Last week we discussed language development for the new baby. Now it is important to look at the next stage of development from that time.

Between 6-10 months, your baby will begin to get the idea that ma-ma is connected with you because you appear when she says the words. That is one of the reasons that this might be the first word she says.

By this age she will begin to say words that she connects with objects in her environment such as dog, book, shoe.

You can help by naming the object she is looking at to help her make the connection.

In this way, she begins to understand the word is the same as the object. Since this also is the age when a child becomes more of a social person, words of greeting frequently enter her vocabulary. Hi and bye-bye are words you often hear from a baby of this age; these are words you are likely to encourage her to use by using them with her.

Another way to help your baby learn new ways of communicating is to capture a sound she makes. When you are reading with her and you come to a picture of a bear, you can help her to say grrr like the bear. When she imitates the grrr sound, praise her and tell her she is right and make the sound again.

Animal sounds are fun for a baby to make. These sounds of animals teach the child 1) that she can communicate with others, 2) that sounds have meaning and 3) that people will respond to the sounds she makes.

The words the child at first uses are only the beginning of words but that is the time you need to echo the sounds with the correct enunciation. She may say da for daddy so you say daddy when she says that. She may use the same sound for dog but you can tell which word she is trying to use by what has probably caused her to come up with that word.

If she is looking at a book of a dog, you can see that she is more likely to mean dog than mean daddy even though the sound is the same. By echoing the sound, you are teaching your child to talk.

As she learns more and more words, you will find yourself repeating the words hundreds of times as you continue to teach her. After many repetitions, you can then begin to enlarge her vocabulary by asking her, “Where is the doggie?”

When the child of a year to 18 months recognizes the dog from your question, you reward her by telling her that she is right or hugging her or being excited with her.

If you use the words many times in conversations with her, she learns to become familiar with the new words and to also know you like what she is doing.

Use the words in complete sentences and in many different ways to help her completely understand the word. For Emily’s first trip to the zoo, you might want her to understand the word zoo.

Be sure you talk about, “Emily is going to the zoo today. Mommy and Daddy are going with Emily to the zoo. The zoo has animals. Animals live in the zoo. Now we are in the zoo. This is the zoo.”

Use gestures and actions to help your child learn new words. These activities make the words more fun. If she is taking a bath, talk about the water as you run it over her. Show her how to feel the water and where the water comes from.

All of these actions reinforce the word water in her mind. In all of these activities with her, remember learning is most effective if the teacher is excited about the lesson.

Show your enthusiasm to her and you will not only be a more effective teacher, but you will be relating with her in a positive and loving manner.

Just by doing these few things, by the time your child is 2 you will be surprised at the extent of her vocabulary but also at the depth of her understanding of language.

At the same time, you encourage her language development, you are teaching her to be a social being, to be involved with others, to communicate, to listen, to learn, to observe and to be close to another human being.

And while you are teaching her, both of you are learning to understand and love each other more. That is a lot more than just talk.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which publishes newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents. Reach Martin at pmf@olypen.com or at 681-2250.