Almost 80 percent of future first graders have speech problems. This was shown by the results of testing for starting school. An epidemic has been declared among speech therapists.
What are the most common problems, how can parents help their children be better prepared for school, and what should they pay attention to?
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of children who are delayed in speech-language and intellectual development with socio-emotional problems.
Regarding speech problems, a speech therapists says that it is already too late to correct some sounds when a child starts school.
Parents should notice deviations in their child's speech and language development in a timely manner, whether it is articulation of sounds or a deeper language disorder, and seek help from a speech therapists.
Irregularities range from the absence of a sound to its substitution with another sound that comes before the missing one in the developmental sequence.
Parents can help a lot, but they can also hinder. It also happens that parents mispronounce sounds and children imitate them. Parents should always address their child correctly, with clear and distinct speech, and should not use baby talk or be overly affectionate - explains the speech therapists.
A big problem is that young children do not have a sufficient vocabulary.
It is necessary to work with children to enrich their vocabulary, mostly through reading. However, if a child is not interested in that, there are other ways.
Drawing attention to objects in the environment, phenomena, spending time outdoors in nature, socializing, attending events, exhibitions... Learning songs is also a good way for a child to spontaneously memorize words while playing.
The more conversation, the more socializing and interaction.