“The basic building block of good communications is the feeling that every human being is unique and of value.” - Unknown

Know

As a family child care provider, you play an important role in the communication and language development of each child. Language is at the core of all components of communication. Without language, we would have a very difficult time expressing our thoughts and feelings. The learning environment should be filled with elements that support language and communication development. You can help create a language-rich environment in your home by being thoughtful in your activity plans and materials selection. The goal of creating an environment rich in language is to encourage a love of language in all children. When children are surrounded by language, they will most likely have positive feelings and emotions about language and literacy.

Reflecting on Communication and Language Learning

Knowing that your environment contributes greatly to learning, a starting point can be to reflect on the language and communication development of the children in your care. Think about your observations, what families tell you, the developmental screening and assessment information you collect, and the interests and discoveries each child is making. For example:

• What language or languages is the child learning at home? To which language is the child most responsive?
• What sounds is each infant using?
• What type and length of sentences does the child use? Does he or she take turns in a conversation?
• How does each child communicate with peers? Adults?
• How does each child communicate that he or she is hungry, tired, bored, or ready for play?
• How is each child developing in language and communication development?
• How does each child respond to books? Being read to? Being shown pictures?
• Does the preschooler or school-age child recognize basic concepts about print, like holding books upright, turning pages, pointing to words and pictures?
• What types of books is the family reading to each child? Why types of books are families encouraging older children to read?
• What writing experiences is the child having? Does the child try writing or scribbling letters? Does the child seem to understand that print has meaning?
• How are other areas of development being supported through books and reading?

By asking these questions, in collaboration with families, you have an opportunity to document and learn how each child in your care develops language and communication skills while considering other areas of development, culture, and temperament. This planning process establishes a responsive environment for you and families to support children as they develop language skills and learn new ways to communicate their needs and wants. It is your responsibility as a family child care provider to arrange your learning environment to meet the needs of each individual child where they are in their development.

Supporting Communication for Infants and Toddlers

As a family child care provider, you also become each child’s language and communication partner. Infants grow from turning their heads and responding to familiar faces and voices to being able to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in words as toddlers. This amazing development occurs primarily through the interactions and experiences created by adult caregivers who use communication and language with children in responsive and meaningful ways throughout the day. Take a moment to think about the responsive care you provide and the ways it affects children’s language and communication development.

The handout, More Than Baby Talk, outlines ten practices that support language and communication skills of infants and toddlers. The below highlights the practices that are presented and defined in the handout. The handout also contains research evidence that supports the use of each practice along with strategies and ideas for using the practice with infants and toddlers.

Supporting Communication for Preschoolers

You have amazing opportunities to spark language and conversations in your interactions with preschool children. There are countless times throughout the day for you to encourage children to talk, read, and write.

The first step in creating natural opportunities for communication is getting to know the children in your program and how they communicate and use language. You should use this information to make decisions about experiences you want to provide or strategies you want to use. Think about the daily routines and experiences or activities taking place in your program: what opportunities for communication are natural in those routines? For example, during snack time, you can ask children questions about their favorite snacks, ask what they like to eat at home, or engage them in conversations about colors, textures, or tastes of different snacks. You may also provide them with choices of food items, or arrange the environment in ways that promote children’s communication. You can, for example, provide children with smaller portions of snack items to create opportunities for them to use language to ask for more if they want more. You may also purposefully place some food items out of their reach so they can ask you, or peers for them.

With careful planning, you can adapt and embed communication strategies into multiple experiences and routines in your family child care. As children in your program learn new skills, you will continuously assess their progress and adapt your strategies to promote their development.

Supporting Communication for School-Age Children

The physical environment of your family child care plays an important role in all aspects of your program. There are many factors in the physical environment that allow for and promote communication skills in school-age children. The environment is made up not only of physical materials, but also a healthy and supportive atmosphere. The combination of the physical space and the feeling of belonging that children receive from their learning environment helps school-age children continue to develop their communication skills.

The physical environment can help promote communication in a variety of ways. Some examples:

• The layout of tables, chairs, and seating areas can help facilitate conversation.
• A library or quiet area with comfortable seating can encourage literacy and reading.
• Areas with a variety of writing materials available can promote writing skills and language development.
• Dramatic play areas can help spark conversations and imaginative play.
• Word walls, labels, and descriptions can help develop reading, writing, and vocabulary skills.

