fun and natural way.

It is important to be on the lookout for, and take advantage of, speech and language learning opportunities that occur spontaneously, every day in and around your home.

In addition to these spontaneous opportunities, you can create extra opportunities for learning. All it takes is a bit of imagination and a little advanced thought. You can create opportunities for your child to become aware of sounds. You cannot manufacture a clap of thunder, but you can create a meaningful listening opportunity right in your kitchen, or living area, or elsewhere in your home.

Here are just a few suggestions – you can probably think of lots more. There are also plenty of activities in the Baby Programme to provide more ideas

Snack time

• When it is snack time, and your baby is hungry and ready to eat, walk your baby over to the cupboard with you and let them help in taking a packet of biscuits off the shelf.
• As you hold the box, shake it and call your baby’s attention to the sound of the biscuits shaking around in the packet.
• Say things like: “What’s inside?” ,“Shake, shake, shake!”, “It’s biscuits!”, “Yum, yum”!  
• Because your baby is hungry and ready to eat, you are likely to have their full attention.
• If you pause for a brief moment, your baby might make a vocalisation such as “Aaaah,” a babble like “Ba ba ba” or a simple word like “Mo!” (for more)
• Should your baby vocalise, praise them for using their voice and respond immediately to their request.
• And remember, if your child points, reaches or grabs for the biscuits, that too is communication. Give them the language as you act on their request.

Watching the world go by

• Your baby may especially enjoy watching people walk by your home. They will want to look at other children playing. They might looking out of your front window watching cars going down the road. Almost anything in motion will attract your baby’s attention. Look through the window with them and talk to your baby about whatever catches their interest.
• If your baby is still content to sit in a pushchair, they may enjoy going for a ‘walk’. This gives you an excellent opportunity to carry on a conversation with them.  Stop occasionally so you can talk to your baby about the many things they can see.

Sounds are everywhere

• Your baby must learn to listen. You can achieve this goal by making listening experiences meaningful and positive. Perhaps your child is noticing some sounds on her own.
• Sit for a moment – and observe. What is happening right now? Perhaps your baby is banging a pan on the floor and vocalising! Maybe someone is speaking nearby, and your baby turns their head. There could be other children playing nearby and your baby shows interest by looking or crawling towards them. These are indications that your baby’s listening posture is developing, and your efforts are reaping results.

Waiting for and welcoming visitors

• The telltale sounds of your presence or of your baby’s brothers, sisters and other family members as they come near can become familiar to your baby.  Such sounds might include:
  • big sister’s laugh
  • little brother’s cries
  • grandma’s warm greetings
  • grandpa’s deep chuckle
• If you are expecting your older children home from school or someone is coming for a visit, talk with your baby about it.  “[Sister’s/Brother’s name] is coming!” or  “Let’s watch for grandma!”  Wait and look expectantly with your baby.
• When you hear the door open or car pulling up, fill your voice with excitement! “Look, there’s daddy!” or “[Brother’s name] is here!”
• The rhythm and intonation of your voice carries valuable information and meaning for your baby. As your baby continues to develop their listening skills, you will hopefully find that you have a very curious and attentive child.

Important points to remember

When you are creating these language-learning opportunities, think about the following tips:

1. Aim to make language and listening part of everyday routines for your baby – talking about your activities and theirs.
2. Provide good language models for things your child is experiencing or interested in.
3. Share books together and identify topics about which you can make your own picture books.
4. Involve the whole family in the learning process.
5. Keep background noise to a minimum during the day – and especially when you are talking to your child.
6. Check your baby’s hearing aids / cochlear implants every morning to be sure they are working well.