[ parent special ]

Teach your Montessori baby to communicate

In the second of her practical, creative Montessori responses to encouraging brain development in babies and young children, Wendy Fidler describes ways in which babies and small children learn to communicate.

Soon after birth babies communicate with sounds and with facial expressions; this is the time to be quiet and listen, make eye contact and get face to face.

ontessori is a way of life, a philosophy about how human beings might live their lives and treat one another; it is an attitude of respect and encouragement. When babies are born they lack independence; it is the role of the adults caring for them to nurture and protect them and to help them to think, communicate and speak for themselves.

what to expect at different stages of development to help children develop at an acceptable rate. The NLT offers the following broad advice for parents and carers:

The natural way to find out whether a baby, or anyone else for that matter, understands is to ask them.

Be a good listener
Soon after birth babies communicate with sounds and with facial expressions; this is the time to be quiet and listen, make eye contact and get face to face with the little child. Respond to his comments and set a good example by stopping what you are doing, if possible, whilst you listen. By giving the child your undivided attention you are showing him how to listen to others.

Play music, sing songs and recite rhymes

Music and rhythm benefit babies in the earliest months of life, when their brain connections are forming. Playing music also helps children develop listening skills. When you play music, sing along, dance or do the actions - show your enjoyment and your child will have fun too.

Creating a Rich Language Environment

The National Literacy Trust campaign Talk to Your Baby suggests that adults often expect too much too soon, or too little too late, of babies language development. It is important to know

Be a good model
Try not to use babble or baby talk; speak clearly, naturally and correctly. However, baby talk (e.g. me want drinky winky) should not be confused with parentese, which is the softer, higher-pitched, affectionate voice which parents often use and which babies find easier to decode.

Tune into your baby and follow his lead

A baby will smile and look at you if he is ready to communicate; keep talking and playing as long as hes interested. Stop when he signals hes had enough. He may cry, turn his head away or arch his back. Focus on words or objects that are central to his life or on which he is focusing. For example, if he is watching a cat, talk about the cat rather than something else. In this way a baby begins to learn that his communications are valued and he develops confidence and self esteem.

Help to develop babies listening skills

Babies need to listen to learn, and learn to listen. Point out sounds around them, such as a clock ticking or a plane flying overhead. Point to the noise and say listen. Talk about the sounds he makes when he is in the bath, clapping hands or banging pots.

Praise and more praise

Show your child you are pleased when he smiles, imitates your mouth movements or tries out new words. Praise even the smallest achievements but resist the

Once children understand the names of things they can make simple choices; when they progress to classifying groups, they move on to comparisons.

Directions, which require actions or words in response, help children to communicate their understanding, ideas and preferences

Good emotional atmosphere promotes communication

temptation to have the child perform for others. It is normal for children to make mistakes as they work out the sounds and structures of language; just say the correct word without fuss. If the mistakes continue over many weeks this could indicate poor hearing that needs to be checked out. Adapted from How to Talk to Your Baby by Dorothy P Dougherty, Avery, 1999

this silent, sensitive period, the human voice is babies preferred environmental sound. In the first two months babies use varying breathing patterns, after which they are able to modulate their crying which is the main method of communication. At three to four months vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u), are reproduced clearly, Soft consonants e.g. m, d, p begin to appear at about five or six months. At this stage, when babies awaken they start to speak straight away, concentrating on their vocal exercises and seemingly having conversations with themselves. Interestingly this is exactly what happens when an adult wakes up unhurriedly and starts to talk to himself, though it is usually not aloud. By seven or eight months babies can show their understanding of the meaning of words by performing actions, such as clapping their hands, on request. By their first birthday most children will be saying their first words if they have been raised in a stimulating and helpful environment. These words relate to family, food and words of greeting and are called holophrases because they express a complete situation and therefore function as phrases. It is usually only understood by direct family members or the childs main carer. The linguistic stage lasts from about twelve months to three years, and can be divided into two distinct periods: The locutory phase from about twelve to twenty months; there is a growth in the use of hard-sounding consonants, but r, s and z may still be difficult to articulate. Two-word nuclear phrases consisting of a subject and a description of a desired situation, e.g. mummy here appear, and later the expanded nuclear phrase consisting of

three words. Children begin to speak of things they recall, or those outside their immediate environment and they respond to requests with words rather than actions. At this stage children have a real thirst for naming things and can absorb rare and special words, for example as they classify flowers, dinosaurs or transport. They concentrate and take great joy on these naming activities during this sensitive period of language acquisition. This is the moment Maria Montessori called the language explosion; by the end of the second year children use and pronounce clearly about 200 words, though they may still talk about themselves in the third person, possibly because the pronoun I is difficult to articulate. The delocutory phase, from about twenty to thirty-six months; this is the stage when children learn the different parts of speech. Phrases become longer and more complex and children are able to describe what is happening around them, how they feel about it and express choices. Shortly before the third birthday, children begin to use the word I; they are aware of and can express their personal identity. It is the psychological manifestation of individuality and builds on the physical identity previously achieved through getting up onto two feet and walking.

The Mystery of Spoken Language

Language is a treasure accumulated by every human community. It is given to all those belonging to the community in order that they may participate in its life. But the greatness of language can never be understood if we dont realize that it does not consist of a mechanical ability or repetition of words. Rather, the word is sustained by thought while, at the same time, thought is sustained and amplified by the use of language we share with others. This is a system of reciprocal aid and reinforcement, and it enlarges human consciousness, making it possible to grasp an even-broader reality. Dr. Montanaro Understanding the Human Being The Importance of the First Three Years of Life (2003) Montanaro describes the importance of inner language, the inner dialogue that helps us to focus, examine and clarify our thoughts. The brain must process all the sensory information from within and outside us, transforming a continuous stream of data into organised material that can be understood, stored and communicated. This inner, or thinking, language requires concentration and attention; we must learn to speak to ourselves in order to communicate with others.

