Acknowledgements - gapitc

My One-Year-Old Voice
Record your child’s voice.
Say his name and age before you begin and then prompt him to say a few words
or sounds you know he is able to.
Let your child hold the microphone as he makes the sounds.
Play the recording so he can hear himself.
Save the recoding and repeat this activity at different times during the year to
hear how your child’s speaking skills have grown!
Keep the recording to listen to when your child is older.
When you see your child pointing to something he wants, try to help him tell
you what he is trying to say. “Do you want the shovel, Arturo? No? Do you want
the bucket? Yes?” His facial expressions and body language will tell you if you’ve
“guessed” right.
Talk, talk, talk! Surround your one year old with meaningful language. Describe what
she is doing, the toys she plays with, what she sees, and what she hears. This helps
her learn new words.
Get down on your child’s level and talk to her face-to-face. This helps focus her
attention and lets her know she has yours.
One year olds use one word to mean many words. You can fill in the rest. When
Jennifer says “more,” ask “Do you want more green beans, Jennifer?” When Cooper
says “up,” say “Do you want me to pick you up and put you in your car seat now?
We are going for a ride.”
When your child shows fear, anger, happiness, or other feelings, talk about how she
feels.“Michele, I can see you are angry because Rico took away your toy.”
Be patient if your one year old gets frustrated when you cannot understand what he
is trying to say. Tell him you are sorry you do not understand and ask him to keep
trying to show you what he means.
When your child uses a shortened version of a word, such as “nana” for banana, say
the complete word in a sentence. For example,“You want a banana.” Avoid “correcting”
your child or repeating the shortened form.
117