Creating a healthy and supportive atmosphere for the learning environment can help to promote communication in a variety of ways. Some suggestions:

• Create an environment that is supportive and safe for children to express their feelings and thoughts.
• Have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, name calling, teasing, or any other behavior that could make a child feel unwelcome.
• Be a model for communication by displaying good communication and conversation skills: speak clearly, be respectful, make eye contact, and use positive body language at all times.
• Be clear with expectations by communicating them both orally and in writing. For example, you may want to post a graphic on the wall that illustrates "we listen to each other" with words accompanying a picture of ears (preferably with a range of skin tones to accent the richness of human diversity.)

Providing a Language- and Communication-Rich Environment

Consider the following components of language- and communication-rich environments.

Supporting Communication for All Children

Some children in your care may have conditions that affect their language and communication development, including developmental delays, autism, neurological and perceptual disorders, or vision, hearing, speech, or language impairments. Children with individualized family service plans or individualized education plans have a specific plan to help them meet their personal goals, and very often these children will need changes or adaptations to daily routines, their care environment, and curriculum.

Use different ways to communicate information with children. For example, visuals like picture schedules or photos showing steps of hand washing provide children with a sense of predictability, and they provide opportunities for interactions with print.

Other children may need different supports. For children with hearing impairments, you may have to adjust the speed or sound of your voice, speaking more clearly or at a slower pace. You may also have to check more often to see if children understood what you said. Children with visual impairments may use Braille, large print, or oversized picture books. Other children may require the use of assistive technology. This may include communication devices that enable them to explore their surroundings and interact with others.

Keep in mind that children who have difficulties communicating do not necessarily have disabilities or special learning needs. You may need to make accommodations or modifications depending on children’s skills and experiences and what is developmentally appropriate.

As you have been reading throughout this course, it is critical that you get to know the children in your program to be able to support their successful participation in your program experiences. Make sure all children and families feel welcome and involved. The Kids Included Together (KIT) program can be a valuable resource for ideas. You can also consider CARA’s Kit: Creating Adaptations for Routines and Activities. These resources from the Council for Exceptional Children Division for Early Childhood provide practical, real-world ways to help children succeed in their environments. See the References & Resources list (below) for information about these materials.

In addition, consider the following approaches to support and foster communication and language development in all children:

• Provide a sensory-rich environment filled with verbal interactions, singing, books and simple pictures on the wall
• Explore with children and talk about what you’re seeing and doing together—for example, look out a window and highlight what you see, play with water together in tubs or the sand and water table, look in a mirror together
• Take children outdoors for nature walks—talk about where you are going, what you are seeing and hearing; name objects along the way
• Take time to learn about and respect families’ understanding of and beliefs around communication and language
• Demonstrate an interest in and curiosity about the environment

Developing Language through Media Literacy

The use of digital technology and non-screen media is quickly becoming an important tool with which we form our personal identities, build relationships, and express our values. Like traditional forms of literacy, media literacy helps children develop new skills and attitudes, expand their creative thinking, and become effective communicators in today’s world. Consider the following actions to promote media literacy skills, knowledge, and habits in children and youth and the experience examples for each age group (Rogow, 2022):

See

Do

Responsive and engaging environments are characterized by intentional and frequent use of developmentally appropriate interactions and experiences, including opportunities for spoken and written language. In your daily interactions with children, consider the following:

• Create a visual schedule that highlights your specific daily routines. The routines can be shown through pictures and simple words and displayed at their eye level. You can refer to the picture schedule frequently throughout the day and point to and say the various routine pictures.
• Be responsive to communication attempts and build and extend on what children are saying.
• Follow children’s cues, ideas, and preferences.
• Include new words during your conversations with children.
• Create opportunities for small groups of children to be near each other or to play together. Encourage them to notice one another during activities by saying, for example, “Carol has the horses and they’re eating food. I think these horses feel very hungry!”
• Embed language games, songs, and rhymes into daily routines.
• Ask children questions about their feelings, actions, interests, or life happenings.
• Read to children frequently. When selecting books and other printed materials, make sure they represent a variety of cultures, languages, abilities, family structures, and life experiences. Children are more likely to engage in conversations when they see themselves and their families in these materials.
• Offer children opportunities to practice language and literacy skills in the different interest areas. Books, magazines, maps, or other printed materials should be available in every interest area. Consider, for example, providing maps, books or magazines in the block area for children to use while building or constructing or in the dramatic play area for children to engage in imaginative play.
• Model good communication skills. Take the time to reflect on how and why you communicate, especially within the learning environment.
• Encourage a love for language as often as possible. Create an environment that is rich in language and literacy.
• Remember to give children turns to communicate. Oftentimes, adults talk and talk and forget to give children opportunities. It may be hard to stop and wait for children to respond, but doing so promotes communication and conversation skills.