This post will continue the discussion for the area of learning - Communication. We will be looking at the component, Expressive Language, with the learning expectation - Participates in conversations. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first performance indicator for this component is: Knows and can say first and last name. For the first name this performance indicator can usually be picked up through life experience. Most normally developing children have heard their name enough to be able to say it on their own. If they cannot say their first name by the time they are 3 years olds, developmental testing should be employed. Even those children with lagging language skills can still say their name by 3 years old even if they cannot say much else. The last name, however, can be a little tricky. The family dynamic that many childcare providers see now involves children with a different last name than their mother and sometimes a different last name than their siblings. In some cases, a mother will have 3 or 4 children that all have a different last name. I am not going to comment on the reasons for this trend. That is a post for another day. However, because the last name does not have the same significance that it had 20 or 30 years ago, it becomes necessary to actually work with the child on their full name. Many times the parents do not really work on this because of the different dynamic. They often do not want to overemphasize the difference in last names until it becomes necessary for school. When I was growing up, we often referred to our family by our last name. That helped us develop the same sense for our last name as our first name. Families rarely do this anymore.
The second performance indicator for this component is: Likes to recite nursery rhymes or books with rhyming patterns. This particular performance indicator takes for granted that children are exposed to nursery rhymes or have been read to on a regular basis. Both assumptions tend to be the exception instead of the norm. Instead, I often assume a child has had no experience with nursery rhymes or books and plan accordingly. Even with professional parents, you cannot assume they have had a rich language environment. Like many other childcare professionals, I go off the assumption that if they do not get it from me, they will not get it at all. It is not just the childcare professionals that have come to this conclusion. Pediatricians now ask parents to read to their children as part of the well baby check-ups on top of all the other recommendations. It seems many professionals finally realize that we are massively failing our children in the language development department. Make nursery rhymes and books with rhyming schemes part of your daily schedule, and you will see this particular performance indicator emerge in your childcare even if it has to happen beyond the age of 3 years old.
The third performance indicator involves: Asks "who," "why," and "where" questions and continues to ask "what" questions. To be honest, I do not normally see "who," "why," and "where" questions until after children's 3rd birthday. Only the top 15% of children actually reach this particular performance indicator before their 3rd birthday. Language skills can be extremely diverse at this age. Some children do well just to reach the "wat's dat?" stage by the time they are 3 years old. If a child is not asking "what" questions by the time he/she is 3 years old, developmental testing would be advisable. These inquisitive questions emerge when a child reaches a certain level of language development. All that comes before must be covered first. A great percentage of children that come through my door immediately set off my developmental delay radar on language nowadays. I usually have to take the first 3 months of instruction to determine if an actual developmental delay does exist or they are simply language deprived. Remember a child with a true developmental delay will not pull up quickly with good instruction. A language deprived child will blossom after good instruction.
The fourth performance indicator for this component is: Names body parts. This particular performance indicator represents my beginning point with children regardless of age. With children I have had since 12 months old, I will begin body parts instruction at 18 months unless I have suspicions of developmental delay. I have found that body parts instruction is a good place to begin to determine whether or not a child has been language deprived. My body parts list covers much more than just the basics. Therefore, many 4 year olds that walk through the door do not know half the list. How much trouble they have learning the unfamiliar body parts gives me good clues as to where they stand on language and acquiring new language skills. If a child knows all my body parts on the first day, I know that child has a good language foundation.
The last performance indicator for this component is: Consistently uses 2 or 3 word sentences. Again, because children's language skills vary so widely at this age, many children will not reach this milestone until right at or after their 3rd birthday. I have a child that is 3 months from her 3rd birthday and is talking in paragraphs. I had another child that did not really start using 2 or 3 word sentences until about a week before his 3rd birthday. Now, if you caught the gender difference in those two examples, you caught a trend that is very real. Girls very often develop language skills far ahead of their male counterparts. However, this particular little girl probably falls within the top 5% of her age group for language. I have a 4-year old boy that is behind her in many ways on the language front. He came to us greatly behind, and we have been playing catch up since he arrived. This is one of the byproducts of one-on-one instruction at this place. I will very often have younger children way ahead of older children because they have been here longer and fall into the advanced/gifted range. Children progress with development according to their own biological make-up and according to their experiences. As teachers all we can do is provide rich language experiences, and then proceed according to the child's biological make-up.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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