In this post we will switch gears to cognitive development from language development. We will be looking at the area of learning, Math, with two of the components with their learning expectations and performance indicators. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first component we will discuss is Numbers. The first learning expectation for this component is: Continues to build understanding of quantity and size. Its performance indicator is: Makes requests for "more" in a variety of situations; begins to compare size by using words such as big, little, small. This learning expectation and performance indicator assume a great deal of previous exposure which many children do not receive. While the concept of "more" and asking for "more" is probably one of the first lessons American children learn, comparing size can be an entirely different matter. They might understand one is bigger than the other, but many children do not have the language background to assign the right word to the comparison at this age. This is one of the first areas I begin to work on when they come in the door and sometimes 3 and 4 year olds do not have the language understanding to assign the right word to comparisons. You cannot assume children will pick this up from everyday conversation anymore. You must show them big, little, and small if you want them to actually know what these words mean.
The second learning expectation for the component Numbers is: Begins to count by rote. The performance indicator for this one is: Participates in songs and finger plays involving counting. Some children in this country get exposure to songs and finger plays that teach rote counting and some do not. Those that have previous experience do participate in these types of songs during group times or at home. Those that do not have previous experience with these types of songs usually pay no attention, act out, or do other things while you are singing such songs. Exposure, exposure, exposure to these types of songs cannot be overstated. Once a child becomes familiar with these types of songs, it becomes incredibly easier to get them to participate. Make sure that children see and hear you, the adult, count a lot whether it is in songs, finger plays, or just plain old counting objects. Rote counting is learned by modeling.
Now we will move on to the next component - Patterns. The learning expectation for this component is: Continues to understand the relationship between objects, solving simple jigsaw puzzles and matching similar objects. The first performance indicator for this one is: Completes 3-4 piece puzzles. Again, this assumes a great deal of previous experience that many many children do not get today. Trying to get some children to do puzzles can be downright difficult. Even the chunky puzzles can be a challenge for this age group when they have never tried to do puzzles before this point. Some of the problem stems from immature fine motor skills for many children these days. The type of play that developed fine motor skills in previous generations has been traded for screen time, and our children are paying a heavy price for it. Puzzles is one of those things that develops fine motor skills, spatial sense, among a host of other things. They are important. The hissy fits over puzzles became so bad at my childcare that I had to make puzzles a lesson unto themselves. It took months to get some children to develop skill with puzzles and believe me, the wailing and gnashing of teeth that ensued when I handed out puzzles for group time was unbelievable. I still have puzzles as one of my rotating lessons because they touch on not only academic skills, but they also work some character issues that children seem to have lost nowadays as well. Puzzles take attention, patience, persistence, etc, which are all character traits some adults nowadays do not have.
The last performance indicator we will cover in this post is: Begins to point out the differences in objects rather than the similarities. This performance indicator assumes that children point out the similarities. Some children do notice similarities at this age and some do not. Some children have a hard time noticing much of anything. I have noticed a serious uptick in children with focusing issues and attention problems. In order to notice similarities and differences, a child must be able to focus and pay attention. Of course, this is also something that can be improved with practice. If you have children that tend not to notice much of anything, begin to point out similarities first, and when they conquer similarities, begin to point out differences. Some children do not understand that paying attention to detail is even necessary. Until you begin to point this out to them, they just plod through life in their own little world. This is yet another area gravely affected by lack of play and too much screen time. Children used to notice everything and some still do. Sadly, more and more children notice very little of their surroundings until you begin to open their eyes to the world around them.
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
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Dealing with Children that Cannot Take Correction
This post will tackle a subject that some would say is completely unnecessary. Many in the early childhood world find correction too harsh and prefer redirection instead. However, correction and being able to take correction can mean the difference between being a truly successful person and one that never attempts anything. Adults must be able to take correction in order to fully function in this world. Therefore, to shelter children from correction sets them up for failure for the rest of their lives.
The Debate
This particular subject has come to be one of the hottest topics of debate of the last several years. Many in the early childhood world vehemently oppose correcting children. They feel that correction brings with it feelings of shame and worthlessness. They prefer to redirect children in a positive manner and guide them to good choices instead of pointing out bad choices. On the other side of this coin are those that believe we have completely ruined an entire generation by never letting them hear the word "no." This camp believes that facing failure and mistakes is the first step to growing as a person. Good choices flow from a person that has learned the difference between good and bad choices through correction and consequences. They believe redirecting children only postpones lessons that should be learned at young ages causing children to be incredibly immature and fragile emotionally.
Which camp has it right?
Since the redirection philosophy has been around long enough for us to have long-term effects, I think pretty much everyone knows the answer to that question. Almost every night on the news I hear about a study saying our children are more emotionally fragile than previous generations. Watching competitive shows on television also exposes this tendency for young adults to have a hard time dealing with correction. Those that cannot take direction have their dreams squashed very quickly. Seems that being corrected needs to be one of those hard-knock lessons everyone must go through to mature. If you do not know you have a problem, you can never change for the better. That is pure and simple logic, which constitutes another item many have completely thrown out the window.
