Helping Children To Speak Clearly And Confidently

As I know only too well, being a shy child is not fun. As parents we don`t hesitate to teach our children to count - we`re always asking 'how many?' - and most of us can`t resist trying to teach our children to read before they start school but how many of us teach our children to speak? We assume that they`ll pick it up just by listening to us however some children need a little help along the way. A lot of parents worry that their children are not very confident when they speak. Some children who appear to be shy children are just lazy and soon discover that they can manage quite easily by pointing to things. Other children are simply shy - I say simply, but as a very shy child myself I know how difficult that can be. When I was about ten, my school had a parents evening - you know the type of thing -the parents go along and chat to the teachers to find out how their children are getting on. I remember my teacher well - he was young and not very chatty (at least not with ten year olds). During the course of the conversation with my mum, he told her that I seemed happy enough but that he couldn`t remember speaking to me during the year! My mum was furious. I was an incredibly shy girl and if he didn`t speak to me I certainly wasn`t going to go out of my way to speak to him. As a result of this I was taken to elocution lessons - my mum had gone as a young girl. I thoroughly enjoyed these lessons and took - and passed - various exams in speech and drama and bible reading and took part every year in the Bournemouth Festival. These lessons gave me confidence but didn`t change the way I sound - I still have a Dorset accent and I believe we shouldn`t all sound the same. You shouldn`t be able to pick out people who`ve had elocution lessons because you think they sound `artificial`. I am now an elocution teacher myself and part of my work involves helping parents encourage their children to speak clearly. Parents can do their part to encourage their child to talk but should never force it. The more fuss you make, the less likely they are to speak.

By spending just a few minutes each day encouraging your child to speak you will help them: . Speak in sentences . Improve their memory . Increase their vocabulary

There are various ways of helping your child depending on the age of your child but by far one of the most important, at any age, is reading aloud. Early Development. 3 - 5 years 1. One of the simplest ways is to find a photograph or find a picture in a magazine. Sit down with your child and ask questions about the photo but in a conversational way. The type of question will depend on the age of the child but for a very young child it can be as simple as, `what colour ears does that dog have?` When they answer, `brown`, repeat the answer in a sentence. `Yes, the dog has brown ears`. Then ask 'how many legs does the dog have?' The child should answer 'four', again repeat the answer by saying, 'Yes the dog has four legs and brown ears'. Encourage the child to use full sentences but don`t inhibit their enthusiasm.

2. When you're out with your child ask questions like, 'what colour is that car?' They'll probably answer with a single word, 'red'. You then repeat the answer in a sentence and perhaps ask another question, 'yes, it's a red car, do you like the colour red?' When they answer 'yes' or 'no' ask them why they like it or don't like it.

3. Once your child is old enough to understand nursery rhymes encourage them to retell the story. 'What happened to Humpty Dumpty?' is a good starting point. All of these activities will encourage children to speak in sentences and remember if they hear you speaking in sentences they will copy you.

Intermediary level approx 6 - 8 years. By this age children should be much more confident in their speaking skills.

1 Again use photographs or pictures from magazines but this time ask them to describe what is happening in the picture or what do they think has just happened or is about to happen. As before repeat the answer in a sentence if the child is just giving you lists. For example - 'What do you think the lady has just been doing?' The child may answer 'shopping' so you would need to repeat it as 'yes, the lady has just been shopping'. You might then ask what the child thinks the lady has been buying. You can pick pictures out of magazines that reflect the child's interests, cricket, films, fashion etc.

2. Ask your child to describe where they live.

Here is an example: 'I live in Primrose Way. We have a bus into the main town. About a two minute walk away is a supermarket, a small library, the village hall and a playground. This village has 2 first schools and a middle school, a medical centre, a petrol station, a vet, four churches, two post offices, hairdressers, a fish and chip shop and lots of open spaces. Most of the houses and bungalows have nice gardens and although we live in the country we can get to Bournemouth in about 40 mins.' The first time your child tries this they may just give a list of amenities, however with your help they should be able to include: Descri ption of area, Distance from town, country, from the sea or river etc. How to travel to other places Local shops, parks, schools, churches The type of people who live in the area, young, old, families.

Advanced level - approx 9 - 12 years Children should now be able to speak confidently in sentences and this is now a good age to introduce them to the basic rules of articulation. The first example below can be used by a group of friends rather than parent and child and my two daughters (aged 22 and 25) still play it when waiting in queues etc. they use film titles or singers.

1. This game will help everyone's articulation. Ask your child to say any word that comes into their head. Imagine the word is 'entertainment'. Now you, or a brother, sister or friend have to say a word that begins with the last letter of that word - 'Table'. Now the next -'Elephant'. If the same letter comes up (and e is very popular) the child has to say a word that hasn't been said. The words have to be said very clearly so that the person listening can understand what is being said. You could play the game where every answer has to be a person's name, or a place or an animal. The game could be played in teams as a competition so the children would try very hard to pick words with difficult final letters. To get your child interested in articulation you could ask them the reasons why some people may not be able to understand some of the words. Perhaps the ends of the words aren't being said clearly, or the words are too quiet, or too quick.

2. This activity can also be carried out by friends as well as parents and children. The child is going to talk an object. This could be anything such as a toy teddy, favourite trainers, magazine etc. Ask the child to talk about their object with no preparation for 1 minute! Most people run out of things to say after 30 seconds. Tell them not to worry - you can stop them when they run out of ideas or help them with the talk. Explain the need to pause between each thought - the slower they speak the less they'll have to say. If children find this difficult help them by suggesting they start with: What the object is Where they got it from How long they've had it Why they like it Does it have a purpose? Where they keep it All they need is to talk for 10 seconds on each point

Once children reach their teens they seem to communicate only by texting or emailing - speaking is very low on the list. As a consequence of this many employers complain that although their new employees are academically qualified they lack basic communication skills. Children who were taught to communicate at an early age will easily revert to clear confident speech when they have to. Elocution contests are a great way for children to gain experience in speaking aloud. You can help your child by making sure they can be heard. There is no point having a beautifully expressive voice if no one can hear it. Encourage your child to open their mouths so that the sound can get out, this seems obvious but a surprising amount of people try to speak with their mouths virtually closed. Every time the child says an 'I' sound, pronounced 'eye', as in high, light, sky, they should open their mouths wide enough to put three fingers in their mouth vertically. The same can be said of 'ar' sounds as in car, farm etc. Next, they mustn't speak too quickly, the audience and judges need time to take in what has been said. It goes without saying that all the 't' and 'd' sounds at the ends of words must be heard and this requires a quick and agile tongue. A good exercise for this is to repeat the sentence 'the cat hid in my hat' making sure that every 't' and 'd' is heard. The 'th' sound is another that children have problems with and I teach children that it is the only time that they are allowed to stick their tongue out between their teeth. A good exercise is 'this is my finger, this is my thumb' and everytime a 'th' sound is said they should be able to look in a mirror and see the tip of their tongue. Once the speaking is clear and can be heard it has to become expressive and interesting and an easy way to do this is to pick out the important words and make them stand out. There are various ways of doing this which include altering the pace, pausing before or after the important word, putting extra stress on the word and using facial expression. If your child can learn to enjoy reading aloud and speaking in public they will certainly find life a lot less stressful as they progress through the years.