Toddlers to get talking lessons

I Can, the charity behind the scheme, said the amount of time young children spend watching TV has damaged their ability to communicate.

One in ten children across the UK has a communication disability, and 50 per cent of children are entering primary school with impoverished language.

The Early Talk programme will be offered to families at 200 children's centres across England. The programme uses signing, gestures, symbols and pictures to expand children's vocabulary.

Parents will be taught how to interact with their children using speaking and listening skills. The programme will also provide specialist speech therapy training for all staff.

Clare Geldard, of I Can, said there are fears over the growing number of children with speech difficulties. "There are suggestions that this is because very young children are watching a lot of TV and videos," she added.

"If a child is not talking before they go to school, they won't be able to springboard into academic learning.

"Half of them will become frustrated at not being able to understand instructions and express themselves. They will be labelled naughty children.

"The remainder will withdraw and nobody will notice that they have a problem until much later."

Research from I Can suggests children who can't speak properly are at greater risk of dropping out of school and being unemployed by age 16.

Meanwhile, parents who teach their children at home may be subjected to tighter controls after the Government issued the first guidelines on regulating home education.