What is a good way to teach my 2 year old son how to talk?

Question

What is a good way to teach my 2 year old son how to talk?

Answer 1

Hi there!! A 2-year-old should be able to have at least 50 words in his vocabulary and begin to combine two-word phrases with ease.

Here are some strategies I have previously posted that you can use at home:

1) do not anticipate your child's needs or wants. In other words, don't just 'give' the child things without him/her attempting to engage with you.

2) delay your responses to his/her gestures. If the child points to something, allow him to attempt to verbalize the word. After 10 seconds, if he is having trouble retrieving the word, you can model it for him.

3) Modify your language if necessary. Use clear and short phrases, if needed. And always give the child the correct word if s/he is still using 'baby talk' words.

4) Read to him/her!!! Show them pictures, point to the pictures, have the child identify them, have the child name them....

5) Describe what you are doing. For example, if your child is next to you while you are washing dishes, you can say out loud what you are doing, even in a song! (e.g., "soap soap the dishes, now we rinse rinse rinse the dishes, aaand we put them to dry! Dry dry dry!)

6) Use parallel talk. This is pretty much the same as above, except you are describing what THE CHILD is doing.

7) Be very encouraging when the child actually does use real words to communicate.

8) Expand the child's verbalizations. For example, if s/he says 'ball' you can say 'yes, green ball.' If s/he says 'green ball' you can respond 'yes, big green ball,' etc. This will allow the child to also understand expanded sentences.

9) Be patient.

:)

If you have any questions or want more specific examples, feel free to contact me. Also, if you are really concerned about his language, you should contact an early intervention agency in your area. They will evaluate him for free. If he qualifies for services, they are also free.

Answer 2

if he is not talking yet at 2 years old then you need to have him checked by early intervention. they will check all areas of his developement and let you know how to get the therapy he needs. The screening and therapies are free or very low cost.

despite having 2 older siblings, watching PBS, and being around me and other adults ALL the time, my son was only saying 10 words at 2 years old. EI diagnosed him with a speech delay and the therapist said he was a full 12 months behind in expressive speech. He started speech therapy for 30 minutes 2x a week. in 3 months his vocabulary had grown to 50 words, and after 5 months he just started talking one day. He is still very hard to understand, so he will continue in therapy until November when he turns 3. the progress he has made is amazing.

Answer 3

talk to him as much as possible and read him lots of books. getting a baby to talk really depends on the parents and how they do things with him/her. let him watch baby videos and cartoons. i hope that i have helped you. and good luck!

Answer 4

He needs to learn how to communicate.  Children learn by imitation.  Bringing him around other slightly older children will help a lot.  My daughter is 4 and an only child.  We let her play with the neighbor's kids who are between 6 months to 2 years older than her.  In a few weeks she was pointing at objects and naming them, in her own way of course, but it was a start.  If there aren't any kids around, then perhaps you can place her in a daycare for a few hours a day to have that social interaction.  It will help more than you know.

Answer 5

Talk with him, don't use baby talk at all.  ask him questions.  My mother said I was talking at 6 mos.  She would do things like hold a cookie and get me to try to say it.  Then if I tried she'd give it to me.  He'll catch on soon.  :)

Answer 6

Talking to him and reading to him is a big one.  But you also have to "get" him to talk.  Don't let him point and grunt when he wants something.  If he wants a drink and he points and grunts, or what ever he does to let you know, say to him, do you want a drink, when he shakes his head yes, say something like "say drink"  start off simple and work your way up to multiple words.  When he starts saying the simple like "drink" when he wants a drink, follow that with "say, I want a drink".  Slowly he will start to get the point and follow along.  

One of the worst things you can do is not engage this talking.  Children will do what works for them.  If grunting and pointing works, they will continue that.  If you ask them to say the word, or say something like "Say drink and I'll get you a drink" they will eventually say drink, and so on.

Now I'm not saying not to get him the drink if he doesn't say it right off, it's a work in progress, but if you say it a couple times and he starts to say something, it works.  My nephew (who I don't see that much) is 18 months and I had him saying Aunt Mimi (what he calls me) in less then 5 min.  He wanted my ice cream, so I gave him the first bite (he did the point and grunt) and before the second I said "say Aunt Mimi, I'll give you another bite if you say Aunt Mimi" or something goofy like that.  And he giggled and muttered something so I gave him a bite, I did it again before the next bite and he said (the best way he could) Aunt Mimi.  Then he started saying it before every bite.  I wasn't mean or cruel or anything, and he thought it was a game.

I did this with both of my children and they both talked early.

Good luck.

Lindy

Answer 7

Talk to him. Children do what they see their parents doing.

Answer 8

Play explicit rap music while he sleeps.