Strategies for Supporting Language Development at Home
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that language development between the ages of 3 and 6 is biologically driven, unfolding according to internal developmental laws when children are placed in a supportive and language-rich environment.
Homeschooling parents can powerfully support this natural growth by focusing on 3 strategies:
Creating a language-rich environment
Modeling
Maintaining meaningful interactions
What's great is that all three of these strategies work together and build off one another. By working on one, you are building the others at the same time!
Creating a Language Rich Environment involves turning your homeschool into an intentional space that provides meaningful exposure to language for your child. This doesn't require stocking up on thousands of dollars of Montessori materials either. It can be as simple as:
Stocking a little library in a bedroom or living room so that your child can have easy access to books of all sorts.
Playful exposure to language with games, puzzles, magnets, and many different kinds of writing tools!
Naming your world by labeling real objects around the house, and naming everyday actions, emotions, and experiences for your child.
Keep curious objects that can help encourage exploration and spark conversation.
Modeling involves you being an active guide for your child's language learning. You can do this by:
Speaking clearly and respectfully, taking care to avoid cutesy baby talk and instead using correct names, pronunciation and grammar when speaking.
Reading aloud daily. Books are an excellent way to expose your child to rich vocabulary, expressive storytelling, and model emotions.
Narrating your everyday. When your child is joining you in the kitchen for example, instead of moving quietly, talk through the movement so your child can hear each step of what you are doing while you are doing it. "We're going to bake banana muffins, so first we will need to find a bowl and grab our bananas." You can do the same for any activity: at bathtime, while cleaning the house, while working in the yard, or getting ready for the masjid!
Maintaining meaningful interactions is important for language development. It's about being respectul and fostering real connections. To help you, try:
Limiting passive screen time. While online games and apps can help teach basics, face-to face interactions are most valuable for absorbing language within the context of human emotion and social dynamics.
Having deep conversations. Don't just tell your children what to do, get into their world. Ask questions, explore their fantasy ideas, listen actively, and keep talking with them.
Speaking with good character so your child can feel respected and learn to give respect in return. Make eye contact, get down on their level, engage their interests, and truly connect to help your child thrive, inshaAllah.
Challenging them as they grow. Your child's needs are ever changing and developmentally they will want to absorb and learn more as they age. Start off simply and introduce more complexity and structure over time as you see your child is ready for it.