Young children who go to kindergarten are less likely to have speech development delays, according to a Norwegian study published by the journal Early Child Development and Care.
The research of scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo covered almost 20 thousand. Norwegian children. It was analyzed whether the type of care provided to children at the age of 1, 1,5 and 3 has an impact on the development of speech.
It turned out that children who attended kindergarten at the age of 1,5 and 3 had less delays in speech development than children who stayed at home under the care of a parent, relative or caregiver. This relationship persisted even when scientists took into account the children’s communication abilities before entering kindergarten, their health after birth, economic conditions in the family, education and age of parents.
Among three-year-olds, speech problems were much less frequent when toddlers were in kindergarten full-time.
The type of day-care for one-year-old children did not influence the development of their speech in the future. According to the researchers, this may indicate that the kindergarten begins to exert a positive influence on the development of speech in the period from 1 to 1,5 years of a child’s life.
Norwegian scientists hope that their future research will allow to assess whether the good organization of education in kindergarten may affect the children’s success at school and their social development.
Experts estimate that the so-called simple retarded speech development, which affects children with normal mental development and good hearing, occurs in approx. 10 percent. toddlers at the age of 2-3 years. Most of them achieve speech alignment around 4-5 years of age.
According to speech therapists, the child’s speech development should be completed by around 6 years of age. This means that at this age, the child should be comfortable talking and communicating with others.
Any delay or speech disturbance requires consultation with a speech therapist. If they persist after the age of 6, they may adversely affect the child’s adaptability and functioning at school, and later at work and in society.