Ways to Encourage Communication and Language
Communication and Language is one of the key areas of the EYFS framework so finding ways in which to encourage children’s understanding of this area is vitally important to their success in school as well as their future adulthood. As spoken language serves as the basis of all other areas of learning and development it is arguably the most significant aspect of children’s early education, allowing them to excel in all other areas of the EYFS framework. Developing children’s spoken language early on is also important as it becomes increasingly more difficult to learn the older they get, meaning the more children interact with adults and their peers early on, the better they will develop cognitively.
There are numerous ways to encourage communication and language in an early years setting, the common factor being interactions between adults and other children. Some of the best ways to encourage communication and language include commenting on and questioning children’s activities, storytelling, and roleplaying games with their peers.
How our products can help you
Here at Kit for Kids we develop our products specifically with children and educators in mind and have a wide selection of resources created specifically to aid in encouraging communication and language in early years settings. Our products are designed to appeal to children while offering educators a broad range of valuable resources for each area of the EYFS framework.
Communication and language is often broken down into three sub-sections: listening and attention, understanding, and speaking. Our range of products help enable educators to teach each of the three sub-sections separately, as well as alongside other areas of the EYFS framework to further strengthen children’s overall education.
Listening and Attention
Encouraging children’s listening and attention is the first step to encouraging communication and language as a whole. In order for children to do well in their school careers and future adult life they must learn active listening in order to become engaged learners.
Our diverse range of placement carpets such as our Rainbow™ range and new Essentials™ range are a valuable resource in focusing children’s attention, helping to create a ready-to-learn mind-set which aids in the active listening process. Placement carpets are fantastic for group work, whether that be small groups of 16 or a full class of 30, they help to organise and focus children’s attention on the educator, setting them up for their later primary and secondary school life as they begin to learn the importance of listening and paying attention to the educator when they are speaking.
Understanding
As children listen and pay attention to the sounds and words around them their understanding of language will develop alongside their communication. Encouraging children to ask questions and engage in discussions deepens their understanding of communication and language as they develop a better grasp of the words, phrases and tenses which make up the English language.
Interactive resources such as our Emotions™ range of carpets and Interactive Carpet Tiles such as our Storytime Interactive Tiles (for use indoors & outdoors) are great tools for educators to utilise to draw out conversations from children and encourage their inquisitive nature. By enabling children to interact with resources such as these they are able to become active learners, in turn deepening their understanding of communication and language.
Speaking
Children’s speaking improves with practice, the EYFS framework highlighting the need for language-rich environments and providing children with opportunities to apply their vocabulary in a range of situations.
Similarly to the Understanding sub-section of communication and language, interactive resources are a fantastic way to encourage children’s speaking in a fun, engaging way.
Our Alphabet Carpets are vibrant and highly engaging, making them a great way to teach children fundamental vocabulary while allowing them the opportunity to begin to associate letters with simple, easily recognisable objects.
To encourage children to apply their vocabulary to a wider context we offer multiple interactive themed carpets, such as our Seasons and Life Cycle Carpets as well as our Professions Circular Carpet. These carpets each depict important examples of their respective themes and are perfect for encouraging discussions in a group setting, allowing children to actively participate in discovering new nouns and their contexts in the wider world.
Overall, it is important to create engaging learning spaces which provide ample opportunity for children to express themselves, building their communication and language skills through play and social interaction, and in turn building their confidence in both speaking and understanding. By offering a range of environments and activities to explore these areas in the early years we will ensure children benefit right through into adulthood.