The Importance of "No"
Now that we have established the necessity for correction, we will delve into the topic at hand. Before we can fix the children, we must first shut down the techniques that causes this problem in the first place. Number one, "no" is probably one of the most important words a child will ever hear. Responding to that word appropriately brings about more maturity than all the redirection in the world. Get some backbone, people, and start standing up to the little tyrants in your life and help them understand that "no" means "no" all the time. Start learning to ignore every manipulative ploy in children's arsenal, and help them become productive citizens of the world instead of victims.
The Importance of Resilience
Number two, quit thinking that your children are made of glass emotionally. In actuality, children tend to be rather resilient unless you teach them not to be. You teach them not to be resilient by instilling in them the fear that every little thing has the capacity to crush them emotionally. It's like when children fall down. If you react as if the world has come to an end, they will wail and cry as if you are right. If you do not overreact and wait to see if the child is truly hurt, then the child usually gets up and goes on with life unless they are truly injured. In our helicopter parenting world, we try to shield our children from every little bump and bruise when we really should not do that. Those bumps and bruises both physically and emotionally are the experiences that bring about maturity. Do not rescue them from what they need to become functioning adults.
Anger Management
What do you do with a child that has already developed an aversion to correction? Usually these children fall into two camps - the ones that get angry and the ones that fall apart. Both camps require different strategies. For the ones that get angry, you will need to work on anger management techniques that include how to respond to a "no' answer. At my childcare we talk about this one often because I have two that get angry when they do not get their way and one that gets angry sometimes when corrected. I teach them to take a deep breath and say "that's okay." Do they do this in the heat of the moment? Usually not, but when I remind them they do sometimes follow through with it because we have practiced. However, the heated moments following correction need more than just this technique. These children have to be reminded that correction is needed and necessary for everyone in the world. Calmly explain to the children that learning to accept correction means you are growing up. We must learn from our mistakes, and not get angry at the ones who correct us. If they did not love us, they would not bother. Children must understand that correction done properly is a loving gesture not a mean one.
The Difference between Nit-Picking and Correction
Before I move on the the other camp, I want to take a moment to differentiate between loving correction and nit-picking. Loving correction treats the child with respect. It should come off as "I know you can do better." Nit-picking and downright mean correction treats the child as if he/she is worthless. If you catch yourself degrading your child or treating him/her as if he/she can do nothing right, you might want to work on how you correct. Many in the redirection would say that all correction falls into the degrading camp, but it does not. When you treat a child as if they can do better but what they did misses the mark, you help them understand how to strive for goals and achieve them. We have to know we missed the mark in order to try harder next time. Redirection will never achieve that.
No Coddling
For the ones that fall apart when corrected, you might think those children need a more tender approach. Actually, that is backwards. They are like they are because they have been coddled. Further coddling only complicates the situation. This one can be compared to riding a horse. If you fall off, you have to get back on and try again. If you sit on the ground and cry, you will never ride the horse. We cannot let them sit in the floor and bellyache. These children need prodding to get back on the horse and try again. How that is accomplished will vary from child to child, but tough love needs to be present. These children must understand that it is not appropriate to come unglued every time something does not go their way or work like it is supposed to work. If we do not teach these children persistence, they will never be able to set goals and reach them. We will be setting them up for a life of failure. Stop coddling them.
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
The Debate
This particular subject has come to be one of the hottest topics of debate of the last several years. Many in the early childhood world vehemently oppose correcting children. They feel that correction brings with it feelings of shame and worthlessness. They prefer to redirect children in a positive manner and guide them to good choices instead of pointing out bad choices. On the other side of this coin are those that believe we have completely ruined an entire generation by never letting them hear the word "no." This camp believes that facing failure and mistakes is the first step to growing as a person. Good choices flow from a person that has learned the difference between good and bad choices through correction and consequences. They believe redirecting children only postpones lessons that should be learned at young ages causing children to be incredibly immature and fragile emotionally.
Which camp has it right?
Since the redirection philosophy has been around long enough for us to have long-term effects, I think pretty much everyone knows the answer to that question. Almost every night on the news I hear about a study saying our children are more emotionally fragile than previous generations. Watching competitive shows on television also exposes this tendency for young adults to have a hard time dealing with correction. Those that cannot take direction have their dreams squashed very quickly. Seems that being corrected needs to be one of those hard-knock lessons everyone must go through to mature. If you do not know you have a problem, you can never change for the better. That is pure and simple logic, which constitutes another item many have completely thrown out the window.
The Importance of "No"
Now that we have established the necessity for correction, we will delve into the topic at hand. Before we can fix the children, we must first shut down the techniques that causes this problem in the first place. Number one, "no" is probably one of the most important words a child will ever hear. Responding to that word appropriately brings about more maturity than all the redirection in the world. Get some backbone, people, and start standing up to the little tyrants in your life and help them understand that "no" means "no" all the time. Start learning to ignore every manipulative ploy in children's arsenal, and help them become productive citizens of the world instead of victims.
The Importance of Resilience
Number two, quit thinking that your children are made of glass emotionally. In actuality, children tend to be rather resilient unless you teach them not to be. You teach them not to be resilient by instilling in them the fear that every little thing has the capacity to crush them emotionally. It's like when children fall down. If you react as if the world has come to an end, they will wail and cry as if you are right. If you do not overreact and wait to see if the child is truly hurt, then the child usually gets up and goes on with life unless they are truly injured. In our helicopter parenting world, we try to shield our children from every little bump and bruise when we really should not do that. Those bumps and bruises both physically and emotionally are the experiences that bring about maturity. Do not rescue them from what they need to become functioning adults.
