Ms Rachel: 100 First Words

Written by Ms Rachel (Ladybird)

Age 0-4

This bright board book is an easy way to teach your little ones their first 100 words.

Includes 100 words and visually stimulating photos for toddlers to read, look at and learn. Researched and written by YouTube personality and educator Ms Rachel, fans will recognise familiar characters and gestures from their favourite videos.

The 100 intuitive and simple words and photos are set around the home, outdoors, playtime, food, vehicles and more. The familiar words and images help with recognition while the chunky pages mean little fingers can keep the pages turning.

With plenty of helpful tips and advice on speech development, it’s perfect for grown-ups looking for support about this important milestone in their child’s learning journey.

Who is Ms Rachel?

Ms. Rachel (Rachel Griffin Accurso) started her Songs for Littles series when she noticed her son had a significant speech delay. She battled to find media resources for him, and decided to create her own.  As a preschool teacher and mother, she wanted to create a slow-paced, interactive show with a focus on language development that incorporated techniques from her son’s speech therapist, and thought it could help other children as well.

Watch her You Tube videos here. 

If you’re on the fence and don’t want your child to watch more screens, read this article on why Ms Rachel uses a high pitched voice and hand gestures – they all have a purpose and meaning. Ultimately, the message is to use her books and videos as tools – the best work comes from one-on-one time with your child. 

When to worry about delayed speech

Many years ago, when my daughter was slow to speak at age 18 months, I was concerned.  On advice from my GP, we took her to have her hearing checked and then we consulted an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat specialist). It emerged she had been suffering from recurring ear infections which we had never picked up on, as she never complained (I still feel bad about this!).

Fluid buildup in the middle ear can cause temporary, fluctuating hearing loss, making it harder for children to hear, understand, and imitate sounds accurately during the critical development stages. My daughter would try to say words but had poor pronunciation and a small vocabularly.

Speech Therapy

Once undergoing an operation to insert grommits, we began weekly sessions of speech therapy for around a year.  Her hearing improved once we put in grommits and she began to pick up words, but it was a testing time, especially because I had just gone back to work and felt so guilty we hadn’t picked up on it immediately.

I’m glad I listened to my instincts when many said, leave her, she’ll learn in her own time.  Of course some children do take their time to learn, and often when there’s an older sibling doing all the talking, they have less need to make themselves heard. If you are at all concerned, take your child to a speech and hearing therapist and check out their hearing. This is a good article with an overview of what they should be able to say at their different milestones.

And remember, don’t panic, early intervention will set your child on the right path. My daughter caught up quickly and today she is a very chatty, eloquent young woman who won many Speech and Drama awards during school!