Verbal Skills - Help My Child Improve Verbal Skills

By Stuart Ackerman  MSc.Ed.,B.A.

     Often, children have difficulty organizing their thoughts and finding the words to express them.

 If your child exhibits poor verbal skills, it is very important that you do your best to always speak clearly, slowly, and in complete sentences when speaking to your child.  And, you should expect the same from your child.

     Take one aspect of good verbal skills (e.g. rate, vocabulary, sentence structure, clarity, etc) and work on it every day until your child has improved to your expectations.  Then, work on the next skill until you feel your child exhibits proper verbal skills for his or her age and grade level.

     If possible, go online and/or to your local bookstore and purchase some books containing humorous poems, simple tongue twisters, and short stories that your child would be interested in.  Have your child read these texts out loud to the family.  This will force your child to practice his oral communication skills, while at the same time, having tons of fun.  You may want to help your child practice reading out loud and focusing on one or some of the skills mentioned in the previous paragraph.