The Pre-linguistic skills

The Pre-linguistic stage marks a crucial period in early childhood development when the children communicate and interact without using words. This stage forms the basics for language development, social bonding, and emotional regulation.

Below are some key pre-linguistic skills that children develop during this time:

• Gestures: using hand motions like pointing, reaching, or waving to communicate before they can talk.
• Eye Contact and Social Smiling: making eye contact and smiling in response to others, which helps build social connections.
• Joint attention: the ability to focus on the same object or event as another person, and it's a crucial pre-linguistic skill is a key indicator of social and cognitive development.
• Turn-taking: children learn the back-and-forth flow of conversation by babbling or making sounds and then waiting for a response from others.
• Imitation: children imitate sounds, expressions, or actions they see from caregivers or others around them, which helps them learn how to communicate.
• Attending to Sounds: children begin to focus on the sounds around them, such as voices or environmental noises, which is essential for understanding language.
• Name-call response: It refers to a child’s reaction when they hear their name being called by someone, such as a parent or caregiver. It’s a fundamental step in language development, showing that the child is becoming aware of themselves as an individual and is beginning to respond to social cues.