From the author: Back to school soon. The Year 1 holiday ends in a few weeks/months for some children and their parents. The reason is delayed speech development. These are the consequences of ignoring or “we didn’t know” the development of a child’s speech during age periods determined by nature. Don't be late! In the period from 0 to 5 years, the development and formation of speech occurs. At this time, the brain intensively develops and its functions are formed. For various reasons, there may be a delay in the development of certain areas of the brain. This can be corrected and “developed.” It is important to notice this and contact a specialist. The functions of the central nervous system are easily trained during the period of their natural formation. Without training, the development of these functions is delayed and may even stop forever. By the age of three, the anatomical maturation of the speech areas of the brain is basically completed, the child accumulates a large vocabulary for communication, uses generalization words: many, few, one, animals, birds, dishes. Uses the main parts of speech: the puppy is fluffy, the tree is tall, the cat is meowing, the water is cold, hen and chicken. At 3-4 years old it is considered normal if sound pronunciation is distorted, hissing and sonorant sounds are absent. The child pronounces some words distorted. The child remembers the text of his favorite fairy tales/poems/stories and produces them verbatim, but does not retell them. Looking at simple plot pictures, the child understands their meaning. During this period, the child learns about the world not only visually. He is ready to hear verbal explanations from adults. Quite often we hear from parents: “We were told that now all children start talking late. We weren’t worried.” In this case, by the age of 6.5 years, will the child be able to cope with the school curriculum and perceive educational material without difficulty? More likely “no” than “yes”! Practical experience confirms this. It will be difficult for a child to master written language. The consequences appear already in the first grade, when the child writes with errors, misses letters, cannot remember the correct form of letters and words, etc. Unfortunately, here too, parents waste time by shifting responsibility to someone else. or. “We thought that the little one would get stronger and grow up over the summer, and in the second/third/fourth grade everything would work out,” some parents say after asking for help. A child cannot cope with this on his own without the help of adults! With each lost year, it becomes more and more difficult for him, and sometimes it is already impossible to correct something. Speech is a tool for the development of the higher parts of the human psyche, which is formed during a certain age period. By developing a child’s speech, we develop intelligence and prepare the conditions for successful learning at school. Delayed speech development at the initial age stages is compensated by the great work of the child and the specialist; if time is lost, and sometimes this is impossible, “the train has left”! It is important to understand that parents bear responsibility for the physical and mental development of their child. Not grandparents, educators and teachers, doctors and other specialists, but PARENTS! Where to start? Realize that the child’s first year is a preparatory stage for the period of speech acquisition. Recommendations for parents: From the first days of life, surround the child with a full-fledged speech environment, but NOT cartoons, audio or video recordings. The child needs to see articulation and hear words corresponding to this articulation. While the baby is awake, talk to him slowly “eye to eye”, give him the opportunity to see your face, move your lips and hear at the same time. Speak to the child in a gentle and cheerful voice, slowly, clearly, correctly, name your actions and objects. Talk about what you are doing, what is happening now, what events you are going through with him. Encourage any attempts by the baby to speak. If adults do not listen to the child or fulfill his every wish in anticipation, without encouraging him to verbally express his desire, then the child will not