Letting your child take the lead!
Children naturally have a need to explore and discover new things, so being led by your child can lead to exciting adventures!
By following your child’s lead:
- It allows your child to choose the activity and play with it in their own way
- It shows your child you are interested in them and what they are doing
- It helps your child concentrate because they are playing with something that interests them
- It encourages your child to talk
- It develops your child’s understanding because what you say will be more relevant
Stop
- Stop what you are doing so that you can focus on your child
- Let your child lead the play and choose what they would like to do
Look
- Look at what your child is doing
- Listen to things your child tries to say
- Think about what your child would like to be able to say
- This will make your responses to your child more relevant and appropriate
Respond
- Explain: describe what your child is doing or looking at, say something short and simple that you think they would like to be able to say
- Repeat: repeat back what your child says using the words and short sentences
- Expand: repeat what your child says, but add 1 or 2 words to expand vocabulary
- Wait: when responding to your child, wait for them to process the information – it can take a little while for them to process what you are saying, so it helps to slow down speech and allow thinking time
