Parents tell us why ‘chatter matters’ to child development
‘time to talk’™ Speech and Language Therapists from South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) have worked with Warwickshire parents to produce a series of short videos aimed at explaining how chatter matters™ courses can aid child language development.
The video clips are hosted on SWFT’s website and can be found at:
www.swft.nhs.uk/our-services/children-and-young-pe...
Made possible thanks to funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Smart Start programme, the six videos are centred on the strategies that parents can use to improve their child’s communication skills: face to face, repetition, slowing down, keep it simple and use gestures, join in and talk to your child. Parents talk about their experiences and share what worked for them meaning the videos are by parents, for parents.
The brief clips are being released in the run up to, during, and beyond chatter matters week which takes place between 6-10 March 2017. The event brings together parents, early years settings, children’s centres and health professionals to highlight the importance of early interactions between children and parents. The week is held annually and this year’s theme is #SingaSongofSharing. This is because activities like singing, sharing books and playing with children helps them develop as strong communicators.
Melanie Packer, Lead Speech and Language Therapist for ‘time to talk’™ said: “Unfortunately, we know that many young children are not developing the speech, language and communication skills that they are capable of achieving and the consequences a can be life-long. It has recently been identified that 45% of young people referred for mental health services have communication difficulties so developing these skills from an early age can have a lasting positive impact on health and wellbeing.”
Singing is a great way for parents and carers to communicate with babies and young children. There is a growing field of research that suggests that early exposure to, and knowledge of songs, rhymes and rhythm support early language learning and early reading and writing. ‘chatter matters’™ week aims to raise awareness of the importance of supporting early interactions from the moment children are born.
If you would like to attend a group near you please contact Melanie Packer on 07909 000436, or contact your local Children’s Centre.
As part of the Smart Start Programme, the ‘time to talk’™ team are supporting a network of volunteers, as well as piloting ‘Being Bilingual’, a bilingual ‘chatter matters’™ group in the Leamington & Rugby area. To get involved, contact Melanie Packer on 07909 000436.
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