Anger Management
What do you do with a child that has already developed an aversion to correction? Usually these children fall into two camps - the ones that get angry and the ones that fall apart. Both camps require different strategies. For the ones that get angry, you will need to work on anger management techniques that include how to respond to a "no' answer. At my childcare we talk about this one often because I have two that get angry when they do not get their way and one that gets angry sometimes when corrected. I teach them to take a deep breath and say "that's okay." Do they do this in the heat of the moment? Usually not, but when I remind them they do sometimes follow through with it because we have practiced. However, the heated moments following correction need more than just this technique. These children have to be reminded that correction is needed and necessary for everyone in the world. Calmly explain to the children that learning to accept correction means you are growing up. We must learn from our mistakes, and not get angry at the ones who correct us. If they did not love us, they would not bother. Children must understand that correction done properly is a loving gesture not a mean one.
The Difference between Nit-Picking and Correction
Before I move on the the other camp, I want to take a moment to differentiate between loving correction and nit-picking. Loving correction treats the child with respect. It should come off as "I know you can do better." Nit-picking and downright mean correction treats the child as if he/she is worthless. If you catch yourself degrading your child or treating him/her as if he/she can do nothing right, you might want to work on how you correct. Many in the redirection would say that all correction falls into the degrading camp, but it does not. When you treat a child as if they can do better but what they did misses the mark, you help them understand how to strive for goals and achieve them. We have to know we missed the mark in order to try harder next time. Redirection will never achieve that.
No Coddling
For the ones that fall apart when corrected, you might think those children need a more tender approach. Actually, that is backwards. They are like they are because they have been coddled. Further coddling only complicates the situation. This one can be compared to riding a horse. If you fall off, you have to get back on and try again. If you sit on the ground and cry, you will never ride the horse. We cannot let them sit in the floor and bellyache. These children need prodding to get back on the horse and try again. How that is accomplished will vary from child to child, but tough love needs to be present. These children must understand that it is not appropriate to come unglued every time something does not go their way or work like it is supposed to work. If we do not teach these children persistence, they will never be able to set goals and reach them. We will be setting them up for a life of failure. Stop coddling them.
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
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Language Development for 2 and 1/2 to 3 year olds - Communication (Part 6)
This post will finish the discussion for the area of learning - Communication. We will finish the component - Speech and do the last 4 performance indicators for the learning expectation: Speech is understood by most familiar adults. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first performance indicator is: Uses most of the consonants in our language. With the extremely wide range of language skills for this age group that can be present, conquering this one depends greatly on that level of skill. However, there is a way to test even children that are not using a lot of language yet - babble games. Children as young as 12 months old can participate to some degree with babble games. In fact, because we can no longer rely on everyday conversation exposure to ensure language development, babble games should be a part of every toddler curriculum. I have had so many speech issues walk through my door in recent years. Some have been so bad that they have immediately put up my autism radar. I use babble games with 3 and 4 year olds that have difficulty with many consonant sounds. If you do not understand what I mean by babble games, it is when you say a consonant sound over and over and over. Young toddlers love this game and will study you intently until they figure out how to make the sound you are making. Older children actually have a harder time with this game because they have engrained patterns to overcome. Some speech problems stem from lazy habits rather than actual difficulty in pronouncing sounds. Breaking bad habits can be as difficult as dealing with children that have physical reasons for their speech problems. Again, let me say that it is your responsibility as early childhood educators to work with children to improve their speech rather than think their quirks are cute. Sometimes if you do not do it, no one else will until they reach school age and have to have speech therapy.
The next performance indicator is: Majority (about 75%) of speech is understandable; family may understand child better than a stranger. In reality I am only seeing about 25% of children reach this performance indicator by age 3. By age 4 most children have reached this particular performance indicator. We really are having a speech crisis in the early childhood arena of the United States. Some of it is caused by lack of experience with language due to digital electronic use by parents. Some of it is caused by overuse of sippee cups in toddler years. In case you did not know, drinking from a normal cup starting around the age of 18 months is extremely important for the development of the muscles in the mouth. Overuse of sippee cups after the age of 18 months will cause underdevelopment of those muscles and therefore cause the children to have speech issues. Early childhood programs and stay-at-home parents must be proactive about developing language in the children we keep. Give these children rich language environments. Surround them with words and give them ample opportunity to use language as well as hear it.
Next on our list is: May have a "normal non-fluent" period where sounds, words, or phrases are repeated; not to be confused with stuttering. I call this period the "spit it out" period where they seem to get stuck on a word and cannot seem to finish what they are saying. Sometimes this is caused by their brain going faster than their mouth, and they lose track of where they are. Sometimes, they become fascinated with the sound of a word and say it over and over losing track of their original thought. Playing with words and sounds should be greatly encouraged at this age. The more a child pays attention to sounds and words, the more fluent that child will become in speech and language. It may be a little frustrating to try to follow a conversation with a child in this period, but do not worry about the repetition. It is a temporary phase that will go away with time and practice. I will say also that you may see this phase in older children that have been slow to mature in language. With older children, you might want to help them maintain their train of thought more than you would a 2 and 1/2 year old.
