Let’s talk about grammar!

Lots of wee ones don’t use correct grammar when they are learning to talk. They may say things like “Look at the mouses”, “me need the toilet”, “I felled” or use he/she/his/her incorrectly. This is part of normal language development, but there are ways to help them get their grammar right 😄

Try these strategies to help your child get all the little bits of their talking just right…

1. Model: When the child says something that is grammatically incorrect, model to them the correct way of saying the sentence (e.g. child: “Me want to go home” adult: “I want to go home”)

2. Story Books: Reading books helps model correct grammar use.

3. Play: In play ask the child what is happening, what just happened or what might happen next (e.g. adult: “What is the baby doing?” child: “The baby is sleeping”; adult: Makes teddy jump and asks, “What did Teddy just do?” child: “Teddy jumped”; adult: “What will the dog do next?” child: “The dog will go to sleep”)

4. Telling Stories: Encourage the child to tell you the story in a book using the pictures. The child will usually produce a simple sentence which will enable you to model the correct grammar if it is said incorrectly. The more the child practices telling the same story the more they will pick up on your models and improve their grammar in their story telling.

5. Pronouns: When a child is learning about the pronouns ‘he/she’, explain to the child that “He is a boy and she is a girl”. You can then find pictures of boys and girls doing different actions and say a sentence about each picture (e.g. “He is jumping” or “She is laughing”)

6. Pronoun ‘I’: When helping the child to learn how to use the pronoun “I” engage the child in different requesting activities where they have to ask for items (e.g. Mr Potato Head, puzzles, snack time, choosing a DVD, posting blocks)

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