If you’ve been reading along for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I am SUPER passionate about language development in our kids. There’s lots of reasons for that, but the main one is that language is a gateway into our children’s minds. There is a direct correlation between language scores and cognitive ability, play skills, social and emotional skills and of course literacy and numeracy. But it also links into other areas too. I remember when I was teaching prep phys. ed. (sport), I would be teaching a new skill to these adorable 5-6-year-olds, the children that had excellent language were able to follow instructions and learn new gross motor (big movement) skills much faster than the children that had lower language skills. Why? Because they could take a verbal instruction and apply it to themselves. This a language skill. Now, I’m not saying that this applies to all children. Of course, those kids who struggle in literacy and numeracy can EXCEL in sports, and that’s great for their self esteem as it gives them a space in which they are capable and independent. But what the experience taught me was how important language is in all areas of a child’s learning!

Now – the “crisis”. I like to talk. I’m an interpreter and a teacher – possibly the chattiest combination around. The benefit of my chattiness is that I get to hear about the experiences of lots of different people. When I talk to high school teachers, they tell me how there are so many kids starting high school without basic literacy. Talking to primary school teachers, I hear how they are often so busy dealing with big behaviours that they feel like they are letting other children down in their learning. Early childhood teachers are busy referring children to NDIS to get speech therapy, and speech therapists have huge waitlists, at time up to 3 years wait (and that’s just in metro areas – kids out rural and remote might never be seen).

What all of this tells me is that there is a big problem with the state of kids’ language today. We know that there is a direct link between spoken language outcomes and literacy. We also know that early intervention is the best path. I suspect that for many of the kids that are having a bit of a tough time, a little would go a long way. More intentional interactions, more understanding from parents and carers. More one-on-one time. It could be the difference between a language delay, and hitting all those milestones and thriving!

My mission is to help more families and carers improve their skills around supporting language development to make a big difference for the next generation. Are you ready to start?