Toddlers Who LISTEN: They Depend On YOU - Part 2

Is your toddler ignoring you?

Does he have a short attention span?

Is she just distracted?

Should I be worried?

How can you help your little one truly master listening, understanding and engagement?

In Part 2 of our in-depth exploration of RECEPTIVE language development we ,   continue to guide you through the crucial listening milestones for 24-36 month-olds. 

Building on our previous discussion, we wrap up our list of the  essential milestones that every parent should be aware of to support their child's understanding and communication skills. 

This begins with  recognizing familiar objects and names to following more complex instructions -- these milestones are key indicators of your toddler's growth. 

Don't miss this episode as I provide practical tips and insights to help your little one thrive. 

email: 
connect@HyerLearning.com

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Transcript

0:00

Where is your child? And always be mindful, even if they're closer to that third birthday, They haven't had a lot of opportunity to practice listening. Right? You didn't know this stuff, right. You don't know what you don't know, but now you're like, okay, I have to kind of up the ante,

Erin: 0:18

Hello and welcome to Talking Toddlers, where I share more than just tips and tricks on how to reduce tantrums or build your toddler's vocabulary. We're going to cover all of that, but here, our goal is to develop clarity, because in this modern world, it's truly overwhelming. This podcast is about empowering moms to know the difference between fact and fiction, to never give up, to tap into everyday activities so your child stays on track. He's not falling behind. He's thriving through your guidance. We know that true learning starts at home. So let's get started.

