A child needs to accomplish a lot during their preschool years in order to achieve a full communication ability, vocabulary and then be able to move onto broader academics and psychosocial competence.
In this time they need to master: speaking and language, how and when to use it and then later on move onto learning to read and then reading to learn.
Developing good speech/language and communication skills support positive self-esteem and confidence, develops resilience and helps a child learn to read and maximise their personal and life chances. These skills are also used and help foster decision-making skills, positive scholastic engagement, independence and positive relationships. When a child’s speech and language bases are weak or underdeveloped, this puts a child at risk for low self-esteem, bullying, poor grades and can experience higher rates of behavioural difficulties. Good speech and language skills allow a child to ensure their needs are met, both socially and emotionally, it allows them to share and describe their feelings and perceptions and ensures good interpersonal relationships in their lives. All these skills are essential for successful transition in the work place and enables access to a range of life opportunities. Vocabulary at age five has been found to be the best predictor (from a range of measures at ages five and ten) of whether children who experienced social deprivation in childhood were able to ‘buck the trend’ and escape poverty in later adult life. Spending time with your child, reading to your child and sharing everyday routines with them is a small but very effective way in which to help develop speech and language skills.
Tomblin, B (2010). Literacy as an Outcome of Language Development and Its Impact on Children’s Psychosocial and Emotional Development. USA; Iowa.