The last performance indicator for this learning expectations is: May have some difficulty saying certain sounds that are more complicated to produce e.g., (s), (z), (sh), (ch), (r), (er), (l), (th). This list is by no means all inclusive. I have had children have trouble with nearly every consonant sound. It can vary widely. When 2 and 1/2 year olds have difficulty with sounds, you need not necessarily intervene. When 3 year olds have difficulty with certain sounds, you need to start gently intervening. When 4 year olds have difficulty with certain sounds, it is definitely a speech issue by that point if you have been gently intervening since they were 3 years old. Even if you have not been gently intervening with this child and they are new to your program, at 4 years old it is time to work harder on learning to say the different sounds. My best advice before you start working with children's speech is to sit and ponder how you make certain sounds. Say the sound over and over taking notice of the placement of your lips, tongue, and teeth. Many times children with speech issues will have immature control of their tongue. Working on tongue control and placing the tongue in various positions will go a long way in helping children conquer speech issues. I am not advocating taking over children's speech therapy, but speech therapists only work with children once per week. We have them every day. Work with the speech therapist if the child has one. We can be a great assistance to the speech professionals by making the children work on their speech every day instead of just once per week.
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
The first performance indicator is: Uses most of the consonants in our language. With the extremely wide range of language skills for this age group that can be present, conquering this one depends greatly on that level of skill. However, there is a way to test even children that are not using a lot of language yet - babble games. Children as young as 12 months old can participate to some degree with babble games. In fact, because we can no longer rely on everyday conversation exposure to ensure language development, babble games should be a part of every toddler curriculum. I have had so many speech issues walk through my door in recent years. Some have been so bad that they have immediately put up my autism radar. I use babble games with 3 and 4 year olds that have difficulty with many consonant sounds. If you do not understand what I mean by babble games, it is when you say a consonant sound over and over and over. Young toddlers love this game and will study you intently until they figure out how to make the sound you are making. Older children actually have a harder time with this game because they have engrained patterns to overcome. Some speech problems stem from lazy habits rather than actual difficulty in pronouncing sounds. Breaking bad habits can be as difficult as dealing with children that have physical reasons for their speech problems. Again, let me say that it is your responsibility as early childhood educators to work with children to improve their speech rather than think their quirks are cute. Sometimes if you do not do it, no one else will until they reach school age and have to have speech therapy.
The next performance indicator is: Majority (about 75%) of speech is understandable; family may understand child better than a stranger. In reality I am only seeing about 25% of children reach this performance indicator by age 3. By age 4 most children have reached this particular performance indicator. We really are having a speech crisis in the early childhood arena of the United States. Some of it is caused by lack of experience with language due to digital electronic use by parents. Some of it is caused by overuse of sippee cups in toddler years. In case you did not know, drinking from a normal cup starting around the age of 18 months is extremely important for the development of the muscles in the mouth. Overuse of sippee cups after the age of 18 months will cause underdevelopment of those muscles and therefore cause the children to have speech issues. Early childhood programs and stay-at-home parents must be proactive about developing language in the children we keep. Give these children rich language environments. Surround them with words and give them ample opportunity to use language as well as hear it.
Next on our list is: May have a "normal non-fluent" period where sounds, words, or phrases are repeated; not to be confused with stuttering. I call this period the "spit it out" period where they seem to get stuck on a word and cannot seem to finish what they are saying. Sometimes this is caused by their brain going faster than their mouth, and they lose track of where they are. Sometimes, they become fascinated with the sound of a word and say it over and over losing track of their original thought. Playing with words and sounds should be greatly encouraged at this age. The more a child pays attention to sounds and words, the more fluent that child will become in speech and language. It may be a little frustrating to try to follow a conversation with a child in this period, but do not worry about the repetition. It is a temporary phase that will go away with time and practice. I will say also that you may see this phase in older children that have been slow to mature in language. With older children, you might want to help them maintain their train of thought more than you would a 2 and 1/2 year old.
The last performance indicator for this learning expectations is: May have some difficulty saying certain sounds that are more complicated to produce e.g., (s), (z), (sh), (ch), (r), (er), (l), (th). This list is by no means all inclusive. I have had children have trouble with nearly every consonant sound. It can vary widely. When 2 and 1/2 year olds have difficulty with sounds, you need not necessarily intervene. When 3 year olds have difficulty with certain sounds, you need to start gently intervening. When 4 year olds have difficulty with certain sounds, it is definitely a speech issue by that point if you have been gently intervening since they were 3 years old. Even if you have not been gently intervening with this child and they are new to your program, at 4 years old it is time to work harder on learning to say the different sounds. My best advice before you start working with children's speech is to sit and ponder how you make certain sounds. Say the sound over and over taking notice of the placement of your lips, tongue, and teeth. Many times children with speech issues will have immature control of their tongue. Working on tongue control and placing the tongue in various positions will go a long way in helping children conquer speech issues. I am not advocating taking over children's speech therapy, but speech therapists only work with children once per week. We have them every day. Work with the speech therapist if the child has one. We can be a great assistance to the speech professionals by making the children work on their speech every day instead of just once per week.
