Nursery World - All about...Children's talk

Why children need to chatter is explored by Di Chilvers, senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies When was the last time that you had an extended, informal and relaxed conversation with the young children around you? A conversation where you let the child decide on the subject and you followed their lead, listening intently, nodding, making positive eye contact and holding back your questions? I hope it was recently and that it is a regular part of your everyday chatter with children.

When was the last time that you had an extended, informal and relaxed conversation with the young children around you? A conversation where you let the child decide on the subject and you followed their lead, listening intently, nodding, making positive eye contact and holding back your questions? I hope it was recently and that it is a regular part of your everyday chatter with children.

We often disregard these informal chats as being frivolous or not part of the child's learning because they tend to take place outside a planned activity, usually as you sit together and have a snack or as you play in the garden. Interestingly, research is now telling us just how crucial these types of conversations are to children's thinking and learning as well as their emotional well-being.

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