Your little one is more likely to communicate with you when they’re focusing on something that interests them.
When you follow their lead, the words you use to talk about the things that interest them, can help them to link the words with their meanings.
Looking out of the window together is a great way to follow your child's gaze. Talk about the things they can see and are interested in, as Dad in the video below is doing.
How following your child's lead helps them learn
It helps them to:
- Learn the words for things that interest them
- Learn to link the words they hear to their meanings
Toddlers find it much easier to focus on one thing at a time, rather than being distracted by lots of new things - if you take notice of what they're interested in and talk to them about it, they're more likely to pay attention to the words you say and learn more words.
Ask them, 'what can you see?’… or look at what they’re pointing at when they look out of the window, then talk about it.
For pre-school school age: You can help them to develop and build their sentences by asking questions like…'Mr Jones is in his garden, what is he doing?'.
