As a rule, a child should be able to pronounce 10 to 15 words in one year, 50-75 words in one and a half years. It is at this time that parents notice the difference. According to numerous studies, the number of words in girls at this age is 60-70 words, while in boys, 30-40 words. But if there are even fewer of them, this is a cause for concern.
The development of speech in children is influenced by many reasons. But even under the same conditions of upbringing, parents note that most often boys begin to speak later than girls. I will explain what this may be related to.»
The right and left hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum (a cluster of nerve fibers). So boys have it quite thin, so the connection between them is weak. It is difficult for the stronger sex to put together information from different hemispheres. In girls, on the contrary, the corpus callosum is thicker, so the conduction of impulses and the connection between the two halves is better.
Boys have better developed frontal parts of the brain, which are responsible for planning actions, behavior, and emotional coloring of actions. It’s hard for them to do monotonous work, so it’s not worth loading the child with complex monotonous activities, it’s better to divide them into small parts and make them more exciting. It is easier for girls to do several things at once, boys can concentrate only on one action.
The main center of speech, which is located in the left hemisphere, matures faster in girls.
The weaker gender has a more developed ability to articulate and imitate, they copy their parents better, their style of speech.
It is easier for girls to understand emotional speech with different intonations in the voice, speech filled with adjectives. As for boys, they need simple constructions with clear content. It is necessary to state the idea briefly and to the point, without unnecessary information. We, parents, often strive to explain in great detail what needs to be done and what should not be done.
Children perceive information in different ways. Boys need to understand why to perform any action. It is important to show them by example what is worth and what is not worth doing. It is enough for girls to tell what is required of them.
The boys’ brains are more focused on spatial correlation, their thinking is non-standard. They show high results in speed and accuracy tests — the brain allows you to quickly complete tasks. In conversation, they try to convey the essence. Verbal intelligence prevails in girls — the ability to put letters into words, and words into sentences, their thinking is the same. The moment of contact is important to them, the topic of conversation does not matter as much as the communication itself. Therefore, they are successful in communication-related activities
And these factors can slow down the development of speech regardless of the child’s gender.
Unfavorable course of pregnancy or childbirth. The threat of interruption, hypoxia, anemia, infections affect the formation of the brain. The smaller the fruit, the greater the consequences.
Insufficient communication. The child needs the active participation of parents in his life. They are the ones who emotionally reinforce the importance of this skill — to speak beautifully and competently.
An uncomfortable situation in the family, in which the child closes in on himself. Endless conflicts, despotism, prohibitions on self-expression inhibit the development of the baby.
Pedagogical neglect. Children from disadvantaged families, where they did not receive proper care and attention, as a rule, it is difficult to compare with the same-year-olds who grew up in comfortable conditions.
Overprotection and indulgence of the child’s whims. If the child sees that the parents do absolutely everything he wants, if he blinks or points a finger, then the need for verbal expression of the request fades into the background.
Heredity. Often children follow the same path of development as mom and dad. So, adults, if you don’t know, you should ask your grandmothers what time you started talking.
Severe illnesses. During a long stay in the hospital, all the child’s organs are maximally tuned to survival and maintaining adequate life support, but not to speech development.
How to understand that there is something wrong with the baby’s speech?
Babbel comes to replace the buzz, then the first words, phrases, simple sentences appear — first from one word, then from two or more. It is necessary to talk to the baby from birth. As you grow up, connect reading fairy tales, nature stories with colorful descriptions, do not be lazy to explain in detail what the objects that surround the baby are for.
The next stage is learning poems (gives rhythm to speech), modeling from plasticine, designing, drawing with pencils. At the age of 4, it is important to teach a child to draw without going beyond the boundaries of the lines. And the more small details in the drawing, the better. Fine motor skills are directly related to the nervous system, so any games with fingers activate the speech center in the cerebral cortex.
Communication with peers is of great importance for preschool children, especially during the game. But not virtual, but real! A child should not be tied to a tablet around the clock (by the way, when watching cartoons, the brain «falls asleep»), because without emotional dialogues, discussions, disputes with friends, his vocabulary will be poor and inexpressive.
Problems can arise at any age. When it is no longer possible to delay, but you need to go to the doctor urgently?
If a child does not pronounce simple words in a year and does not react to the speech of an adult.
If the vocabulary does not increase by 1.5 years.
If at 2 years old the baby does not say the phrases: «mom, give me», «I want to drink».
If at the age of 3 he uses only those words that he has heard on TV, in a song or cartoon, repeats memorized phrases, does not respond to his name, does not understand the addressed speech, does not fulfill requests.
