Weekly LENA Talking Tip
Week 3
 
This week’s talking tip: Get down to their level: face to face.
 
Being on the same eye level with your child helps him feel safer and more in control. You are also showing your child that you're giving him your full attention and that you care about what she has to say. It also may help to increase attention, engagement, opportunities for play, and eye contact. According to Dr. Anthony Koutsoftas, getting down to eye level isn’t just good for your child; it’s good for you too! By being on the same eye level with your child, you see what he sees. You experience the situation from his point of view and can help you to see his perspective. This can help you to understand your child better.

​Weekly LENA Talking Tip

Week 1

This week’s talking tip: Talk out loud about what you’re doing and thinking.

You don’t need to change your routine to do this! Simply talk about the task while you are doing it. Changing your baby’s clothes? Talk about undoing a button, pulling it off, putting your baby down, etc. Taking a bath? You can talk about turning the water on and off and if it is hot or cold. What is that in the tub? “Oh, it’s a rubber ducky! The ducky likes to swim in the water, just like you!” Again, you don’t need to change anything in your everyday routine. All you have to do it talk about what you are already doing!

Weekly LENA Talking Tip
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Week 2

This week’s talking tip: Comment on what your child is doing or looking at.
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Watch your child’s eyes, face, and body. What are they looking at and showing interest in? By commenting on what your child is looking at, you are interacting while giving verbal meaning to objects and building vocabulary and language skills. For example, you see your child looking at a teddy bear. You could say, “It’s a bear! The bear is brown.” If the child reaches for the bear, you could say, “Oh, you want the bear!” If the child continues to show interest in the bear, try saying something such as, “Here are the bear’s ears…. He has 2 ears...One, two…” You don’t have to do any special activities. Watch your child and talk with her about whatever she is already interested in and doing!

​Did you know that at birth, your baby’s brain has almost all the neurons it will ever have and that the brain doubles in size by her first birthday? Also, by the age of 3, your child’s brain is about 80% grown. This is exciting news! Your baby is truly amazing and these first few years are so important. Your baby is making new connections every day by taking in what he hears, smells, sees, and feels. His daily experiences are shaping his ability to process and organize his cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and motor connections. Providing language rich environments is a huge responsibility for parents and caregivers as this will help shape your baby’s long term language and cognitive development.

Your child’s language skills will play a fundamental role in his future success, and YOU have the ability to enhance his skills. We want to help! Check out our Facebook or blog where we will be posting a weekly “talking tip” for you to use with your baby (and older children too!) during your everyday activities.
You can also check out LENA Start (https://www.lena.org/solutions/) for more information about FREE classes in the Wausau area for parents of children 0-32 months. LENA Start is a program for parents that provides essential information about building children’s brains through early interactive talk. We currently are a LENA site and have a weekly course going but will have another starting this fall!