Our monthly updates provide information and resources for early years practitioners to support communication, language and literacy developments.

April 2025

This month our Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

“Smile and comment, rather than asking lots of questions when your child talks. This will encourage them to talk more”

Asking too many questions put’s pressure on the child to speak and they may not understand these questions or have the language to answer. Whereas making comments shows a child you are interested in what they are doing, which boosts their self-esteem and allows them to hear and learn more words.

Remember the Hand Rule - for every question you ask make at least four comments, expansions, explanations, repetitions.

Early Years Newsletter – Summer 2025 Children & Young People’s Speech & Language Therapy.

The Children and Young People’s Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) team is excited to launch their first termly Early Years newsletter! This terms newsletter includes information about:

• The Early Years Communication Champion Programme
• Access to free high quality training directly through the SLT team
• When and how to access the SLT services through Ready STEADI Chat
• And much more!

Words for Life

The April edition of the Words for Life News Letter has a range of spring and Easter themed activities to help promote children’s communication, language and literacy:

• Walk and talk trail
• The rain game
• Easter rocky road recipe
• Planting and gardening with children
• Easter-themed book list

Sign up to the Words for Life newsletter for more activities, helpful tips and interactive videos straight to your inbox.

March 2025

This month our Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

“Help your child to learn new words by describing what your child is doing as they play”

Researchers from the ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD) have written some interesting articles for Nursery World, one of which is all about ‘Contingent Talk’. This style of talking that seems to be particularly important in the nine- to 18-month period. This involves tuning into what a baby is interested in and then talking with them about it. Danielle Matthews, Michelle McGillion and Julian Pine explain more.

February 2025

This month our Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

Notice what your child is interested in and follow their lead when playing. Your child will want to talk for longer about something that interests them.

January 2025

This month our Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

“Have some screen free time each day – turn off the TV, phone and computer and talk with your child. This will give your child time to learn new words”

Currently the World Health Organization recommends no screen time for babies under 2 and no more than one hour of screen time a day for those aged 2 to 4.

The negative effects of too much screen time for babies and toddlers range from shorter attention span to lower empathy, which ultimately can lead to difficulties with communication and language skills.

In this article Babies Need Humans Not Screens, Carlota Nelson, director of the documentary Brain Matters, explores why too much screen time can harm babies and the importance of ensuring children enjoy off-screen experiences.

The National Literacy Trust

Take a look at the latest newsletter from the National Literacy Trust. This is full of great ideas to share with parents, including Internation Language Mother’s Day activities and downloadable free resources translated into 19 languages.