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
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Dealing with Children that Constantly Interrupt
This post will look at those children that have a bad tendency to interrupt every conversation going on around them. Not only do these children have no sense of decorum when it comes to the etiquette of conversation, but they also tend to be attention hogs. I will discuss the underlying causes for this behavior and give tips to help children learn conversational etiquette.
The Scenario
We all know those children that have supersonic radar when it comes to adult conversations. As soon as the slightest one starts, they have to be all up in the middle of it making a real conversation impossible to conduct. I also know adults that have this tendency, as well. They really do not know how to have two-way conversations. They only know how to talk constantly. Not only is this tendency rude, but it also shows a great social immaturity on the part of the interrupter.
Insecurity and Instant Gratification
What makes these children (and adults) feel the need to dominate every conversation that is going on around them? Insecurity. For some, talking acts like a security blanket to them, and for some reason, they do not feel secure unless they are doing the talking. For others, they feel like everyone is talking about them and dominate conversations to make sure that does not happen. Either way, these children and adults do not feel secure in themselves. They have immaturity issues in the social/emotional realm. Therefore, it takes working both aspects of this problem in order to truly gain success.
Before you can even begin to teach conversational etiquette, the social/emotional issues of this problem must be addressed. I read a study not long ago where people were asked if they would rather get small shocks or be alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Would you believe that a majority of the people would rather be shocked than be alone with their own thoughts? My word, what has this country become? We have become so addicted to instant gratification that we would rather have stimuli of any sort rather than sit and think. How in the world did we get to this point? Of course, the obvious reason has to do with our instant gratification culture. However, there has been another more subtle change in our culture that has bred a deep insecurity in the millennial generation and younger. That change has been how we handle insecurities in young children. Previous generations of parents have dealt with this in a much different way than we handle them today. They strove to toughen up their children and felt that coddling them would make them weak and even more insecure. For the past 40 years or so, we have done just the opposite. We have coddled our children and gave credence to every single nuance of fear and doubt in them. Guess what? I think our predecessors were smarter than we are. We have raised one of the most insecure generations this world has ever seen.
What went wrong?
Is not identifying emotions and acknowledging them supposed to be a healthy way to deal with our emotions? Well, yes and no. There are actually three steps in that process. The first step is to acknowledge a problem. The second step involves pinpointing the emotions involved. The third step is dealing with or working to change negative emotions. Our predecessors basically skipped steps one and two, which did cause issues. However, they did number three marvelously. We do steps one and two, and then cuddle with our negative emotions like they are pets. Our predecessors were able to have better results because they followed through with the most important step. Without the third step, growth does not happen. When we coddle our children, we do not allow them to face their negative emotions and learn to conquer them. We end up with very insecure people that know a lot about what is wrong with them but have no idea how to function.
How does this relate to the interrupters?
Children that interrupt have security issues. Identifying and acknowledging those issues are steps one and two. Tough love accomplishes step three. Instead of lavishing attention on these children (which really makes the problem worse), you must teach these children to be okay with themselves. Have them sit for short periods of time every day and say nothing. You will not believe how hard that will be for them. Start small and build until these children begin to be okay with being by themselves and not having to have constant attention. You may have to teach them coping mechanisms if the problem is severe. However, whether they learn to cope on their own or you teach them how to cope, the coping is the goal. The interrupting will become a non-issue when the underlying cause for the interrupting gets attention.
Teaching Conversation Etiquette
Once the insecurity begins to settle down, it will then be time to begin instruction on conversational etiquette. These children usually also have self-control issues. Therefore, instruction in manners and proper etiquette, which calls for self-control, will be another layer of work on the underlying social/emotional issues. Role-play the proper way to carry on conversations. Talk about why it is rude to interrupt other people's conversations. After the instruction has started, discuss with the children every time they interrupt the proper way to carry on conversations. At first, this will be extremely frustrating for these children. That is why I say to work on the main underlying cause before you start this type of instruction. With time and patience, these children will learn, and you will have given them one of the greatest gifts of their lives - the ability to overcome a weakness. That gift will serve them better than a great deal of other gifts you could give them.
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
The Scenario
We all know those children that have supersonic radar when it comes to adult conversations. As soon as the slightest one starts, they have to be all up in the middle of it making a real conversation impossible to conduct. I also know adults that have this tendency, as well. They really do not know how to have two-way conversations. They only know how to talk constantly. Not only is this tendency rude, but it also shows a great social immaturity on the part of the interrupter.
Insecurity and Instant Gratification
What makes these children (and adults) feel the need to dominate every conversation that is going on around them? Insecurity. For some, talking acts like a security blanket to them, and for some reason, they do not feel secure unless they are doing the talking. For others, they feel like everyone is talking about them and dominate conversations to make sure that does not happen. Either way, these children and adults do not feel secure in themselves. They have immaturity issues in the social/emotional realm. Therefore, it takes working both aspects of this problem in order to truly gain success.
