As part of the Language for Life campaign, a new series of booklets have been developed providing information about what communication skills parents should expect of their young children at what age.
Learning to talk is one of the most important skills children will develop; it helps them to communicate with the people around them, make friends and succeed at school. Much of this language learning takes place before they start school, in the early years.
The new booklets will give parents guidance on this learning and contains top tips about how they can support their children's talking at home.
They contain information around how many words a child should understand at what age, and give goals to work towards, such as "I can say little sentences using 2-3 words" and "my words are not always clear, but people understand me about half of the time" for two year olds.
Zara Betts, the States' Specialist Early Years Advisory Speech and Language Therapist, said:
"When children start school with good communication skills, they are able to talk with their friends, share their thoughts and ideas and understand what is being asked of them. This allows them to develop into happy and confident individuals. However, across the UK and the Bailiwick more and more children are starting school without these skills.
"Language for Life is a campaign we've developed to offer advice and support to parents and carers to help children reach their full potential. Learning to talk and communicate can start as early as in the womb. Language for Life aims to inform parents, carers and professionals who support children aged 0-5 about key communication milestones and how we can support language development."
The booklets are all available on the States Early Years Team webpage Language for Life - States of Guernsey (gov.gg) Language for Life - States of Guernsey (gov.gg) under the Learning to Talk - What to Expect tab.
