According to experts, children begin to indicate around 10 months of life . It is a natural process, which is part of their social and communicative development. However, we can also accompany them in this process and stimulate it, especially if we have detected that they have not yet indicated.
And the fact is that the action of pointing is an act that is also part of the psychomotor development of children, a non-verbal gesture that allows them to communicate . It also has to do with their sensory development.
“The gesture offers a window to the meanings and concepts that children in the early stages of language learning are not yet capable of transmitting with speech.”
Cartmill, Iron & Goldin Meadow-
Have you ever noticed if, when your child wants to get an object that is not within his reach, he points it to you to get it? Or does he take you by the arm or by the hand and accompany you to him to achieve it? Or in itself, directly, never points?
If you want to delve into the function of signage , and learn some keys to promote this communicative gesture with your child, stay!
First gestures, gaze tracking and shared or joint attention
At eight months of age, children begin to understand that the pointing gesture that adults perform is a basic function that they use as a focal point for a referent . It is at this age when they also begin to develop the ability to follow the gaze and the gaze or shared attention.
These skills are essential for children to start pointing. And a little later, between ten and twelve months, children begin to be able to distinguish specific communicative functions in the gesture of pointing .
On the one hand, we find the imperative function (they want to request an object through the act of pointing) and on the other, the declarative function (they want to show an object to the adult). And that’s when we get to the two basic functions of children’s signage.
Why do children point? Two possible reasons
As we have been introducing, when children are young, they begin to point for two reasons . One of them, to get what they point to (normally, an object that they cannot access, which is very high, very far, etc.).
But they can also point for a second reason: because they want to show you something and share their attention with you; that is, so that you fix your gaze in the direction it is pointing.
In this second case, it is an action to share something with you, to tell you (even if I don’t do it with words), “Look, dad / mom, what a beautiful horse!”.
With this action we are referring to the phenomenon of joint attention , which implies the following: the child and the adult share attention and interest in the same object (they look at it at the same time and share that moment).
How to improve joint care?
First of all, we must take into account the natural development of our child, and his evolutionary moment.
Thus, we can respect their rhythms (not rush ) while still looking for moments to facilitate that signaling that promotes joint attention. How can we do it?
- Teaching you to point; we can model his finger , or act as models (pointing to some interesting object as well, while looking at us).
- If he points out an object to show us, take advantage of that opportunity to name the object , reinforce his behavior, show real interest, etc.
- Show emotions; for example, through joy with objects that seem attractive. “What [object name] has been pretty!”
- Accompany the child in his initiative and encourage him to tell us about his focus of interest.
- Establish a moment a day to share the attention towards an object of interest, without neglecting the spontaneity of the day to day.
Keys to promote signage
We’ve talked about some key ideas to encourage joint attention, but what about encouraging pointing behaviors in order to get something done? We talk about some ideas to favor them.
Help him identify the sequence of “cause and effect”
It is important for your child to learn that his action of pointing is the cause, and that the effect of this action is to obtain your attention (looking towards that area that he is pointing to) or to obtain the object in question.
Thus, you must make this cause-effect association in order to start signaling things.
Help him by modeling his fingers
A second action we can do to encourage signaling in our child is to model his hand.
If, for example, your son takes you by the hand and leads you towards what he wants to achieve, take his hand and accompany him , modulating it, in acquiring the appropriate position to point.
Every time your child makes that gesture of holding your hand, try this action. And if he begins to point but does not put his finger correctly, also apply it by molding his hand and fingers.
Touch the object
The next step is, with the child’s hand in your hand, bring the two of you closer to the object you want to achieve. Make him touch it with his index finger, and even, you touch the object too (be his role model; children learn easily through imitation). Afterwards, you can give him the object in question.
Benefit from language and encourage it
Language can be our ally here. In this way, and following the previous steps, once your child has obtained the object he wanted to obtain, take the opportunity to stimulate his language.
You can choose to say “di + [object name]”, for it to repeat. And then continue talking about the object. For example, “what a cute stuffed animal!” Like?
A final tip : try to touch the object, with your index finger, as many times as there are syllables in the word in question. How does this action benefit your child? It will help you associate the action of pointing with the object (the sequence of cause and effect mentioned above).
Repeat and increase the distance from the object
Finally, it is important that you be consistent with these actions and repeat them with your little one (without saturating him) whenever you can. And once you have put this action into practice several times (which will help your child integrate the signage), increase the difficulty.
How? Increasing the distance with the objects that the child will be pointing to. You can also try the following: touch the object together and move away from it, while pointing at it.
And your son, does he point? Are you doing it to show something or to get it? If you want to continue stimulating this important gesture in your child’s communication, we encourage you to try some of the proposed tips.
On the other hand, if the difficulty persists and your child still does not report anything, we encourage you to consult a specialist who can advise you better.
Photos | Cover (freepik), Image 1 (freepik), Image 2 (pexels), Image 3 (pexels), Image 4 (freepik)
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