Before you can even begin to teach conversational etiquette, the social/emotional issues of this problem must be addressed. I read a study not long ago where people were asked if they would rather get small shocks or be alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Would you believe that a majority of the people would rather be shocked than be alone with their own thoughts? My word, what has this country become? We have become so addicted to instant gratification that we would rather have stimuli of any sort rather than sit and think. How in the world did we get to this point? Of course, the obvious reason has to do with our instant gratification culture. However, there has been another more subtle change in our culture that has bred a deep insecurity in the millennial generation and younger. That change has been how we handle insecurities in young children. Previous generations of parents have dealt with this in a much different way than we handle them today. They strove to toughen up their children and felt that coddling them would make them weak and even more insecure. For the past 40 years or so, we have done just the opposite. We have coddled our children and gave credence to every single nuance of fear and doubt in them. Guess what? I think our predecessors were smarter than we are. We have raised one of the most insecure generations this world has ever seen.
What went wrong?
Is not identifying emotions and acknowledging them supposed to be a healthy way to deal with our emotions? Well, yes and no. There are actually three steps in that process. The first step is to acknowledge a problem. The second step involves pinpointing the emotions involved. The third step is dealing with or working to change negative emotions. Our predecessors basically skipped steps one and two, which did cause issues. However, they did number three marvelously. We do steps one and two, and then cuddle with our negative emotions like they are pets. Our predecessors were able to have better results because they followed through with the most important step. Without the third step, growth does not happen. When we coddle our children, we do not allow them to face their negative emotions and learn to conquer them. We end up with very insecure people that know a lot about what is wrong with them but have no idea how to function.
How does this relate to the interrupters?
Children that interrupt have security issues. Identifying and acknowledging those issues are steps one and two. Tough love accomplishes step three. Instead of lavishing attention on these children (which really makes the problem worse), you must teach these children to be okay with themselves. Have them sit for short periods of time every day and say nothing. You will not believe how hard that will be for them. Start small and build until these children begin to be okay with being by themselves and not having to have constant attention. You may have to teach them coping mechanisms if the problem is severe. However, whether they learn to cope on their own or you teach them how to cope, the coping is the goal. The interrupting will become a non-issue when the underlying cause for the interrupting gets attention.
Teaching Conversation Etiquette
Once the insecurity begins to settle down, it will then be time to begin instruction on conversational etiquette. These children usually also have self-control issues. Therefore, instruction in manners and proper etiquette, which calls for self-control, will be another layer of work on the underlying social/emotional issues. Role-play the proper way to carry on conversations. Talk about why it is rude to interrupt other people's conversations. After the instruction has started, discuss with the children every time they interrupt the proper way to carry on conversations. At first, this will be extremely frustrating for these children. That is why I say to work on the main underlying cause before you start this type of instruction. With time and patience, these children will learn, and you will have given them one of the greatest gifts of their lives - the ability to overcome a weakness. That gift will serve them better than a great deal of other gifts you could give them.
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
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Language Development for 2 and 1/2 to 3 year olds - Communication (Part 5)
This post will continue the discussion for the area of learning - Communication. We are still in the component, Expressive Language, and will pick up with the remaining three performance indicators for the learning expectation: Uses some conventions of speech when expressing thoughts and ideas, and may comment on observations. We will also start the component, Speech, and will do one of the performance indicators for the learning expectation: Speech is understood by most familiar adults. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first performance indicator is: Starts to use some verb markers (run and running, jump and jumping). This performance indicator again assumes a great deal of previous knowledge in language for children of this age. For those children that have had marvelous language instruction and exposure since birth, this performance indicator will appear around 2 and 1/2 years of age. For those children that have not, this performance indicator will not appear until nearly 3 and 1/2 years of age. I cannot stress enough how important it is for children to have books read to them and participate and hear conversation from the time they are born. Many of these performance indicators can and should be picked up from everyday conversation exposure. However, in today's culture we cannot take anything for granted. If you have a child that is over 3 years old and is not beginning to use verb markers correctly, you may have to teach yourself to correct that child's language every time you catch it. This takes great patience and staying aware of what is being said by the child. Very often we are so used to their common mistakes that we do not even pay attention. Let the parents and relatives think the mistakes are cute. As that child's preschool teacher, you need to work on helping that child speak correctly.
The next performance indicator involves: Uses the words "I" and "me" appropriately. I have had 4 year olds that did not use "I" and "me" appropriately. Again, this performance indicator depends on the level of exposure a child has had to appropriate language use. Unlike some of the other language performance indicators that usually just develop with use, this one many times has to be worked. Do not ask me why, but some children can be stubborn about this particular one. The 4 year olds I have had that needed work on this one were the stubborn ones. Some children just need gentle reminders when they use the wrong word. Some children have to be constantly corrected until they finally give in and use the right word. Whichever way it is, you will need to make yourself be aware of the language usage of your children. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of becoming blind to the obvious. We cannot assume that the children will correct this by themselves over time. In today's culture you must be proactive about teaching children proper language usage.
