Ms Rachel and Early Language Development

Ms. Rachel is a YouTube sensation who so many families and children adore. And it makes sense! She's warm, full of energy, fun and engaging. She uses strategies and approaches that can support language development for many young children, making her a great option for families who want to put a show on for their children to watch. 

What makes Ms. Rachel so engaging, from my lens as a speech therapist?

She uses many intentional and supportive strategies and techniques to help kids develop new words. Many of these strategies are similar to the approach a speech therapist would take in an early language speech therapy session. The strategies and approaches Ms Rachel uses include:

• Repeating one- word multiple times in a meaningful context

• Using rich intonation in her speech, which captures a child's attention and allows her to emphasize particular words

• Leaving ample wait time for the child to fill in the word

• Incorporating gestures and sign language to support the development of spoken words

• Showing visual and verbal cues to guide children to say new sounds and words (e.g., pointing to her lips)

• Incorporating music and movement, which is supportive of language development

• Utilizing toys that are exciting and engaging for children

Do I recommend Ms. Rachel as a way to teach kids "how to talk?"

The quick answer is no, nothing can replace the value of face-to-face learning. As much as Ms. Rachel does a great job engaging children using all the strategies listed above, including asking questions, leaving a waiting period for kids to provide an answer, and modeling language intentionally, she cannot individualize support to the needs of every child. I think her channel is great as a program to watch for enriching entertainment and children can certainly learn from it, but it cannot replace in-person interactions. It certainly should not be used as a substitute for speech therapy if a child is delayed in talking. 

Let's talk about Ms. Rachel and Gestalt Language Processors.

Because Gestalt Language Processors and Analytic Language Processors develop language differently, our approach to interacting with them and modeling language for them must also differ. I've shared before about the different types of language development- Analytic Language Development and Gestalt Language Development, so I'll link those here, here, and here. 

Gestalt Language Processors are nicknamed "intonation babies" because they are often very attuned to the melody and intonation of language. Many times, the first language or sounds we hear from a GLP are from a familiar song. 

Many of the GLPs I work with are huge Ms Rachel fans and that becomes immediately apparent to me from the rich intonation they use that matches her approach in videos. 

GLPs love her for many of the reasons I listed above, but given the nature of how we know GLPs develop language, her use of rich intonation and the way she incorporates music into her episodes are at the forefront of the reasons why her videos are so engaging and memorable to them. Her language sticks with gestalt language processors because it is often so meaningful to them. As a reminder from one of my other blogs- gestalt language processors pick up language from meaningful contexts, so if the language that Ms. Rachel uses in her shows is especially fun, exciting, or silly it is more likely to stick with the gestalt language processor and be used as "delayed echolalia".

Her tone, intonation, and the structure of her episodes are so distinct and engaging that I can often tell right away when a new GLP client of mine is using language from one of her episodes, even if I haven't seen the episode!

Is it a bad thing that Gestalt Language Processors often use language from Ms. Rachel's episodes?

Not necessarily! I always encourage families of gestalt language processors who are in the beginning stages of language development (Stage 1 of NLA) to lean into the sources of their child's gestalts. There is something about the language they are using that's meaningful to them and we want to acknowledge and encourage that!

Ms. Rachel is just so good at picking toys! ;)

Speech therapists choose toys that are engaging, will encourage repetition of meaningful, developmentally appropriate words, and are versatile. It just so happens that Ms. Rachel uses many of these same toys in her episodes. For Analytic Language Processors, the way she models language with the toys is helpful, but for gestalt language processors, although it's engaging, it's not the most helpful way of modeling language.

When supporting a GLP in Stage 1 of their development the goal is to model gestalts that can be later broken down and mixed and matched. Oftentimes, Ms Rachel's language is challenging to break down and mix and match in later stages, because it's too short and/or includes prompts and questions like "Say..." or "Do you see the..."  Here is an example: 

• When taking animals out of a safari truck, she models the word "out" multiple times by singing: "Say out, say out say oooooout!"

• Language that would be more helpful to model for a gestalt language processor to express "out" would be something like: "Let's take it out!" or "Time to go out" or "It goes out!"  

So, sometimes when I bring toys to a session with a gestalt language processor who is also a Ms. Rachel fan, they already have language associated with the toy that is meaningful and engaging to them. This makes it more challenging to model gestalts which would be helpful in future stages of their language development. It doesn't mean that I won't bring these toys in the future, but requires me to shift my approach to sessions by acknowledging the gestalts they've already established related to the toys and gradually modeling new gestalts that will eventually be more supportive of their language growth, while also being meaningful to them!

In conclusion, I really like Ms Rachel! It's clear she and her team understand analytic language development and have created a thoughtful, intentional program that is beloved by many children and families. As a speech therapist who often works with gestalt language processors, I've observed many kids use language from her shows that is not as ideal for their language development and so sometimes our work is focused on providing different gestalts that can be more easily broken down.

If not Ms Rachel for GLPs, then who?!

As an alternative to Ms. Rachel, I often recommend checking out Playtime with Tor! She's a speech therapist creating videos with gestalt language development in mind.