Tips To Help Language Development

Dads can have such a great impact on their child's development. Sometimes, the wording can be complicated for milestones. Speech and language has a vocabulary all of it's own. Here are 10 tips for dads that break down how to help develop your child's speech and language skills. You will also help them become emergent readers. Learning starts at birth, and you can have an impact!

1. Exploring things together – look at things together, point to items and name them. Try to encourage kids to talk, and avoid answering for them.
2. Literacy in the home - Look at books together, have your child name the pictures, read them stories.
3. Spacing - Get down to their level and face them when talking. As early as infancy, children learn from your facial expressions.
4. Face to face contact while sitting - Whether at the dinner table or in the living room, try to sit across from your child. They will learn from your presence.
5. Unplug and Play - Less screen time - more dad time.
6. Echo Echo Echo - Repeat back their words and teach language skills.
7. Audiologist - If you are worried about hearing loss, consult an audiologist. This impacts language development.
8. Karaoke time - Sing songs and nursery rhymes when your kids are young. Break out that Karaoke and make language development fun.
9. Children are like sponges - Try to remember that very activity is a language learning activity.
10. Keep it simple - Remember to keep your level of language simple and easy to understand.

Dads - Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Having a sense of humor is important when it comes to raising children. Research has proven that humor actually benefits your children as they begin to develop. It teaches them many of life's lessons. The replacement for humor is stress and anger. Ask yourself, how would anything be a better alternative to humor when we feel under pressure? Here is a list of humor's benefits to your health that you can pass along to your children.

 

1. Humor combats fear.

2. Humor comforts.

3. Humor relaxes.

4. Humor reduces pain.

5. Humor boosts the immune system.

6. Humor reduces stress.

7. Humor spreads happiness.

8. Humor cultivates optimism.

9. Humor helps communication.

I use humor as a daily part of my life. At work and at home, a smile goes a long way. Kids love a dad with a good sense of humor. They tell the stories of their youth to their children and you help ensure that empathy and kindness replace stress and anger.

5 New Year's Resolutions For Dads

New Year's resolutions are promises to ourselves to make an effort towards a goal we find to be truly important. Being a father is so important to a child, what better resolution than to commit to a fatherhood goal? Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Take care of yourself - To be a dad takes a lot of energy. Commit to yourself to be healthy. Simple steps could be achieved with a smart app that guides physical fitness goals. You could also join a gym if you have the time. Eating healthy is another worthy goal. Just a few simple steps can give you increased energy and stamina.

2. Increase time spent with your children - Every dad is different when it comes to custody, and time spent with their children. Set a goal for yourself to increase your time with the kids by 10 percent. You will be amazed how much your kids will appreciate it.

3. Start a new tradition - New year...New traditions. Kids love anything that you do that builds on traditions. Join a club, have a board game night, or just make a new event that kids look forward to every week.

4. Increase time spent outdoors - Screen time is always a battle for parents. Get the kids off the Ipads and outside to play. Each season has a reason to play outdoors. Get out there and play with the kids.

5. Quit bad habits. If you smoke, quit. Social habits such as drinking or recreation drug use are also a problem. Other bad habits include procrastination, making a promise you can not keep, and money management. Turn a negative into a positive. You can do it!

Hopefully this list will get you started on a few new habits. No matter what you choose to do, remember your kids are always watching dad. What they learn can be a lifelong lesson, so choose wisely.

Embrace Early Intervention Services

Sometimes, a new dad can be scared of services for their child. Especially a dad who is newly on his own. When a father fights for custody, or fights his ex, he can begin to lose trust with new parts of their child's life. This feeling is normal and it is so important dads learn that he needs to be just as supportive as mom regarding early childhood development. Especially Early Intervention programs.

When a mom and dad split, sometimes people forget to include dad in the discussion for their child's developmental needs. Too often, initial meetings are held without dad. Agencies are beginning to realize dads are not included, and have increased outreach efforts. However, when dads learn about Early Intervention services, they should do the following:

ALWAYS get involved as soon as you can. If you missed a few meetings, check your feelings prior to your the next meeting. Never attend a meeting with an agenda of your own. Coming across abrasive will only worsen things. If you have to express your feelings, use positive messages to get your point across. For example, you can say, "Gee, I missed the first few meetings, however I am sure glad to be a part of  todays meeting. I only want the best for my child." This notifies the team of your disappointment, while letting them know you want to be a part of your child's life.

When your child has recommendations for strategies at home, you should clarify anything you misunderstand, and always follow a treatment plan. This is what is best for you child. Never allow your frustrations to overtake the treatment plan. The greatest impact you can have on your child is participating in their life. Lead the way when it comes to helping your child develop correctly, and people will respect your efforts. This will ensure that you will not be excluded from future meetings.