Watch now: Supporting children’s early speech & language development

In this webinar recording Speech & Language Therapist and Early Years Trainer, Roz Coe, takes you through the basics of how communication develops in babies and young children and how you can support emerging speech & language with songs, rhymes and stories. This webinar is for anyone working with early years children and their families.

This webinar was recorded on 2 June 2021.

Supporting information

Picture books mentioned in the training:

• Off to the Park by Stephen Cheetham (Child’s Play)
• Off to the Beach by Cocoretto (Child’s Play)
• Getting Ready by Cocoretto (Child’s Play)
• Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt (Penguin Random House Children's UK)
• My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson (Penguin Random House Children's UK)
• You Choose by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart (Penguin Random House Children's UK)
• Journey by Aaron Beckers (Candlewick Press, Walker Books)
• Wave by Suzy Lee (Chronicle Books)
• Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (MacMillan)

Useful resources on the Scottish Book Trust website:

• Watch a short film of Dr Barabora Skarabela from the University of Edinburgh as she explains the benefits of baby-talk words in early language learning.
• If you’re an early years practitioner working with 3 year-olds, take a look at the symbol resources for each of the Explorer books created by CALL Scotland - 2021 books & 2020 books.
• Find out more about the free tactile books which are available for children with additional support needs and ask your local Bookbug Co-ordinator for copies.
• Explore our online Song and Rhyme library and find out more about the free Bookbug app.
• Check out our book lists, including this one on wordless picture books.

Useful websites

• ICAN – children’s communication charity(this will open in a new window).
• Let's Talk: NHS Lothian Speech and Language Therapy - Early Years(this will open in a new window).
• The Hanen Centre(this will open in a new window) is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to promote children’s language, social and literacy skills.
• CALL Scotland(this will open in a new window) help children and young people across Scotland to overcome disability and barriers to learning created by their environment.
• The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists(this will open in a new window).
• British Stammering Association(this will open in a new window).
• The British Voice Association(this will open in a new window).

Journal article

If you’d like to explore some of the topics discussed in more detail, the following article may be of interest:

Mitsuhiko, O., Davies-Jenkins, N., Skarabela, B. (2018) ‘Why Choo‐Choo Is Better Than Train: The Role of Register‐Specific Words in Early Vocabulary Growth(this will open in a new window)’. Cognitive Science Vol 42 Issue 6.