We talk to our kids a lot.
We don't use baby talk. Baby talk is beneficial because it helps kids hear phonemes, da-da, ba-ba, ma-ma, etc. We use the real words though (I think I do use a higher pitch and cutsie sing-songy speech pattern sometimes). Instead when my babies and me are just hanging out, often at the changing table, I go through the alphabet phonetically: a-a, b-b, c-c, etc. So instead of saying the letter, I say the sound twice. Then they get the same benefit as if we used baby talk but slightly more because I go through all the basic sounds. I remember someone talking baby talk to Poema and she corrected them with the real word, that was funny for me.
We describe what is happening to them or what is about to happen. Initially this was not natural with Sarah and me. The first month of her life I would mostly just say, "Hi," to her. It took me a lot of practice and feeling awkward. I was better with Poema, and even got mocked by strangers. Once I was in line at the bank and Poema was less than 6-months-old and I was telling her that I was going to deposit money at the bank and we were waiting in line to give our check to the teller. An older gentleman in line next to me said, "Do you really think she understands you?" Well, she'll understand me much sooner than if I don't talk to her. With Joy as a newborn I tell her what is happening to her as it happens. At the changing table: "You are going pee right now. Mommy is going to dry you off and change your wet onesie."
We talk to our kids using large vocabulary words that many parents don't use with their kids because they think they won't understand. We just try to help them understand using other words they know. We don't expect them to learn or use every word but we are surprised how many of the words they do remember and use.
Example 1: Instead of just labeling a dog, "Dog," we'll say, "That's a poodle. It's a type of dog."
Example 2: Just yesterday I was in the bathroom with Poema (2 years 2 months old) and the toilet flushed automatically as she got down off of it and it surprised her and so I said, "The toilet flushes automatically. Did that surprise you? Automatically means it does it by itself. We didn't need to push a button. It flushed automatically. Sometimes there are doors to stores that open automatically." I'm giving her words for what she experiences and using the new word a few times so she hears it. It also helped that when we washed our hands the sink was automatic and the paper towel dispenser was also so I got to use the word many more times.
We started having Poema listen to Magic Tree House audio books when she goes to rest time. This was something I did with Sarah around the same age and it happened not purposefully but we saw such benefits we are trying it with Poema. I say it wasn't purposeful because we got a Magic Tree House CD from a Wendy's kid's meal (which I usually don't buy because I'm cheap) and just wanted her to rest one day when she wasn't in the mood so I put the CD on. She kept asking to listen to it each day so we downloaded more of the stories. One day she came out from rest time and asked me what a "precipice" was. I was confused at first forgetting that she heard it from the audio book and asked her how she heard the word. She told me the context and I asked her what she thought it meant and then defined the word. One day I asked her if she wanted me to play a new story for rest time and Sarah said, "No, I haven't learned all the words yet."
We also read to our kids. We start when they are babies. Jonathan is great at reading aloud to our girls even when they are just newborns. It helps them bond with him and they like his voice.
Jonathan with Sarah and a classic.
Jonathan with Poema.
Jonathan with Joy. Well, this isn't an action shot but he has read to Joy. :)
We are also lucky to have extended family that talk with our kids about the world. They also read with the girls.
Mainly, we've learned not to underestimate our kids. We've tried things with our kids that people thought were not going to work and our kids went above and beyond what we even imagined they could do. We try to do everything in a fun, natural way. It does help that Jonathan and I like words and like to learn so we model that more naturally than others might but like me and learning to talk to my babies, it just takes practice.
