Speech & Language Development

Speech and Language groups:

(also called Ginger Bear groups after the teddy who helps in the sessions)

How to encourage talking at home…

Use the strategy of pausing for quieter children - Count to at least 6 in your head to give the child time to think about a comment or question and answer you

Use the strategy of modelling. When a child says something incorrectly repeat back the correct model without expecting the child to repeat it. Eg child: I runned fast. Adult: ‘ you ran fast’

Use the strategy of expanding. If a child uses shorter sentences than his/her peers repeat back their answer and add a word or short phrase eg child: snake. Adult: yes a long, green snake

Use encouraging words eg mmm, I see, lovely, go on etc to encourage your child to say more without interrupting their flow of thoughts.

Try not to ask too many questions. An open question will encourage the child to say more but if the child is struggling a yes/no question will be easier to answer generally. What? Where? and who? questions are easier to answer than When? How? Why?

Accept and praise a child’s attempts to communicate

Help your child practise re-telling a story or the main ideas from a television programme.

Develop reasoning skills through discussion with a child. Eg discuss what happened, what might happen, how do you know, conclusions and why etc.

Give the child practise at asking questions – we ask lots of questions to children but don’t always provide opportunities to reverse this role.

Help your child learn new words by talking about interesting things together

Developing talking through every day activities:

For example… making a jam sandwich……

Vocabulary (words) your child could learn:

Fruits:      blackcurrant             strawberry                apricot

Colours:    purple       red      yellow    brown      white

Textures:     bumpy       smooth     soft     crusty    crumbly    nutty

Tastes:    sweet        juicy         fruity       tasty

Objects:    jar, glass, lid, label, knife, plate, slice, loaf, jam, bread

Actions:      spread, eat, make, scrape, unscrew, cut, turn, choose

Put the words in a sentence for your child to hear whilst you are making the sandwich

"Spread the jam on the bread” “cut the slice in half"

“you’ve made a red, fruity jam sandwich!”

Developing talking through every day activities:

For example… making a jam sandwich……

What did the children say?

Saron: I spread it out

Riley: It tastes of strawberry

Hollie: You put jam on

Tafara: I like strawberry jam

Baielee: I make apricot jam sandwich

Kenton: I like strawberry

Mohammad: Delicious….it’s sticky

Shannon: Tastes nice

Amelia: I like jam

Talking Targets:

• At 3 years I can …..  
• Enjoy make believe play
• Ask what? Where? Questions
• Use 4-5 words together

At 4 years I can …..

• Ask who? Questions
• Use his / her ; she / he
• Link ideas together using ‘and’

At 5 years I can …..          

• Answer why? How? Questions
• Understand instructions
• Take turns in longer conversations

At 6 years I can …..

• Use talk to describe and compare
• Sequence up to 5 pictures and talk about them
• Understand and use descriptive
• words eg slowly, carefully

At 7 years I can …..

• Use talk to solve problems
• Listen to information carefully and answer questions about it
• Use talk to plan and collaborate