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Communication and Your 2-3 Year-Old

Communicating with a child, from infancy onward, is one of the most pleasurable and rewarding experiences for both parent and child. Children learn by absorbing information through daily interactions and experiences with other children, adults, and the world.



How Should I Communicate With My Child?
The more interactive conversation and play a child is involved in, the more a child learns. Reading books, singing, playing word games, and simply talking to your child will increase his vocabulary while providing increased listening opportunities.

Communicating with a child, from infancy onward, is one of the most pleasurable and rewarding experiences for both parent and child. Children learn by absorbing information through daily interactions and experiences with other children, adults, and the world.

How Should I Communicate With My Child?
The more interactive conversation and play a child is involved in, the more a child learns. Reading books, singing, playing word games, and simply talking to your child will increase his vocabulary while providing increased listening opportunities. Here are a few suggestions to help improve your child's communication skills:

* Talk to your toddler about what he or she did during the day or plans to do tomorrow. "I think it's going to rain this afternoon. What shall we do?" Or discuss the day's events at bedtime.
* Play make-believe games.
* Read your child's favorite books over and over and encourage him or her to join in with words he or she knows. Encourage "pretend" reading (let your child pretend he or she is reading a book to you).

Typical Vocabulary and Communication Patterns
Between the ages of 2 and 3, children experience a tremendous growth spurt in language skills. Although each child develops at a unique pace, when it comes to language skills, by the age of 2, most children can follow simple directions and can speak about 50 to 200 words. Many children may also begin to echo what they hear and begin to combine words in short phrases.
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