The Big Little Blog

LATE TALKERS JANUARY 1, 2023 Who is a “Late-Talker?” “Late-Talkers” are defined as toddlers between 18-30 months with good understanding of language, typically developing play skills, motor skills, thinking skills, and social skills, but has limited words for his or her age (Hanen Center). In other words, they are meeting all of their developmental milestones, expect […]

Bilingualism Bilingualism refers to the ability to use two languages in everyday life and Bilingualism is common in many parts of the world Several studies have even suggested that bilinguals show certain advantages! Bilingual people appear to perform a little bit better than monolinguals on tasks that involve switching between activities and inhibiting previously learned […]

The Power of Waiting Waiting is one of those strategies that seems so simple, but it’s powerful! When you wait, you give your child time to process the words they are hearing and time to respond. It may feel long time, but try waiting 3-5 seconds to give your little one time. Look at them expectantly […]

In fact, it’s the opposite- signs and gestures help little ones learn new words by making them visible. In fact, in one study babies in families who had been encouraged to teach their babies signs were more advanced in their language skills, intelligence skills, and play skills when tested. Moreover, babies who had been taught […]

How many words should my toddler have is a question I get asked on the daily.  Why?  Because it’s confusing!  With different sources saying different things, the CDC changing their milestones, and your Aunt Betty insisting, “Einstein didn’t talk until he was three,” it’s not wonder you’re confused! Let’s start by talking about what counts […]

The Pandemic and Speech Development: The Pandemic was an event like we’ve never seen before. You may be wondering did quarantining and mask wearing impact my child’s speech development? Let’s look at what the research says: In a study by Byrne et a. 2020, the researchers found that: “Pandemic-associated social isolation appears to have impacted […]

You may be wondering, “What exactly counts as word?” This post is for you! There are 4 criteria to count as a word: 1️) It’s consistent: Your child always uses the same name for the same thing. If it’s “mmm” for milk, your little one always says “mmm” for milk 2️) It approximates our version […]

Batteries and Speech Development Research shows that electronic toys are associated with decreased quality and quantity of language input compared to play with traditional toys and books. During interactions between parents and their children, electronic toys were associated with fewer adult words, fewer conversational turns, fewer parental responses, fewer productions of content-specific words, and over all […]

Yes… but only by a little bit Girls tend to reach all of their language milestones first, including the number of words they produce, the number of words they understand, the number of words they combine, sentence complexity, and sentence length. There are different reasons scientists use to explain these differences. One is that girls […]