Good Emotional Atmosphere Promotes Communication

Language is first absorbed and then reproduced; the desire to communicate is the emotional side of language. As adults, if we are depressed or angry we talk less and sometimes we dont talk at all - our lack of language conveys a message about our conscious detachment from people and situations. Conversely, when we have a strong desire to communicate and participate we make great efforts, even in foreign languages! Sometimes, although language has been 15

The Stages of Language Development

The pre-linguistic stage lasts from birth (or before) until ten or twelve months; in

Montessori International, October December 2005

Teach your Montessori Baby to Communicate

Continued from previous page
absorbed, the child who is perfectly able to reproduce it is unable to make use of it because of emotional problems. An extreme example is the autistic child who does not speak because of a conscious decision to separate himself from his environment. Therefore, a healthy emotional atmosphere is paramount for optimal development and use of language. method of introducing only one new criterion at a time, for example when demonstrating a few cubes of the Pink Tower, the only difference is the length of the side of each cube the cubes material, colour, shape etc all remain constant. Explain things Children with speech, language and communication problems often have great difficulty understanding the meaning of words such as which, what, when, where, why and how and correspondingly they often have difficulty making themselves understood. Parents and carers of very small children can promote early understanding and use of these concepts by playing games such as peek-a-boo and wheres teddy? which help children focus on cause and effect and to develop the capacity to consider and decide on the reasons for happenings. Give directions The natural way to find out whether a baby, or anyone else for that matter, understands is to ask them. For example, directions, which require actions or words in response, help babies to communicate their understanding, ideas and preferences: Give me the big ball, please? Where is your nose? and What is this sound? Babies who build up a daily rapport with familiar adults are better able to communicate in this way. This encourages confidence, independence and healthy self-esteem at a very early age. Montessorians will doubtless raise a smile at this agreeable order of vocabulary development, which reflects the graded stages through which children progress when using the Montessori pink, blue and green word and reading schemes. Many of the activities used in Montessori settings can be simplified to suit babies and small children. Infants thrive on the mixed age interactions intrinsic to everyday family life in the same way that multi-age grouping in Montessori schools stimulate individual childrens development at their own pace, In 1949 Maria Montessori addressed the VIII International Montessori Congress in San Remo, Italy, Early infancy is the most delicate period in human life. The task of educators is immense because human progress and world peace are in their hands.

Early Language Acquisition The Montessori Approach

National Literacy Trust suggest that little children learn language best when adults name things, describe things, compare things, explain things and give directions. Montessori was acutely aware of the phases of language development and designed her language materials to follow babies natural progression: Name things parents and carers can adapt the Montessori method of teaching nouns i.e. the names of things by repeating appropriate words such as rattle, drink, teddy as well as the names of familiar people and places such as shopping, car, swimming or park. Describe things babies understand and respond well to facial gestures and body movements; a delightful way to help babies to understand the concept of describing words or adjectives is to respond empathetically and with sympathetic words such as, Sad, Joshua? Are you sad Joshua? when baby is crying or grumpy. Similarly, smiling gestures and a bright voice will help baby to understand the meaning of Happy, Katy? Happy Mummy! Compare things once babies understand the names of things (which in the earliest stages of language acquisition is well before they can say the words themselves) they can be encouraged to begin to make simple choices which will help them to develop the capacity to conceptualise and make comparisons. For example, by offering, say a pink spoon and a yellow spoon with an emphasis on the words pink and yellow children learn to discriminate between two objects, which have only one difference, which in this example is colour. Parents can role model thinking for choosing by saying, Pink spoon? or Yellow spoon? in an enquiring way, and with a thinking look on their face. Montessorians will recognise this 16

Many of the activities used in Montessori settings can be simplified to suit babies and small children; matching hard and soft sounds with objects.

Wendy Fidler is a Forensic Education Consultant specialising in Education Law, Education Negligence and Special Educational Needs. Wendy is a trustee of the Dyspraxia Foundation and a member of the Special Education Consortium (SEC) Policy Group. Resources:
On We Go Montessori Pink Scheme Reading Lists from: WMS Publications: 0208 8858 4368 Talking Point is a website all about speech, language and communication difficulties in children. It has a range of information and resources for professionals and also for parents and carers of young children. www.talkingpoint.org.uk I CAN is a charity that helps children with speech and language difficulties across the UK. The charity works to create a society where special needs are recognised, understood and met, so all children have the same opportunities. www.ican.org.uk Talk To Your Baby www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby is a campaign run by the National Literacy Trust to encourage parents and carers to talk more to children from birth to three National Literacy Trust, Swire House, 59 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ Tel: 020 7828 2435. Fax: 020 7931 9986. Email: rachel.fahey@literacytrust.org.uk Sure Start, DfES early education, childcare, health advice and family support for young children. www.surestart.gov.uk Bibliography: Dougherty, D.P. (1999) How to Talk to your Baby, Avery Group Inc, USA Eccles, J and Robinson, D.N. (1985) The Wonder of Being Human, New Science Library, Boston US and London UK Montanaro, S.Q. (2003) Understanding the Human Being The Importance of the First Three Years of Life, Nienhuis Montessori USA, Mountain View, California Montessori, M. (1948) To Educate the Human Potential, Clio Press Ltd, Oxford Seldin, T. and Epstein, P. (2003) The Montessori Way An Education for Life, The Montessori Foundation, Florida, USA

Montessori International, October December 2005