Next on our list is: Talks in complete sentences of 3-5 words in length; can use compound sentences. I feel like a broken record, but the language skill level of this age group can vary so widely. Some children are barely doing 3 word sentences by 3 years of age and some children are talking in paragraphs by the same age. I will tell you that boys tend to lag behind girls at this age. Usually the ones that can talk in paragraphs by 3 years of age tend to be girls. If boys can use 3-5 word sentences by 3 years of age, they are usually good to go. This particular performance indicator builds with exposure and use. If you have a child that is barely speaking by 3 years of age, you will need to encourage that child to use his/her words. Some children have become accustomed to pointing and grunting to get what they want, and some parents let this go on well into a child's second and sometimes third year. An older child that still points and grunts may become hostile when you do not acknowledge his/her wishes, but just treat that like a hissy fit and ignore it. Make the child use his/her words to express their wishes. The big trend in early childhood circles these days is to teach toddlers sign language to help them express themselves. That can be both a blessing and a curse. Once a child reaches 2 years of age, the sign language needs to make way for spoken language unless the child is truly hearing impaired. If it does not, you will get the same effect as the pointers and grunters. Make children use their words.
Now, we are going to shift gears to the component - Speech. The learning expectation for this component is: Speech is understood by most familiar adults. We will only look at the first performance indicator: Uses all the vowels in our language. The rest of the performance indicators for this component will be covered in next week's post. This is probably the only performance indicator on this list that most children conquer by age 3 unless a moderate to severe developmental delay exists. Even children with mild developmental delays usually conquer this one. If a child cannot say the vowel sounds by age 3, testing for developmental delays or hearing impairments should be conducted. The vowel sounds are open sounds and are therefore easier for children to conquer. I will say that the vowel sounds can be heavily influenced by dialect. Accents can play heavily in how a child pronounces vowel sounds. As long as a child pronounces the vowel sounds common to the dialect in his/her area, you should not worry.
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
The first performance indicator is: Starts to use some verb markers (run and running, jump and jumping). This performance indicator again assumes a great deal of previous knowledge in language for children of this age. For those children that have had marvelous language instruction and exposure since birth, this performance indicator will appear around 2 and 1/2 years of age. For those children that have not, this performance indicator will not appear until nearly 3 and 1/2 years of age. I cannot stress enough how important it is for children to have books read to them and participate and hear conversation from the time they are born. Many of these performance indicators can and should be picked up from everyday conversation exposure. However, in today's culture we cannot take anything for granted. If you have a child that is over 3 years old and is not beginning to use verb markers correctly, you may have to teach yourself to correct that child's language every time you catch it. This takes great patience and staying aware of what is being said by the child. Very often we are so used to their common mistakes that we do not even pay attention. Let the parents and relatives think the mistakes are cute. As that child's preschool teacher, you need to work on helping that child speak correctly.
The next performance indicator involves: Uses the words "I" and "me" appropriately. I have had 4 year olds that did not use "I" and "me" appropriately. Again, this performance indicator depends on the level of exposure a child has had to appropriate language use. Unlike some of the other language performance indicators that usually just develop with use, this one many times has to be worked. Do not ask me why, but some children can be stubborn about this particular one. The 4 year olds I have had that needed work on this one were the stubborn ones. Some children just need gentle reminders when they use the wrong word. Some children have to be constantly corrected until they finally give in and use the right word. Whichever way it is, you will need to make yourself be aware of the language usage of your children. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of becoming blind to the obvious. We cannot assume that the children will correct this by themselves over time. In today's culture you must be proactive about teaching children proper language usage.
Next on our list is: Talks in complete sentences of 3-5 words in length; can use compound sentences. I feel like a broken record, but the language skill level of this age group can vary so widely. Some children are barely doing 3 word sentences by 3 years of age and some children are talking in paragraphs by the same age. I will tell you that boys tend to lag behind girls at this age. Usually the ones that can talk in paragraphs by 3 years of age tend to be girls. If boys can use 3-5 word sentences by 3 years of age, they are usually good to go. This particular performance indicator builds with exposure and use. If you have a child that is barely speaking by 3 years of age, you will need to encourage that child to use his/her words. Some children have become accustomed to pointing and grunting to get what they want, and some parents let this go on well into a child's second and sometimes third year. An older child that still points and grunts may become hostile when you do not acknowledge his/her wishes, but just treat that like a hissy fit and ignore it. Make the child use his/her words to express their wishes. The big trend in early childhood circles these days is to teach toddlers sign language to help them express themselves. That can be both a blessing and a curse. Once a child reaches 2 years of age, the sign language needs to make way for spoken language unless the child is truly hearing impaired. If it does not, you will get the same effect as the pointers and grunters. Make children use their words.
Now, we are going to shift gears to the component - Speech. The learning expectation for this component is: Speech is understood by most familiar adults. We will only look at the first performance indicator: Uses all the vowels in our language. The rest of the performance indicators for this component will be covered in next week's post. This is probably the only performance indicator on this list that most children conquer by age 3 unless a moderate to severe developmental delay exists. Even children with mild developmental delays usually conquer this one. If a child cannot say the vowel sounds by age 3, testing for developmental delays or hearing impairments should be conducted. The vowel sounds are open sounds and are therefore easier for children to conquer. I will say that the vowel sounds can be heavily influenced by dialect. Accents can play heavily in how a child pronounces vowel sounds. As long as a child pronounces the vowel sounds common to the dialect in his/her area, you should not worry.
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
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Dealing with Children that Tattle
This post will tackle one of the most annoying bad habits of small children (and some adults). Tattling can push most of us to the point of insanity at times. I will discuss the underlying reasons why children tattle and give you some strategies to help shut it down.
