Communication Skills
Explore simple strategies that help children express ideas, listen, respond, ask questions, and build stronger everyday communication through play.
Oral Language Development in Early Grades
Evidence-based oral language development practices for PreK–3 classrooms, with support for English learners, DLD, and bilingual children.
Your Child Talks at Home but Not at Preschool: What Helps?
A child who tells long stories at home but becomes silent at preschool may be experiencing more than ordinary shyness. Sometimes the difference reflects a normal period of adjustment. In other cases, persistent difficulty speaking in particular settings can signal selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that deserves professional attention. The most helpful response is not…
Family Literacy Communication That Works
Use family literacy communication to connect school updates, home routines, and reading support without placing blame on families.
How to Make Storytime More Interactive for Children Who Use AAC
Reading together should give children a chance to share ideas, make choices, and enjoy a story—even when spoken words are difficult or unreliable. For children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), storytime can include pointing to pictures, selecting messages on a communication device, using signs, making sounds, or responding through facial expressions and body…
AAP Communication Strategies for Tough Talks
AAP Communication Strategies at the 2026 conference highlighted trust, misinformation, and practical ways pediatricians connect with families.
Bilingual Child Gestures and Early Learning
Bilingual child gestures can reveal early communication strengths. Learn what recent research suggests and how parents can respond.
How Parents Can Model Better Communication at Home
Children learn communication from more than the instructions adults give them. They also absorb how family members listen, handle interruptions, express frustration, repair misunderstandings, and respond when someone needs more time. That makes modeling communication skills at home one of the most practical ways to support a child’s development. No formal lesson is required. Meals,…
How to Support a Quiet Child’s Communication Confidence
A quiet child may have plenty to say while needing more time, familiarity, or safety before saying it. Building communication confidence in quiet children begins with recognizing this difference: confidence is not measured by how quickly, loudly, or publicly a child speaks. Adults can help by creating comfortable openings for participation instead of turning conversation…
A Child Should Not Need Perfect Words to Be Understood
A child should not have to produce a perfect word before receiving help, comfort, food, or a break. Helping children communicate needs begins by recognizing that a request can arrive through speech, gestures, signs, pictures, facial expressions, sounds, or a communication device. Adults can make those requests easier by noticing what the child is already…
Hand Gestures Parents Use to Support Learning
Hand gestures can help children connect words with meaning. See evidence-based ways parents can use movement during play, reading, and bilingual talk.