1:00

Hello there and welcome back to talking toddlers. I'm Aaron hier, your host. And in the last episode, we embarked on an exciting journey through the crucial developmental milestones for 24 months through 36 month old, that third birthday or that third year of life. Focusing on receptive language, how your little one understands the world around him. Today, we're diving back into this essential topic to wrap up our list of top milestones. You should be on the lookout for these insights are key to supporting your child's language development and ensuring he or she is on the right track. It also builds that rich communication dyad, right. That give and take that you have in your everyday life with your little one. You won't want to miss a single detail. So listen up and let's continue empowering your toddler to reach his or her full potential. So then now number six would be that your toddler begins to differentiate early quantity concepts. And you're like, Hmm, what does that mean? And so it really means that it's it's early. So it's one versus all or one. Versus more right. So give me one more block. Or give me all of the blocks. And the reason why these quantity concepts are important. Is because that shows us that they're really. auditorily discriminating, right. That they're really thinking about what you're saying and these words one. All more. They don't necessarily have. The opportunity to relate to them, Like an apple or a truck. or even happy. Or hungry. Right. They, they can kind of see it and feel it, or, or they can experience it. But they do quickly understand if you, in a place setting, say you have. You know, his favorite little toys, whether they're cars or little people and say, You know, do you want one? Or do you want all? And if they say one, then you give them one and say, oh, I have all the rest. Right. And they're like, oh wait, I only got one little baby car. And mama has, you know, 10. And so it's important to stress the meaning. between these, these quantitative concepts, right. Do you want more? And usually your toddler will more is kind of one of their first words, right? But, you know, you could also piggyback it together. I want one more, right? Just one more. I don't want two or five or all of them. I want one more. But these kinds of. Quality listening concepts are really important to play around with as you're going about your day. Right. And, and it really shows us that they're not just listening to the noun and the action anymore. That they're really listening to those smaller units of words as well. but that's a really big measurement that we use in testing kids, especially as they approach that third birthday. that because they're smaller chunks of speech and they're usually less prominent in your direction. Right. give me all of the blocks. You know, they might just give you one block. Gave me one block. And so it's important to, to hone in on what are they actually. I listening for. And then how are they following through. But it is an important benchmark for us as therapists. Is to see where a child is, how to gauge their developmental, hierarchy. Right. So a typically developing toddler, your toddler by 27 months. We'll understand the concept of one. And then by 33 months, they're able to differentiate between one and all right. And so, that young two year old at two and a half year old is still working on the concept. I just want one. Right. And then more, like I said is often developed earlier, as I want more cookies or more juice because it's. linked to that. To that baby sign, right? Or to one of those initial baby signs. But I think it's important to stress for you all to understand. It's okay to teach the concept of one. Versus all right. and you know, you can use. Different scenarios. Like I said, with toys, it's pretty classic to use things like Cheerios. Do you want just one. Or do you want all of them and, and be playful with it. But it is an important developmental milestone to keep an eye on. Because it does tell us, it gives us a little insight of, Hmm. How well are they listening to everything in my verbal directions. Right. You can also flip it around with say you're playing bubbles or something and you say, can hold up your finger. Oh, you want one more turn? Just one more turn. And, and that way they can build that concept of just one more. And it's it's okay to experience the natural consequence that you're just getting one and say, okay, just one more turn, then we're all done. Or you just get one Cheerio in your. All done. Right. they're like, oh no, that's, that's the end of it, but it's okay. You can come back and tell her, oh, I see. Not just one. You want more or you want all of them. And be willing to, to play around with that. Pick your timing, right? Um, and, and they'll learn that they need to listen more carefully. And then pick accordingly, A little uncomfortableness, a little frustration. That's okay. You know, It's not going to be the end of the world, but it's, it's a good way to teach that, that concept of one or all right. Number seven would be. That your toddler begins to identify common objects by function. And certainly as the years unfold that first year more or less, but the second year. As you're working with books, you're, you're constantly showing them, oh, this is a hairbrush. What do we do with it? Oh, we brush our hair. Right. But usually this happens to really blossom around 30 months of age that typically developing toddlers will really begin to understand. And that's the whole key here is right. How well do they understand. By function, which one do we eat? And then that's different than which one do we eat with? Right. So you can flip that. You can say which one do we eat? I can maybe pick out the banana or, the tomato. and which one do we use to eat or which one helps us eat? It's hard for them. When you say which one do we eat with? So the function was which one do we use to eat, or it helps us to eat. which one is for drinking? Right or find the one that we use to fix our hair. And you could also say to brush our hair or to comb our hair. So we have dare front. Actions right. That can represent the same thing. So play around with it. Find the one that we drive. Right or which one does mommy drive? And this, like I said, really does start long before you ask these specific questions, but because they're putting the actions together with the objects. So you can figure out, oh, this is a cop I drink from the cup. This is a pen I write with the pen. Right. Um, And so it's important that. It goes back to, this is why I want you all to be doing things with them. This is why the screen is not helpful. They need to do these things, and then they learn and master them better with everyday play activities. Every day. You know, routines and chores, quote unquote, And then you go back to that. The out, out loud. out loud thinking, right? I need a drink. I'm thirsty. What do I need to use for a drink? And if they don't say anything, now you're precocious two and a half, or three-year-old is going to jump right up. You need a cup mama, or you then, help them and say, oh, where's your cup. You need a drink? I need a cop or you need a drink. I need a drink. Where's our. Right or show him, oh, I drank from, uh, And so again, you're helping them think out loud because ultimately you want them to think