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Again Again MORE

The who, the what, and the how.

Promote Language Development Through Actively Reading to Your Child

Your child’s language development is their passport to engaging you and the world around them. In addition to boosting cognitive development, early communication skills can result in fewer tantrums and more interactive daily life thanks to an ability to share wants, needs, and observations.

Talking, or signing, to your child is a must for language development - in fact it is traditionally the entire way to learn a language. But if you want to improve your ability to facilitate language development you need to find a concentrated opportunity to practice - like shared reading. Books provide a prepared narrative to share with your child even when you’re exhausted. GOOD books provide easy opportunities to not just read but to engage with your child; and to continue the dialogue outside of story time. This is where Again Again MORE can help.

If you are regularly reading to your young child you are already helping their spoken language development. During those shared reading moments you are building their listening skills, their understanding of the vocabulary and syntax in their native language system, and building a valuable positive association with reading. The techniques covered at Again Again MORE will strengthen your shared reading experiences and provide support for you and your child in their language development for many years. The reason we at Again Again MORE have chosen shared reading time as the conduit for language promotion is because it is a structured activity you are already doing. Boosting your child's language development is about being smarter and more efficient in your current language activities, not about adding more to your schedule.

Each week, Again Again More provides a combination blog post and podcast which offer

Reviews of two great books which are well-suited for developing your child’s blossoming language, passions, and communication.
Tips for reading those books in fun and engaging ways (with a unique perspective of a speech therapist’s developmental approach).
Tips for activities outside of story time which connect and contextualize those books within your life and your child’s interests.

Also catch us for the occasional special episode in which we delve deep into specific language facilitation techniques or tackle how to read the children's books we truly loathe.

My young daughter learned to sign “colourful disco ball”, “airplane” and “helicopter” very early in her life. This enabled us her to request that we carry her to the window when she heard an airplane or helicopter flying nearby. It also allowed her to request a disco party with dinner if she was in the mood.

Is Again Again MORE about Reading or Speaking?

This website is primarily devoted to sharing active reading techniques in order to promote a child’s spoken language - not their ability to read. The ability to use spoken language and written language, are in fact quite different skill sets. The ability to speak, or sign, a language is unique to humans and is necessary to our social interactions. Reading and writing, however, are not naturally developing and need to be taught explicitly. This is evidenced by the many centuries of illiteracy in human history and the fact that they are still skills taught and practiced for years and years in school.

So what if you find yourself here at Again Again MORE because you want to improve your child’s reading skills? We do have a lot to say about reading too. When using reading for spoken language it is impossible to avoid talking about reading for reading. The good news is that the first step towards reading for reading is straight forward: you need to actively involve the text of the book in your reading time. Active reading, sound familiar? To get you started, here are some tips you can implement as soon as you next pick up a book.

Discuss the meanings of words while you read, even with children as young as 1. You can give a definition or a synonym and point to a picture to help.

Read the title and author/illustrator information before starting the book. Don’t forget the dedication page!

Direct your child’s attention to the text on the page by following along with your finger.

Read more illustrated dictionaries and alphabet books during shared reading time.

Discuss characteristics and similarities in words while reading. This can be done as simply as pausing and commenting on how some words rhyme, alliterate, or are capitalized.

As with every technique we talk about, these tips can be used with children of all ages. It is never too early or too late to up your language game. If you have a question about how to adapt any techniques to your child - drop me a line.

My name is Wrenna and I am a language nerd.

Language has always been a fascination of mine and now having a toddler around with her Language Super Powers I remain in constant awe of this versatile tool which only humans use.

I studied linguistics in California and then speech pathology in KwaZulu-Natal. My tiny family and I have been fortunate enough to spend the last few years living in a handful of different countries and during these adventures podcasts have been a tireless comfort to me. I intend this podcast and blog combination to support and augment some of that community I have come to love. I hope that my academic understanding of language development coupled with my lived experiences of parenting will merge into something useful and hopefully a little fantastic.

Thank you for dropping by today and discovering what Again Again MORE has to offer. I am very pleased to have a place to nerd out and I hope you are too.

Some nitty gritty details

The information published on this website is not intended to provide either diagnosis or intervention relating to speech and language difficulties. If you have concerns about the speech and language development of a child in your life please consult a local professional.

ask the child's teacher

ask the child's doctor

ask for recommendations from your local parent support network.

For more information about finding a professional near you or what to expect at a speech and language assessment please continue reading here.

The books reviewed on this website are selected through my own personal experience with them. Recommendations from friends and subscribers are all field tested with my Little before being reviewed on this platform. I do not review books as part of a sponsorship with an author, illustrator, or publisher.

If you have found an error or have a disagreement with something that is stated on this platform please feel welcome to let me know here. I am striving for accuracy whenever possible and would appreciate the helpful feedback.