Communication and Language

Why is Communication and Language so important?

Communication and Language is an EYFS Prime Area which means that it's one of the important building blocks for all other areas. If it's not developed early, it's difficult to achieve later. Did you know that 90% of your child's brain has developed by the time they are 5 years old? 

Children's speech develops from babble, to words, to simple sentences through hundreds of hours of interactions with adults. 

By age 1, children recognise about 50 words.

By age 3, children recognise about 1,000 words.

By age 5, children recognise about 10,000 words

There are some fantastic resources online to help you support your child with their language development:

There are also some useful documents to download at the bottom of this page, including a fun 'Walk and Talk' activity that you could complete with your child. 

Do you speak a different language at home? Amazing! Research tells us that maintaining at least 2 languages is actually an advantage for later academic achievement.

It's a common myth that you should only speak to children in the language that they will be taught in at school.

It is important that you speak to your child in the dominant home language. Here some useful links for our bilingual families:

https://literacytrust.org.uk/early-years/bilingual-quick-tips/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/bilingual

If you have any questions or any concerns about your child's communication and language development, please do not hestiate to speak to our School Language Lead, Mrs Stamp.

Files to Download