inside their head. When you ask them a question, where are your sneakers? Right. And he can think, oh, where are those sneakers? Oh yeah. I left them on the front porch. And so you start that with, the purpose of the shoe, right? You say. You know what goes on your foot? Oh, a shoe. And so you're helping them through real life activities, right. That they can do something with these objects. And there's a purpose for them, right? They're not, it's not all just toys. But a lot of it is at this point, but you then generalize to real life activities. Right. And all ultimately, we as therapists, as, as I said, as they approach that third birthday would then use a task during assessment with pictures. But it starts, you know, when they're two and two and a half with objects, And so you start with objects when they're two and two and a half, and then as they approach that third birthday, And then you can use pictures. and really help them then as you're looking at the book and say, oh, which one do I need to go on a trip. It could be a suitcase right there. Right? Which one do I need to cut my meat? There's a knife. Right. And so they're listening now because they've done it in the real time. And that's, that's important again, that differentiation between using objects and doing it. And then looking at pictures and thinking. And Matt and their imagination. Right. and remember they're like, pretend they're true. Pretend skills. They start kicking in around 30 and 36 months too, is to closer to that third birthday where they can really then pretend. With elaboration. They could pretend that they have a sword in their hand, or they can pretend that they have a cake or they can pretend that they have a cup in their hand. And because it's moved up that, that imaginary place scale too. So. Um, So just kind of keep that in mind and be sensitive. Where is your child? And always be mindful, even if they're closer to that third birthday, but say they don't have. They haven't had a lot of opportunity to practice listening. Right? You didn't know this stuff, right. You don't know what you don't know, but now you're like, okay, I have to kind of up the ante, then get down on their level and, and do some of these examples with them in real time. And help them build that active muscle of listening with intention. And, and all of it is just practice. That's what parenting is, right? Giving them opportunities and showing them and navigating. And this is how that language explosion happens between that second birthday and that third birthday, both receptively and expressively. How. Al's do you think they learn on average nine words? Some of them are 20 words a day, right? That's. Outrageous. Right. But it's through your everyday routine, everyday activities. That you have to get done as well as then you can expand it using both objects and books. But it's. It's important to know that it's a process and they have to like anything else as human beings that if we want to get better. Then, then we have to break it down into these smaller steps, right? And, and we can do this. We just have to understand that's why I'm, I'm creating these, these podcast episodes to give you some great ideas, maybe some quick check, less right, or cheat sheets that you can then begin to navigate through this, on your own. Now there, there are toys that infamous puzzles, which I love that can help transition moving. Into pictures into books. So for example, you have those puzzle pieces say they're all transportation, and you can say, Hey, which one flies in the sky? Or which one travels by water or which one picks up dirt. So these are categories. You can talk about the function. They might not have ever gone on a plane yet, or they might not have gone on a boat, but they have them sorted. These are all transportation. Like I said, And so it's giving them that finite. Um, but then they can pick it up and they can look at it and they match it and do a lot of different things. Same as a puzzle. That's full of animals, which one? Swims in the water who builds a nest. Which one gives us milk and you want to give these phrases? Clearly. Oh, which one? Swims in the water. You know, you want swims in the water. So he hears the action swims and in the water. Which one builds a nest. And so they're ha you're helping them with that processing and give them a lot of opportunity to look and discriminate and then pick, And then you can move into. Again, his favorite books, right. And looking for different functions. And then one other piece to all of this. and I find this interesting, and I kind of just shared this a few weeks ago with a small group. But the animal sounds many toddlers can say what an animal sound makes. Right? What does a cow say? Move? What does a cat say? Meow. Right. But. Many may not be able to discriminate and point to the picture. When you say, who says move. Right. And so that's. Um, at calm plaques processing because they have to understand what the question is and then they have to discriminate. So that's can be a little tricky for a lot of kids. So just again, keep going there and practice and you can even go back. And say, oh, what am I move? And so don't get discouraged that way. They can say it one way, you know, what does a cat say? What does a cow say? Uh, donkey or whatever, but then when your asking the question, that's a little higher demand. And so again, just keep practicing playing around with it, and then they'll, they'll have that more flexibility of taking in. What the question is, and then producing it. so don't get discouraged. Just keep that in mind that that's, that's pretty typical for that two and a half and even three-year-old right. So kids will get confused sometimes based on how your structuring your question. So sometimes we can say. How are you? and they'll say three. And you're like, no, how, how are you now? How old are you? Right. And so that's that fine processing and interpreting. They're hearing that whole question as kind of a whole unit, and they're not really discriminating what you're saying. Right. And so a lot of kids. I will get confused. And, and that's typical too. It just means perhaps one. You spoke too fast. Or it's out of the blue and it's not related to the context or they might be disc distracted or they're just not used to answering. a wide variety of wh questions yet. So. Either slow it down, break it down. You can even say, I'm feeling fine. How do you feel right. That kind of stuff again, modeling, practicing. and, and that's what a lot of this stuff is, but it really. Is important that we understand how. How it's a process. And the more time you give them in the day to day things, whether it's the common things like bathing and eating and running on errands, pulling them in. So there. Attending to the task and giving them opportunities to listen. Right. Exercise that muscle. And a couple of episodes ago, I talked about what is hearing. What is perceiving and then what is understanding? But they need practice. They need to be present. You need to be present when you're working on these things to be purposeful, right. And you and I, whenever we're with little ones, we have to be patient and persistent. Right and playful. Right. So I talk a lot about P's here because I, they just happened to beat BP words. But, but the truth is if we can. Get into the mindset of using