Toddler with Speech Delays? Use the OWLS Method for Language Development

But it really helps us demonstrate the OWL, O-W-L, observe, wait, listen, method that we're gonna talk about today, because this kiddo was talking as they were walking.

They were noticing things around them.

"Trees, rocks," they said.

"Big hill, up a hill, down a hill.

This is fun." Big stuff coming out of them.

Were they talking to their parents? No.

They were actually just talking in general, narrating what they were seeing, what they were doing, and how they were feeling.

Now, this way of allowing kids to express themselves without interrupting, that is a language development strategy.

The more they say it, and they repeat themselves, right? Because the process of learning sentence structure and going from a one-word phrase to a two-word phrase to a three-word phrase, and then what are these connecting words that go in there when I have a complete sentence, that's a repetitive process, and the building blocks and the neural pathways need to do them over and over and over.

And so, yes, this kiddo was repeating himself, "Big rock.

Big rock.

I see water," and over and over.

It was so beautiful.

And the parents, they're filming, right? But they're doing exactly what OWL tells us to do.

They're watching, observing, just taking in what their child is currently doing.

They don't talk about what they're seeing, they're just listening.

Waiting, that middle part, that's so tricky.

And, you know, as someone who teaches you language to say to your toddlers so that you are building their brain and building their language base, waiting is the hardest part.

Because as I listen to this little one narrating and talking, and, "Big trees," and, "Big hills," and, "This is fun," and, "My foot," and, "Ooh, that's itchy," and all the things coming out, eventually there was a gap.

He stopped talking for all of two seconds, which is what I just demonstrated for you.

And in those two seconds, what do we as adults want to do? Well, we wanna fill the space.

It's very hard for us to tolerate silence.

And maybe we're armed and ready with great language.

"You were noticing the leaves.

I saw you use your muscles going up the hill." All good language, right? But what if we just waited and said nothing? The W of OWL.