Talking Takes Off: Support for Parents/Carers

Our aim is to make sure that the importance of communication is a conversation everyone is having.

Your child is amazing. Babies are learning from the moment they are born. It is never too early to start thinking about your child’s communication skills and how you can support their development.

You are the most important person in your child’s life. You know them the best and see them the most. There are lots of things you can do to help your child as they develop their skills in talking and communicating. The most important thing is to spend time playing, having fun and talking together.

Our TTO Parent Guide shows you all the support and advice available in Luton to help you support your child’s development.

Take a look at our Key Messages, Useful Videos and Useful Links in the resources below for information, ideas and advice to support your child’s developing communication skills.

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Key Messages

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Useful Videos

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Useful Links

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Common questions:

We have over 150 languages spoken in Luton, we are a super diverse town, which means lots of our children are growing up learning two or more languages. What a great skill to have!

Talk to me in whatever language you speak best

Our key message for families using more than one language is to talk in the language you feel most comfortable with, which might not be English. If you are confident in speaking your language, your child will find it easier to copy and learn from you. They will then find it easier to learn another language later on.

Tiny Happy People have lots of information and advice on speaking multiple languages at home, click here to find out more.

A great place to start is to speak to your child’s preschool setting or Health Visitor. They will be able to give you some advice and ideas to try.

Children communicate in lots of different ways. Your child might not yet be talking, but spend time looking at how they do get their message across. Do they point or take you by the hand to ask for things? Do they look at you and then look at something to show you what they find interesting? The more adults respond to a child’s attempts to communicate, the more they want to communicate!

Children’s communication skills develop best through play and interaction. Try to find a few minutes each day where you can really focus on playing with your child without any distractions. Follow their ideas and talk about what they are doing using simple language.

Take a look at our advice guides for more information and ideas.

You may wish to ask your Health Visitor if the Flying Start Little Talkers group is appropriate for your child. They will need to make a referral for you.

Visit the local NHS Speech and Language Therapy website for more information and advice on accessing support. If you think your child needs specialist level support, you can also access information on referring them to Speech and Language Therapy services.

You can access a free e-learning course: An Introduction to supporting Speech, Language and Communication (for parents AND professionals) here

Luton’s Local Offer has information on other services and support available.

Advice and information by age group:

Under ones

1 to 2 years

2 to 3 years

3 to 4 years

4 to 5 years

Parenting and Family Relationships

There are a variety of courses and one-off sessions for parents in Luton to promote positive, nurturing and responsive parenting

Healthy Child

For information, support and tops tips to help your child eat well

Child Safety

Safe at Home Luton is a child accident prevention programme aimed at families from pregnancy through to the child’s 5th birthday.

SEND families

If you think that your child may have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) you should speak to someone about your concerns- find out more on Luton’s Local Offer

Five to Thrive

Just as our child’s body grows better when you give them good food, your child’s brain grows better when you do five simple things that feed the growing brain:

Respond ● Cuddle ● Relax ● Play ● Talk

PREGNANCY

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BABY

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TODDLER

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PRESCHOOL

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SCHOOL AGE

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PROFESSIONAL

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VOLUNTEERING

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WHAT'S ON

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