that, that, that is a lot of practice that we have to be. Purposeful and present and playful, then the more they're going to pick up on that and just mastered that. I mean, that's what, how human communication is really mastered, right. So there's a few more on this list that I want to talk about. and I will cover them in a future episode. I think this is a lot of really critical ones that you, as a new mom can kind of zone in on and help start to gauge. Where is my son or daughter in this receptive language processing compare where they were six months ago. And how are they moving? How much have they changed? Right. That's that's an important feature. Um, you can look back at, say at Christmas time, right. Sometimes using the calendar will help. But as they're approaching. That third birthday. Things really start to shift. Right. And. And so in the beginning of this, as a, as a new two year old, They would follow two step related commands, right related to one object. And now as they're approaching the, that second half 30, 33 months, then now they can follow to step on unrelated commands. And. It's really important because now they're really listening to a lot of language about their day. And, but you can say, Hey. Give me the ball and then put the cow in the barn. So they're very, very different. say you're cleaning up, but you want them to follow bigger chunks of language. And two directives in a row, right. Or you could say, cover the baby and then put the cat in the truck. Those are big directives, but as they're approaching that third birthday, they can, they should be able to follow that. They might look at you all a little oddly in the beginning. But the more you practice. Those unexpected directives. Right. I'll put the ball. In your pocket. Right or put the fork on your head. Right. So now that they've accessed. Is that so. Now not only. Are they listening for novel things? But now they're listening to longer chunks of directives too. So it's just like going to the gym and working out right in the beginning. Oh, all right. I can curl, you know, 20 pounds. Now I can curl 40 pounds. But now I can, do a more comprehensive weightlifting exercise, right. your building a network. That over time can really fire and wire together in like nanoseconds. And, and the important part here is that we don't. Just start rattling off directions to them, right? Oh, do this, do that, do that, that if you start around that first birthday or 18 months to have much more purposeful play and engagement and slowly build some of these receptive language in a play situation and play situation could be the bathtub play situation could be, you know, changing his clothes and making it lighthearted and having him engaged. But that you're really expanding his opportunities. hundreds of times throughout the day, To make sure that you first get his or her attention. That you get down on their level or you put him up on your level, right? Sit him up on the high chair and, and you're going to be directed with him at table top. Be clear. Don't talk too fast, right? Give when you're starting to play with these objects, just have a few objects at a time. Kids really don't want or need, a massive pile of objects, right? They want it to, to be purposeful and, and kind of clear, right. They don't want to feel overwhelmed. Like, oh my gosh, I don't know what to do with all this stuff. Be curious yourself and engageable with them. and model good listening. When they're talking, you know, sit there and listen. What are you saying? Say that again? Right. And so help them. Practice setting the stage. and then you say, okay, I'm going to tell you two to two things. Listen. Right. You can cup your ear. Listen. The first thing is find the doggy. And then the second thing is. Find the car. Right. And then later on you can say, find the doggy and put them in the car. Right. But first find the doggy, then find the car. Right. So you're setting the stage. So he really has opportunity and knows what you're expecting. Right. And then you can move into, you know, cover the baby. And then put the cat in the truck, right. These two very different. Actions, but they're side by side. It's a big directive, And so if you pull that example out, like cover the baby and then put the cat in the car or car. Cat in the truck. You have to cover. The baby. Put something that cat. In the truck. So there's six major parts that they have to hold onto and understand. Right. And it could be novel. It could be part of, something that you've played with before. But if you're unsure, then use one object. Say the baby. And to actions, right? Cover the baby and kiss her goodnight. And if, and if you're just starting to do these kinds of. Listening play games, right? Model first, what you want with the object? All right. In the beginning, they're going to say like, what are you doing, mama? I just have been messing around with these, these toys all this time. Now you want me to do something but It's fun and engaging when you can make it lighthearted in, in plane situation. So like I said, the cow can drive the truck. Right. They don't have to be real life. kinds of things, you can make it playful. Oh my goodness. The cow was driving the truck. That's great. Right, because that relates to some of the fantastic stories who are going to read in books, That cows can drive a truck. Babies can fly. Trucks can sleep. Pigs can, you know, swim or whatever. Right. But it's, it's all about. You listening to yourself? What am I asking them to do? Am I making it too easy or too hard? usually we're on one of those, stark differences, right. And there are steps in between and, and be comfortable with playing around with that. And. and trying it out. And. You can even be clever and say, and set it up. And say, okay, these are the types of toys that he likes. I'm going to see how well he can listen. and the whole idea. Is then this will translate into real life, right when you're giving them directions. And you're trying to get out the door or they, you know, start preschool when they're. You know, four or kindergarten when they're five or six, right. Or they're following directions from somebody else, and a place setting or a birthday party, right. But the whole idea is. That we're giving them opportunities to not only build the processing network. But then the emotional behavioral. Oh, that's mom. She's talking to me. I better pay attention. Right. So I know that there's a lot of information here and we kind of walked through nine or 10 different sections or different receptive language milestones. And then there are a few that I kind of glossed over, but they're all in the cheat sheet that I have down below. So I really don't want you to miss out. I want you to grab that and have it. And it will help you understand where your child is. Like, I'm always saying here and then, okay. How can I build these things together? And, and help him or her become the best listener they they're able to right. and you've got this and I hope. That if you have any questions, feel free to DM me, or there's an, also an email down there. Contact HYER Learning my last name, H Y E R learning.com. And I will be more than happy to answer any of your specific questions. So thank you again for always giving me your time. And I look forward to the next one. All right. God bless. Take care. Bye.