Help Your Baby Talk: Introducing the Shared Communication Methold to Jump Start Language and Have a Smarter, Happier Baby

by Robert E. Owens Jr., Leah Feldon

Dr. Bob Owens teaches new parents how to interpret their child's gurgles and coos-and the best ways to respond to build confidence in their babies. With illustrations and examples, he shares the proven techniques that have made him a leader in the field-enjoyable baby-parent "conversations" and games that lead to happier, brighter, more well-adjusted children.

Help Your Baby Talk includes:

€ 15 easy-to-follow strategies for having educational "conversations" with babies
€ A Month-by-Month Baby Development and Activity Guide for the first two years-more than 200 age-appropriate exercises, play songs, and games that grow in complexity to match the baby's development
€ Advice on how to turn ordinary situations and parental tasks-like feedings and diaper changes-into fun learning opportunities
€ Watchlists-to help parents know what to expect from their baby at each stage

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Robert E. Owens, Jr., Ph.D. is a professor of speech-language pathology and director of the graduate program in speech pathology at the State University of New York at Geneseo. He is the author of a number of textbooks, book chapters, and articles, including Language Development: An Introduction (Allyn & Bacon, 2007), and the Program for Acquisition of Language with the Severely Impaired (PALS). He has presented more than 150 professional papers and workshops in both the U.S. and abroad.

Reviews

[Nutter]

I think this book would be better titled, Help Your Baby Communicate. Thankfully, the author understands that a child can only speak when he has some kind of meaning to convey. All of the suggestions and activities in this book are centered around cognition, motor skills, and sensory input--the very building blocks of communication. The fact that the child speaks is almost secondary once they learn to communicate. In fact, viewed in the realm of communication, speech is one tool, albeit a highly effective one, for sharing meaning.

Anyway, I digress. This book has all of the important elements of successful communication. It is both theoretically and practically sound.