Engaging Parents to support language development among children aged 0-6 years - ‘Happy Talk’

1. Engaging Parents to support language development among children aged 0-6 years - ‘Happy Talk’ Sheila Dillon, Aoife Doyle, Siobhán Dowling and Jen Keogh. ‘Happy Talk’, Cork City Partnership Ltd. Introduction ‘Happy Talk’ is a language development project which aims to improve the language skills of all children aged 0-6 years in the Glen/Mayfield areas of Cork city. It supports the capacity of parents and educators to enhance children’s language through a whole community, universal approach. The project involves Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) coaching parents, ECCE staff and teachers in pre-schools and junior infant classrooms. • Results • Outcomes for children were measured using standardised assessments, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Pre-school 2ᵘᵏ and Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology. • The percentage of children with average speech and language scores improved: • from39.6% to 56.3% (2011-12) • from 41.2% to 56.9% (2012-13 • Outcomes for parents were measured through a review of parental engagement with crèche and pre-school book areas. • Pre-intervention, 27% of settings were involving parents in their Book Area. • Post-intervention, involvement had increased to 83%. Parent coaching Aim To identify parental engagement strategies which contribute to children’s speech and language development in an area of low socio-economic status (SES). Taylor with her parents Donna and Rob participating in a Happy Talk session at St Brendan’s Pre-school Parents are the primary educators of the child and have a pre-eminent role in promoting his/her well-being, learning and development. - Síolta, The National Quality Framework (2006) part Method Parent-focused early intervention programmes support parent-child interactions and contribute to an increase in children’s vocabulary.¹²³ Coaching educators supports children’s language development.⁴⁵ A mosaic approach⁶ engaged parents to support their child’s language development including : • parent preparation sessions - training & practice • parent coaching in classroom & pre-schools • Elklan language development course for parents • Borrow-a-Book scheme to encourage shared reading and parent-staff communication. • Transition Flower - tool to facilitate information sharing as children move from Pre-school to Primary school. • community-developed posters and newsletters to promote key messages. Conclusion • Speech and Language Therapists working in the community contribute to parents’ knowledge about how language develops, the importance of early intervention and language development strategies. • Coaching parents is an effective therapeutic approach which merits wider application. • Developing partnerships between settings and parents, providing concrete supports and communicating appropriately with parents contribute to children’s language development. Parent coaching: Jen Keogh (SLT) coaches Geraldine Amador with her daughter Aoife Kathy Egan, Pre-school leader Glenfields Preschool with the book she illustrated for Happy Talk References ¹Bassani, C. (2008); ²Ciccone, N., et al (2012); ³Robertsa &and Kaiser. (2012); ⁴Neuman, & Wright, (2010), ⁵Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (3e, 2002), ⁶Clark, A. & Moss, P. (2001). Poster displayed on local buses Transition flower Kathy Egan, Pre-school leader Glenfields Preschool with the book she illustrated for Happy Talk Tomar Trust Happy Talk is funded by: Happy Talk is supported by: