First Sounds by Linda Sonna, Ph.D. The first discernable sounds embedded in English-speaking youngster's gibberish are b, p, m, t, d, n, h, k, g. Although parents celebrate the arrival of the word they've been longing to hear — “Mama” or “Dada” — they usually first occur by acci ...

Speaking Parentese by Linda Sonna, Ph.D. Highly educated parents often pride themselves on not using baby talk with their little ones, believing that they can speed language development by using normal adult speech. It turns out, however, that the high-pitched singsong voice adults ...

From the Mouths of Babes by Linda Sonna, Ph.D. It's never too soon to begin conducting language lessons — within the context of daily interactions, that is. By understanding the fine points of human communication, parents can provide a rich learning environment and better verbal st ...

The Language Ladder by Linda Sonna, Ph.D. It doesn't work to apply the averages to individual toddlers, of course, because the age at which a child begins talking is governed by physical maturation. Typically, however, the language progression is: Cooing Gurgling Babbl ...

First Sentences by Linda Sonna, Ph.D. After accumulating a store of individual words, the next developmental step is to combine them into sentences. At first toddlers use two words to create short sentences, such as “Want juice!” for “I want some juice” and “What dat?” for “What ...

8 Toddler Learning Activities Try these inventive ways to teach ABCs, 123s, and other basics. By Jeannette Moningerfrom Parents Magazine 845 113 ...

Learning Letters: Alphabet Coloring Pages and Flash Cards We've rounded up a few alphabet activities that will help your little one learn the ABCs in no time. 39 8 ...

Get Your Toddler Talking Fun, simple ways to help bring out your toddler's budding language skills. By Kathleen M. Reilly; Photo by Alexandra Grablewskifrom Parents Magazine 253 208 ...

Speech Development in Toddlers Three noted speech experts answer your questions about how toddlers development speech skills. By Natalie Walker Whitlockfrom Parents Magazine 24 115 ...

Toddler's Two-Word Sentences A speech decoder for those baffling phrases By Kimberly Tranell Suddenly your toddler is speaking in two-word "sentences," though you ...