LANGUAGE MILESTONES ⬇️

By age 2, typically children are using between 50 and 300 words. This is around the time we expect that they'll start COMBINING words to make short phrases, e.g. "Bye Mummy".
By age 3, we expect that they'll be COMBINING 3 or more words.

🌟REMEMBER🌟 that there's so much more to communication than just spoken words, so search 'milestones' in the Zazi Hub at zazi.co.nz to learn more about where your child sits.

👏The BEST way to help children to start to combine words is to IMITATE them and ADD A WORD when they talk to us.

🫠Often, adults MISS this teaching opportunity by agreeing with or praising their child. E.g.
Child: "dog"
Adult: "yes! Dog! Good boy!"
😓This means the child doesn't get to hear what They COULD say when they're ready.

🤌INSTEAD, imitate them and add a word whilst making the TONE of your voice sound like you're agreeing. E.g.
Child: "dog", Adult: "biiig dog!"

Child: "bye", Adult: "bye daddy!"

Child: "help" Adult: "help me!"

Child: "car" Adult: "fast car"

🙂You're essentially talking as if YOU ARE THEM. Then you can take a turn and continue with the conversation.

👏👏If you and your child's other caregivers do this consistently, you'll see a shift in your child's ability to combine words.

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