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Effective communication in an early years setting

Shamima's Workshop Early Childhood Education • 14 December 2024

    Effective Communication In Early Years setting

effective communication in early-year setting

All of your interactions with a child are communication. The way you speak, the expression in your eyes, and the embraces and kisses you give a child all send messages. It's not just about what you say. In addition to teaching your child how to interact with others, the way you speak to them affects how they develop emotionally and form relationships in the future.


Effective communication in early childhood is critical as it lays the groundwork for future language skills and social interactions. As an early years practitioner, it's vital to understand the importance of routines that involve talking and responding to children. Supporting children to become effective and confident communicators is an important role for both parents and early years practitioners. 

Strategies for effective communication with babies and children from birth to 5 years of age

Strategies for effective communication with babies and children from birth to 5 years of age
Right from birth children are social beings who try to communicate with the world around them. So how do we as parents and/or early yeras practitioner ensure we are supporting our children to become effective communicators right from birth? How can we provide experiences to encourage them to develop a love of communicating with others? Here I explore strategies for effective communication between children and caregivers and the impact these have on children.

1. ACTIVE LISTENING AND RESPONSIVE COMMUNICATION:
Children's ideas, worries, and experiences must be actively heard by parents and teachers. Their confidence is increased when they are encouraged to express themselves without fearing about criticism or rejection. By addressing their thoughts and feelings, responsive communication fosters a sense of validation and encourages further participation. This method teaches children the value of polite conversation and fosters their sense of self-worth. Additionally, it helps them improve their social and verbal abilities.

2. COMMUNICATING WHILE PERFORMING EVERYDAY ROUTINE TASKS:
Daily routines offer the best settings for consistently modeling language, which enables babies and children from birth to 5 years of age to pick up slot-and-frame patterns. As you engage with the child during daily routines and activities, such as putting on clothes, talk to the child about what you are doing. Use events like going shopping or to the park as an opportunity to name and point out objects. For babies, talk to them during daily routines and activities like mealtime, bath time, and diaper changing, commenting on what you are doing together. 

3. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION:
Body language, facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures play a significant role communication. Educators should be aware of their own non-verbal cues and those of the children. Positive nonverbal communication can create a welcoming atmosphere that encourages children to engage and participate.

4. USE SIMPLE AND CLEAR LANGUAGE: 
Use language that is understandable for children and appropriate to their age. Use simple and easy
 understanding language for children to avoid confusion and ensures message is conveyed accutately. For a two years old child, instead of saying, "please go and fetch your red toy car from the living room." Simplifly it to,"get your red car".

5. PROVIDING RESPONSE TIME:
Children need pletly of response time. It is important for parent/ EYP to give children sufficient reponse time to allow them the time to understand what has been said and also to form their thoughts and words in response.  As an EYP, it is important when working with groups of children to remember thateven children of the same age will have different response times. This means that you should not create situations when children who are lucky to be responding quickly are always chosen. You should also not assume that a child has not understood if they do not respond straight away beacause some children will take more time than others. 

6. ASSIST WITH EXPANSION: 
Another strategies to use when communicating with children of all ages is expansion. Expansions are ways to expand on what a child says or does during a conversation. Expansion helps children to hear a longer and more sophisticated version of what they have said. This gives the child a good speech model for reinforcement and increases vocabulary and language structures. It is a way of recognizing what children have said, and an adult adds a word to what the child has said.  An example of expansion would be if a child says, "Car go," and you say, "The car is going. It's a red car."  This should be in line with the child’s level of development, for example,  at 18 months, the child says “cat”, and the adult/ parents/ EYP responds, “This is a big cat”. 

7. LABELLING IN THE SETTING:
Using labels in the setting is a great way to surround the physical environment with words. Seeing these labels every day helps children to memorise letter formation and understand the relationship between a word and its meaning. This should be in line with the child’s level of development.

8. CONTRIBUTES RECASTING:
REcasting is a skill that children to hear a correct version of what they have been listened to. To recast a phase, simply repeat back to the child what they have said but using the correct words. For example, the child says,"my dad goed" and you recasts back,"yes, your dad went". 

9. PROVIDE VISUAL SUPPORT:
Visual aids can be used to support children in understanding and remembering specific information or instructions. This can be diverse and flexible to meet the individual communication needs of children and can include photographs,  symbols or charts. Within a classroom environment, you could have a visual timetable with symbols to represent each activity or event of the day. Whether you are using a simple “Now and Next” board or have a more complex schedule displayed, make sure it supports the child in understanding their daily routine and is not overwhelming. It should be a positive facilitator of discussion between the child and the adult, not just a command centre. Additionally, Photographs or images representing the child can empower them to make their feelings, wishes and interests known. It is important that when a child points to an image, you say the name of the object or activity, so the child begins connecting with the image and the word. 

10. PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH SUSTAINED SHARED THINKING:
Sustained shared thinking is the process by which, through conversation, we explore a topic or problem with a child. This is what early years settings do when adults share a book with a child and also when supporting children's mark-making. When children first begin reading, they require a lot of help from adults. Children can tackle some of the challenges they face while reading; this is a time when sustained shared thinking can be used to help children. When sharing books with children, talk to children about the pictures and the story together and interpret what is happening.

Good communication is an essential component of a child's development and goes beyond simple information exchange between parents, early years practitioners, and children. EYP can foster a loving atmosphere that enables children to flourish academically, emotionally, and socially by putting these strategies into practice. Our children will have a better and more fulfilling future if we invest in these easy yet powerful communication techniques now. 

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