Start wherever your question is
These pages are free, and each one answers a question parents actually ask me. Start with whichever matches where your child is right now. They are written to be read on a phone, in the ten minutes you have.
None of them can assess your child, and none of them replaces a conversation with someone who can see them. What they can do is tell you what is typical, what is worth watching, and what to try.
Your baby’s first year
What unfolds month by month, from the first smile through cooing and babbling to the first word, the five ways babies communicate before they can talk, and when it is worth asking someone.
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My toddler isn’t talking yet
What late talking means and what it does not mean, how to read a milestone checklist, what counts as a word, what to look at alongside the word count, things to try at home, and when to ask for an evaluation.
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Two languages at home
Whether growing up bilingual delays speech, how to count a bilingual child’s words, why mixing languages in one sentence is normal, and when a delay is not about the languages at all.
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Screens before two
What the guidance actually says now, why babies learn language from people rather than from video, why a video call is the exception, and what to do if screens are already part of your day.
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From scribbles to early writing
The lines, loops and rows of little symbols that arrive before letters, how children work out that writing is different from drawing, and what is worth doing about a page your child hands you.
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Activities that build language
Ten simple things to do at home using what you already own, each one an ordinary bit of play with the words to use while you do it.
Read this →A few things worth knowing before you read any of them
Children reach these things at very different times
Every age on these pages describes a wide range, and the spread inside it is bigger than most parents expect. A child sitting at the later edge of a range is still inside it. What matters more than any single date is whether things are moving.
A delay is not something a parent caused
It is not caused by talking too little, by saying the wrong thing, or by using more than one language at home. The way you talk with your child can support their language. It is not a test of how good a parent you are.
Asking early is never the wrong move
An evaluation is not a commitment to anything that follows, and plenty of parents come away reassured. If something feels off to you, that is reason enough to ask.
If you want it all in one place
These pages each answer one question. From Babbling Baby to Talking Toddler is the whole picture in order, from the sounds before words through the sentences after them, with practical ways to support language during everyday routines and six printable pages to keep track. It is written for general parent education, and it does not replace an individual evaluation.
About the guide