"My oldest son, Dean (8), was quick with everything, including his speech and language development. So I didn't have a good comparison with Liam. Because what is normal? He could already speak, but I often didn't understand him. That frustrated him. He couldn't pronounce his name properly at the age of three. So, I asked Nadia, one of the caregivers at the daycare center, to take note. She interacts with many children and can make a better judgment than I can.
No worries
Nadia said she would observe Liam. Then she handed me an overview with her observations. She wasn't worried, but she suggested that speech therapy would be a good move. I appreciated Nadia's advice, and it reassured me. I postponed speech therapy for a while, hoping that Liam might suddenly make progress. But when Liam was three and a half, I noticed that there wasn't much improvement, so I decided to make an appointment with a speech therapist.
Learned incorrectly
Liam started speech therapy just before starting elementary school. I brought along Nadia's overview, which also included a list of the sounds Liam had trouble with pronouncing. It turned out that he was capable of producing those sounds, but he had learned many words incorrectly. He caught on quickly, so he completed the therapy after nine sessions. I'm much more confident now that everyone at the 'big' school will understand and hear him well.
Great time at the daycare center
Liam is doing really well in school now. I definitely think that the daycare center was a good preparation, especially to make the transition easier. Children are already used to mom or dad leaving but also coming back to pick them up. Both boys attended Partou Velserbroek from infancy, in the Tuimelaars, a mixed-age group. I always left them there with peace of mind. It was such a wonderful time, and it's a bit hard to swallow that that phase is over now.
Brainstorming with the caregivers
What I miss the most is the brainstorming and communication with the caring and involved caregivers, like when we discussed Liam's development, quitting pacifiers, and potty training. Especially because now I hardly hear anything about how things are going. And if you ask the kids themselves, they don't say much, haha. Yes, all those conversations, messages, and photos from the daycare center were really nice."
"When we're concerned about language development, we always discuss it with the parents."
"In the first few years, your child discovers so much. That's why the pedagogical employees at Partou are often great sparring partners for many parents. Nadia, a caregiver at Partou Velserbroek, says, 'We often see that children develop their speech a bit later than others. Often, they excel in something else, like Liam, who had very strong motor skills. When we're concerned about language development, we always discuss it with the parents. And vice versa, we appreciate it when parents reach out to us if they have concerns or just want to brainstorm. That's what we're here for. We weren't worried about Liam's speech development, especially since he understood us well and had plenty of language exposure at home and with us. He just had trouble with certain sounds. For example, he said 'soen' instead of 'schoen' (shoes) and couldn't pronounce the letter 'r,' but that's challenging for many children at that age."
In collaboration with ‘Ouders van Nu’ (Today’s Parent)
Every day, ‘Ouders van Nu’ (Today’s Parent) selects interesting news from within and outside the country specifically for (expecting) parents. They focus on tidbits that make (expecting) parents better, happier, or wiser. This article was written in collaboration with ‘Ouders van Nu’.