First words are always exciting, but a child’s first combination of two different words is just as important. In fact, research shows that children who are late to combine words are more at risk for future problems with language than children who were late with their first words. Discover when your child should start putting words together, what to do if you suspect a delay, and how you can help him start making combinations.

You may have noticed that a child’s first words are usually the names of people or things, like “Mama”, “Dada”, “ball” or “car”. But by the age of two, young children should also be saying verbs. In fact, verb use at this age has been linked to more advanced grammatical skills six months later. Here are some tips for helping young children learn and use verbs.

Did you know that the ability to use gestures is an important precursor for language development? Children who produce more gestures early on have been shown to have larger vocabularies and better story-telling abilities later on. Find out what you can do encourage your child’s gesture use during everyday interactions.

In this Book Nook video, Hanen SLP Tamara Stein talks about how to turn book reading into a conversation with the fun children’s book, Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.

Do children who attend child care have better outcomes than children who are cared for at home by their mothers? Do children with special needs benefit from increased hours in child care? Find out what the research says about these and other common assumptions about child care.

A Late Talker is a toddler between 18-30 months old who has limited spoken vocabulary for their age, while having a good understanding of language, as well as typically developing play, motor, thinking and social skills. Let's take a look at what the research tells us about Late Talkers, and what you should do if you are concerned about your Child's Communication.