Nurturing Communication and Language Skills in Early Childhood: A Crucial role for Childminders, Parents and Early Years Practitioners

Childminders, parents and early years childcare workers play a vital role in fostering the development of communication and language skills in children. With 90% of a child’s brain developing before the age of 5, it is essential to maximise this critical period to support children’s growth across all areas of learning.

Communication and language are the foundations upon which all seven areas of learning and development are built. This makes it crucial to help children reach their full potential in these skills. According to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), these foundational areas, referred to as ‘prime areas’ are key to sparking curiosity, enthusiasm for learning, building relationships and thriving. The prime areas include:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development
These prime areas are supported and enhanced by four specific areas of learning:
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

The key components of communication and language are listening, attention and understanding and speaking.

The Impact of Early Language Exposure

The rate at which children’s vocabulary develops can depend on the language that they hear in their lives on a day-to-day basis. Research has shown that children who lack opportunities for shared reading, particularly those from low income or disadvantaged backgrounds, are at risk of developing a smaller vocabulary – a phenomenon known as the ‘word gap’. This gap has significant long term implications.

• Educational Outcomes: A study involving over 1,300 UK teachers found that nearly half of the pupils surveyed were at risk of academic underachievement due to limited vocabulary. The disparity is stark: by age four, a child from a higher-income family may hear 30 million more words than a child from a low-income family.
• Life Chances: Children with poor vocabulary at age five are twice as likely to experience unemployment in adulthood.

However, there are many strategies that can help bridge this gap in the early years.

Supporting Language Development: A Timeline

Language development begins from birth when the the only way for them to communicate with us is to cry which tells us they:

• Need a cuddle
• Need attention
• Are hungry and need feeding
• Need winding
• Are unwell or in pain
• Need their nappy changing
• Are too hot
• Are too cold
• Are uncomfortable

And as Childminders, parents or early years childcare workers, we have to work out what is wrong through a process of elimination.

The timescales of how they go on to develop their communication skills are as follows:

Age	Children should:
4-6 weeks	Start smiling
6-8 weeks	Start to make cooing sounds
16 weeks	Start laughing
6 months	Turn their heads to sounds. At this age the head turn changes from a reflexive activity (in the newborn) to a purposeful response
6-9 months	Start babbling, for example, dadada, mumuma
6-11 months	Understand the word no
10-14 months	Turn or respond to their name
10-15 months	Say their first word
12 months	Say up to 3 words
15 months	Be able to point to parts of the body when you name them
12-15 months	Understand and follow simple directions
12-18 months	Name familiar objects and enjoy being read to and listening to songs and rhymes and be able to name familiar objects in a book
18 months	Be able to say at least 10 words
18 months plus	Word acquisition increases dramatically. There may be a ‘word spurt’ after a child has a vocabulary of 50 words. Some children then learn new words at a very rapid pace.
24 months	Use and understand many words by 24 months of age, understand more complicated sentences and put two words together.

Practical Tips for Encouraging Language Growth

1. Engage in regular conversations

• Engaging in frequent back-and-forth conversations with children is one of the most effective ways to enhance their language skills.
• Even the earliest interactions with babies such as responding to cries, smiles, laughing and talking to them lay the groundwork for language development. These simple acts help babies learn that their communications elicit responses, encouraging further attempts to communicate.

2. Active Listening

• Show that you’re listening by responding to what the child says, making eye contact and using gestures.
• The very best way to improve a child’s communication and language skills is through shared reading.

3. Model Clear and Correct Language

• Correct with care: If a child mispronounces a word, gently model the correct pronunciation by repeating it back correctly without directly correcting them.
• Use rich vocabulary: Introduce new words naturally in conversation. Explain the meaning of new words in a way that’s easy for them to understand.

4. Read Together Daily

• Make reading a routine: Incorporate storytime into the daily schedule. Choose books that are age-appropriate and engaging. Reading is the best way to develop vocabulary in young children.
• Interactive reading: Ask open-ended questions about the story, encouraging children to predict what might happen next or explain how they think a character feels.

5. Incorporate Songs, Rhymes, and Stories

• Sing and rhyme: Songs and nursery rhymes are a fun way to introduce rhythm, rhyme, and repetition, which are important for language development.
• Storytelling: Encourage children to tell their own stories or retell stories they’ve heard. This boosts their vocabulary and understanding of narrative structure.

6. Expand on Their Speech
• Build on their words: If a child says, “big truck,” you could respond with, “Yes, that’s a big, red truck with shiny wheels. It’s driving very fast!”
• Ask open-ended questions: Instead of questions that require a yes/no answer, ask questions that encourage children to think and articulate their thoughts, like “What do you think will happen if...?”

7. Create a Language-Rich Environment
• Label objects: Label items around the room with their names to help children associate words with objects.
• Display words: Use charts, posters, and pictures with words around the learning space to expose children to written language.

8. Encourage Back-and-Forth Interactions
• Pause for responses: When talking to children, give them time to respond. This encourages them to participate in the conversation.
• Follow their lead: If a child shows interest in something, engage with them on that topic, asking questions and providing relevant vocabulary.

9. Use Play to Promote Language
• Role-play: Encourage pretend play, which helps children use language to express themselves and interact with others.
• Interactive games: Play games that require listening and responding, like Simon Says, to enhance understanding and following directions.

10. Be Responsive to Non-Verbal Communication
• Acknowledge gestures and sounds: Respond to babies’ coos, babbles, and gestures as if they are meaningful conversation. This reinforces their attempts at communication.
• Encourage pointing and showing: Ask children to point to objects or show you something they are interested in, then talk about it.

11. Foster Social Interaction
• Group activities: Encourage children to participate in group activities where they can communicate with peers, such as circle time or collaborative games.
• Peer interaction: Create opportunities for children to talk with each other, sharing ideas, and practicing conversational skills.

By incorporating these tips into daily routines and interactions, you can create a supportive environment that promotes the development of strong communication and language skills in early years children.

The Consequences of Poor Language Skills

Without strong communication and language skills, children may face challenges across other areas of learning and development:

• Social Interaction: Difficulty socialising with peers and understanding social cues.
• Friendships: May struggle to form and maintain relationships.
• Frustration: Increased frustration due to being misunderstood by adults.
• Academic Skills: Challenges in reading, writing, and other literacy related tasks.
• Self-Esteem: Lower confidence and self-esteem.

Given the profound impact of communication and language on a child’s overall development, it’s clear why these skills are central to the EYFS’s vision of nurturing curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. By building rich language skills from the earliest stages, we set the foundation for all future learning.

About Childminding UK

Childminding UK has been supporting childminders for over 30 years. Formed in 1991 by and for working childminders in Northamptonshire, we now support childminders across the country. A registered charity, (Charity Number 1182575) we are the only national organisation that solely supports childminders and the only early years organisation that has achieved the Princess Royal Training Award for ‘Ensuring high quality childcare through training and support’. All staff are experienced childcare professionals and have also been childminders themselves and our trustees are working childminders or have knowledge of childminding, so we have an excellent understanding of the sector.

Please note, the information in this article is provided by Childminding UK and does not represent the views or opinions of Morton Michel.