Here is a great blog post I found on a new blog, The Speech Newsletter.  Perhaps we can interest these ladies in being guest bloggers for us!

by Robyn Romano & Brook Todd

We have compiled and highlighted a list of suggestions that reflect Speech & Language development through the ABC’s. We hope you find it useful in your everyday interactions with your kids! Our hope is that this list will give you ideas and suggestions to help facilitate communication with your child. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
A:  All about articulation! Developmental milestones indicate that kids should be babbling by 6-8 months and using 1-2 words by 12 months. Early sounds produced include (but are not limited to) m, b, p, d etc. All sounds are not learned or developed until around age 8. Therefore, certain errors and difficult sounds are expected and can be worked out on their own. Remember that you teach children how to communicate in that if you give them something for free when they are learning to talk they will ultimately learn that they do not have to talk to get what they want – they will just point/grunt/push/pull to get what they want and then later when you want them to be using their words that becomes confusing and ultimately frustrating to them leading to tantrums. Teach them that an action causes a reaction. Kids need to do/say something to get something. It doesn’t come for free. Model sounds/syllables/words for them to imitate if they cannot do it on their own.
Please read the Rest of this Article on The Speech Newsletter