I also do not know if this is true. It seems safe to presume
that it is at least a mild benefit because it is cheap and easy to do.
If it were more costly in terms of child aide resourcing, then we'd have to look a lot closer at
whether we should divert resources to speak-to-the-child programs.
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Some schooling like Steiner education actively de-emphasises speaking to your children until 6+.
Steiner teachers would not answer a child with the factual answer, but instead posing another question.
Child: "Mum, why do planes fly in the sky?"
Steiner Parent: "I Wonder?"
The Steiner thinking is that by posing another question you don't 'crimp' the childs' creativity. This is strictly age related and once the child is a bit older the conversation becomes more mainstream.
The original article also advocates facilitating the child to respond in detail, not simply monologues by a parent. I wouldn't call it de-emphasising speaking; the article describes pretty much the same actions as you do, but labels it 'emphasising', not 'de-emphasising'.
Sure, you need to hold your tongue often to provoke more dialogue (not finish the kids sentences instead of him/her, etc); but in the end it still means much more talking than the 'default' amount.
that seems to jive well with the article about not talking to your kid in directives:
"In low-income households, parents commonly speak to their children in simple commands, and participant Aneisha Newell said the week on directives was particularly significant to her. “Instead of saying, ‘go put on your shoes,’ I can say, ‘All right, it’s time to go. What else do you need? … That gives my child the chance to respond, and say, ‘shoes,’ ” said Newell, 25, who has a 4-year-old daughter and a 10-month-old son and works for a company providing recess supervision and after-school activities in Chicago Public Schools.
Newell said many of her friends and relatives think she’s crazy for talking to her daughter as if she’s an adult. “I can quote this: ‘Neisha, no one wants to sit and talk to the kids like they understand’ That’s basically the response I get."
(I hate that such a thought provoking article couldn't get a better discussion than a college freshman debate over nature v nurture)
in my experience that's one of the best take aways from the articles,
I find even really educated parents tend to give alot of commands to their kids, I would recommend mixing that up
my daughter just entered the 'why' stage,
the other day, I flipped it around and for 10 or so minutes, even thing she would ask say, I would ask her 'why?'
it was really facinating
I think it ended with:
"because I am a big girl"
"why"
"because I pee on the potty"
"ha ha, yeah I guess so"
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second thought
I've often heard that learning a second language forces you to relearn the basics of the english language
similarly, I think that putting thought in how to comminicate with little kids forces you how to relearn communication skills with all people
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Some schooling like Steiner education actively de-emphasises speaking to your children until 6+.
Steiner teachers would not answer a child with the factual answer, but instead posing another question.
The Steiner thinking is that by posing another question you don't 'crimp' the childs' creativity. This is strictly age related and once the child is a bit older the conversation becomes more mainstream.