Barriers to Healthy Language Development in 2025

Hello friends! A little note:

This email isn’t meant to cause anxiety or fear, to bash this next generation, or to add to the bad rap technology often receives.

The truth is, every new generation experiences unique challenges. And one blessing in 2025 is rapidly advancing technology... but that does come with its own downsides and for us as parents to navigate when it comes to providing opportunities for our kids to develop their speech and language skills.

I’m not telling you to ditch screens or throw away your TVs (my toddler might actually riot if he can’t watch Monsters University for the 3rd time this week).

My goal is to give you a few ways to help you be confident that you're supporting your child's speech and language development the best you can, even as the world around us makes that challenging.

Jumping in 👇

4 Challenges (and some "remedies")

1. Challenge: Households are busy and always multitasking.

   Constant chaos can lead to a decrease in meaningful, face-to-face interactions. Make sure those key moments of conversation - with undivided attention - are still present and regular in your child’s day.

   Solution: Take a minute to slow down, and engage with your child in conversation without rushing to the next thing.

2. Challenge: Screentime is excessive.

   I just looked around and counted: My son will probably see or have access to 7 different screens today (in his house alone). And not only will he see screens - he will see them regularly being used by his mom, his dad, teacher, neighbor, person driving next to him in the car, person on their bike (hopefully not the last two, but you all know this is possible), etc.

   He will most likely grow up observing that it is more normal to put your head down and look at a screen while you're in line at the grocery store than it is to engage in a conversation with the person behind you in line. Defaulting to staring at a screen during the most basic of routines cuts down on opportunities for simple, personal, frequent conversations. This is just something we can't afford to NOT be aware of. Solution: Be aware of screentime - yours, AND your child's. Take action if screen-time is too pervasive.

3. Challenge: Valuable time with peers is decreasing. People tend to keep to themselves more now than 10 years ago.

   This is especially true coming out of the peak pandemic years, even for adults. People tend to keep to themselves more now than 10 years ago. 

   These days, you'd rather pretend you're not home when the doorbell rings or select "No contact delivery", even when you don't have Covid, than engage with a person in face-to-face conversation.

   Solution: Provide opportunity for your child to engage with peers. If your child enjoys spending a lot of time alone, that’s okay, but a balance of independence and time with peer interaction is important for language development. You as a parent should not be the only language model for your kid - they should also be learning language from other children. 

4. Challenge: Background noise seems constant.

   This goes hand in hand with points 1 and 2: With opportunities for distraction everywhere, intentional & slow conversations are important.

   Solution: Create space for quiet. In 2025, you have to actively create space. It doesn't happen naturally. My opinion is that this slow, quieter time is also just good for our souls in general.

Here’s the big idea on my mind:

Kids develop healthy language skills by having opportunities to intentionally engage with others. These intentional opportunities for conversations and language development are threatened by constant busy-ness in 2025. You don't have to throw out the TV or overhaul your entire calendar. Instead, make sure moments of meaningful engagement with your child are happening every day, even when life feels busy.

Thanks for reading this email. We were pleasantly surprised by how many people shared our last one and invited their friends to subscribe. We’d love to get this newsletter in front of 100 parents (or grandparents) in the next few weeks. Please keep sharing it if you find it valuable! (link is at the bottom ⬇️)

Have a great week,

Casey

Bonus language development tip:

If your toddler is loving reading the same book over and over (and over)…. Take advantage of that. Focus on different themes or categories each time you read it.

Example: In Brown Bear, Brown Bear you might focus on the colors of the animals one night, then the size of the animals the next, then the features (paws, wings, etc.) of animals on a different night. This can change things up for you and your kiddo!