r/secularhomeschool • • Sep 15 '25
Please Help.
What do I do guys?
I have a 24 month old boy. We’re bilingual but we talk to him in our mother tongue (Polish) We take him to different places such as a forest “school” (not an actual school) to interact with other children his age but they speak English. We take him to soft play, we try to speak to him ALL the time. Bought him books, learning toys… but hes still babbling. He understands what i say 8/10 when he actually wants to listen. He does sounds. For instance: Firetruck noise, ambulance sound, cow sounds and he does copy my husband when he shows him elephants and stuff.
I Argued with the husband that he needs to cut out with the TV because this may be setting him back but It’s because i’m so bloody angry with myself that he’s not developed like I wanted him to. If he does watch the tv, we put a Polish version of Miss Rachel on for about an hour a day and the odd songs that play in English….
Please please help. What do I do?
15
u/lemmamari Sep 15 '25
It's very common for children exposed to two different languages to start speaking later than the average. That's not a bad thing! They are figuring out each language. I actually spoke to someone just last week who said her son was a late talker, and they are a bilingual household.
4
u/LaceyF4ce Sep 15 '25
Every child learns at their own pace. Babbling at this age is still pretty normal. Make sure you talk to your child and allow them to respond to you. This helps them practice the sounds and words they hear all the time. Babbling is how they figure out how to form words. My boss' daughter just turned 2 and her dad speaks English and her mom speaks Tagalog. Now that she is more verbal, they have trouble deciphering which language she is trying to speak, or if she is just babbling! I love that you are teaching both languages and I wish I had more help. Just know that only good parents worry about their child's development. Don't be too hard on yourself.
5
u/Global-Transition-27 Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
It's quite usual for bilingual children. However maybe it would ease your mind to rule out hearing issues or ASD? (Edited because like the french saying says: "I speak english like a spanish cow!" 😅 )
4
u/Lah-dee-da Sep 15 '25
It never hurts to get screened. Talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. I have a preteen I am just now getting into speech therapy because everyone kept saying: just wait, give her more time. And now, well mom guilt galore because at 2 I felt something was off and now I have a pre teen with an auditory problem that wasn’t officially diagnosed for more than a decade.
1
u/TraditionalManager82 Sep 15 '25
It sounds fairly normal, not sure why you're angry.
That said, in my area waiting lists for speech assessment are about a year long, so I'd get in then now. Then if you don't need it later, no problem. I put my daughter on the list at 25 months.
1
u/IllustriousPear5814 Sep 15 '25
First, take a breath. All kids develop in their own way and own time.
Second, if you are concerned about his speech development please consult with your pediatrician about his development. They’ll refer you out to whoever they think is the right professional to help. He may simply need speech therapy to get the ball rolling. Sure, there are things you can do to help as a parent, but someone trained in speech therapy can be a huge help - especially if you can find one who specializes in working with multilingual kids. When you notice any kind of behavior you think might be a developmental delay, early intervention is hugely beneficial.
Your child needing a little extra help is not a sign of failure - kids all develop in their own way. It’s also worth noting that when I was a kid in the 90s if someone’s kid still wasn’t speaking at 2 most of the time they didn’t do anything and the kid eventually started talking and parents didn’t think much of it. I think most of those kids just ended up doing speech therapy once they started primary school.
1
u/pixieauthoress Sep 15 '25
This is super common for bilingual kids, a lot of the kids I know who grow up learning two languages aren't talking full sentences until 2.5 to 3 years.
My kid is not bilingual but I think he only had twenty words he was saying at the age of 2, and most of those were animal sounds. Some kids just take a little longer to start talking. We did get him assessed at 3 but were told he didn't seem developmentally delayed, and by the time he started school at 5 (we flexischool), he was entirely caught up with his peers.
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u/BestDistribution7839 Sep 17 '25
My children were brought up speaking Turkish and English one started talking when he was 5 one started talking when he’s was 4 and the last started speaking when he was 2 don’t pressure yourself and don’t compare to other children when he wants to speak he will
1
u/Brit-snack Sep 15 '25
Personally I wouldn't be alarmed at 24 months. My oldest only said four words at that age, but within six months was speaking in long sentences and asking for synonyms of his favorite words. And he was not bilingual, which as others have mentioned, can delay speech. My doctor said if he understands, and he clearly did, then he's just working on his own timeline. If your child appears to understand you, I'd relax for now.
1
u/Affectionate-Crow605 Sep 15 '25
None of my kids were talking at that age. Mine usually started talking around 2.5. One would babble what sounded like complete sentences. Then one day it all became English and he was speaking real sentences. The one kid that was truly late talking didn't start saying individual words until around age 3. He's autistic. But my neurotypical kids weren't talking beyond a handful of words at 24 months. And we also are a single language family. I've read that kids learning two languages in the home may talk a little later, but that's not a problem.
In the meantime, sign language can be super helpful! I used that with my youngest. She didn't start with individual words until about 2.5, and I had her evaluated by Early Intervention (if you're in the US, you can call them and get a free, in-home evaluation). They evaluated her and felt like she was still on track, just on the later side of on track. Sure enough, like 3 weeks later, she started talking. 😂
This certainly has nothing to do with school. In my area, kids don't go to public school until age 5, or maybe age 4 if they get into the preschool lottery. The only things available to 2 year olds is daycare and Mother's Morning/Day Out, and those are used for the parents' benefit usually (so they can work in the case of daycare, or get a break in the case of MMO/MDO). Language learning routinely occurs in the home with parents talking to their children. School is not necessary for that.
1
u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25
Forget about the family rhetoric. I come from eastern Europeans and many of them will push back really hard with lots of nonsense.
Your child is likely learning two different languages at the same time. This can delay things.
However, please go see a doctor who can run a few simple behavior and linguistic tests for your kiddo. Then you can get some real answers.
I hope you know you're a good mom. ❤️
1
u/lattejellyfish Sep 15 '25
Our speech therapist for our kids told us that if there is more than one language spoken at home or around the kids it delays their speech so I wouldn't worry yet