Communication and Language Development is one of the three Prime Areas to a child's development. Without these skills, children will not understand how to seek out others, form friendships, communicate to other peers and adults or have the understanding to listen to what is being said to them. It also develops attention and concentration skills and so it is important that we provide opportunity to:

- Enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language
- Explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts
- Listen and respond to stories, songs, music, rhymes and poems
- To make up their own stories, songs, music, rhymes and poems
- To use language to imagine and re-create roles and experiences
- To use talk to organise, sequence and clarify their thinking, ideas, feelings and events

- To sustain attentive listening and respond to what they have heard by relevant comments, questions or actions
- To interact with others, negotiate plans and activities and take turns in conversation
- To extend their vocabulary and explore the meaning and sound of new words
- Retell narratives in the correct sequence, using the language patterns of stories
- Speak clearly and audibly and with confidence and control, and show awareness of the listener, such as using greetings and 'please' and 'thank you'

When they leave our Nursery, your child should be able to:

• Know lots of songs and enjoy singing them.
• Tell you a long story and talk about their favourite books.
• Use words and actions to explain their thoughts and ideas, sometimes using long sentences of four to six words
• Give their viewpoint, and disagree.
• Use talk to pretend when playing, such as “let’s go on a bus – you sit there”.

Your child may still be learning:

• How to use word endings.

They might make mistakes such as ‘runned’ for ‘ran’. Instead of correcting them, please reply and use the correct word ending, e.g. “Yes I saw how fast you ran”

• How to pronounce some words.

These are the sounds that they might find tricky:-

• • j
  • th
  • ch
  • sh

How you can help your child at home: 

• Have conversations with your child about things they are interested in.
• Encourage your child to keep talking by nodding, smiling and making comments.
• Introduce new words when you are playing, eating or out and about together, and explain what they mean.
• Talk to your child about things that have already happened, and what might happen next.
• Play listening games, such as ‘Simon Says’.