The Scenario
For those of us that work the front lines of childcare and parenting, this particular bad habit seems to be one of the most constant sources of frustration. The tone of voice that children use makes it that much worse because it is mixed with whining. "She touched me" or "He said (Fill in the blank)" seem to flow incessantly from the mouths of the young children we keep. If we try to play referee to all these complaints, we usually find ourselves not even knowing truth from fiction.
What causes children to tattle so?
Remember, young children are egocentric. They perceive the world only from their own point of view. To them, everything should go the way they want it to go, and when it does not, they complain about it. Children also have a very cut and dry sense of justice. They believe everything should be resolved immediately. Therefore, when something happens that they do not like, they tattle.
The Fallen Nature
However, some tattling goes much deeper than that. Here is where most early childhood experts do not dare to tread because it deals with humanity's sin nature. Remember most early childhood professionals do not adhere to the philosophy of a fallen nature. They believe humans are simply products of their environment and perfecting environments will perfect human beings. I am sorry to break it to them, but all human beings come into this world with a fallen nature. To deny the fallen nature puts all of their theories and philosophies on the wrong foundation. Children do not have to be taught to do wrong. It comes naturally to them. A great deal of tattling comes from a guilty conscience or just plain meanness. When children begin to tattle on other children for the very things they do themselves, they are either trying to deflect attention from their own wrongdoing or they simply want to see someone else get in trouble. Some days children just get in moods where they want to get everyone in trouble for no real apparent reason other than spite. These darker reasons for tattling rarely find their way into the typical discussions on this subject. I do not know about you, but when I have an issue in my childcare, I want information that digs down into the nitty gritty of the matter. I truly believe that many childcare providers come away from behavioral trainings feeling beat up for not having perfect environments that will head off all behavioral problems. In the real world, the perfect environment does not exist. We deal with children with fallen natures, and maybe one of these days someone will be brave enough to actually do behavioral trainings from that point of view. However, for now the liberal majority holds sway and will not even let such topics even be discussed at trainings.
How can we as childcare providers and parents deal with all this tattling?
Number one, do not give it credence. It is very easy for adults to get sucked into the role of referee when the tattling starts. However, if we train ourselves to never give credence to anything done in a whiny tone of voice, we will shut down a great deal of tattling. Most children cannot tattle without whining. Repeat after me, "My ears do not hear things in a whiny voice." Some people will use the phrase with older children "I don't speak whinese." Either way, you will eventually teach the children that whining gets shut down on the spot. However, do not think that this will completely eliminate the tattling. Some children will adapt.
Tattling vs. Reporting
On top of training yourself not to listen to whiny tattling, you will need to instruct the children on the difference between tattling and reporting. I have made this one of the lessons in my rules instruction that I do on a regular basis. I teach them that tattling is trying to get someone in trouble and reporting is when something dangerous or very important is happening. You will very much have to clarify the meaning of very important because to small children everything falls into that category. Often, when the kids come to me tattling, I will start down my list of what constitutes reporting. I will ask them "Is someone bleeding or hurt? Are they doing something dangerous? Is it a real emergency?" When they have to answer "no" to all of those questions, I will then ask them what they are doing. At that point, they have to admit to tattling. Then I send them on their way. Sometimes, a real situation will be happening with the children that does not necessarily fall into what constitutes reporting. Usually, in this situation the child is wanting you to fight his/her battles. Do not let yourself get sucked into being a referee. Instead, teach the child to stand up for himself/herself. I will often know by the tattling whether or not this is the case. If I child comes to me and says "tell _______ to stop doing _______," I will tell the child to go tell that child himself/herself. If the other child persists after the first child has stood up for himself/herself, I will intervene. We want the children to feel free to come to us for help, but we do not want them to become dependent on us to fight all of their battles. We should be the appeals court and not the first strategy.
Dealing with Hypocrisy
Before I leave this subject, I want to touch on another area that I have never seen discussed along with tattling, and that is teaching children not to be hypocrites. Very often, children tattle on other children for the very things they are presently doing or do on a regular basis. I never let this slide. If a child starts complaining about another child doing something they very often do, we have a discussion. I want the children to learn early to understand their own faults and not to judge others before they have judged themselves. Nobody likes hypocrites, and we do the children an enormous favor by starting this instruction in the preschool years.
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
The Scenario
For those of us that work the front lines of childcare and parenting, this particular bad habit seems to be one of the most constant sources of frustration. The tone of voice that children use makes it that much worse because it is mixed with whining. "She touched me" or "He said (Fill in the blank)" seem to flow incessantly from the mouths of the young children we keep. If we try to play referee to all these complaints, we usually find ourselves not even knowing truth from fiction.
What causes children to tattle so?
Remember, young children are egocentric. They perceive the world only from their own point of view. To them, everything should go the way they want it to go, and when it does not, they complain about it. Children also have a very cut and dry sense of justice. They believe everything should be resolved immediately. Therefore, when something happens that they do not like, they tattle.
The Fallen Nature
However, some tattling goes much deeper than that. Here is where most early childhood experts do not dare to tread because it deals with humanity's sin nature. Remember most early childhood professionals do not adhere to the philosophy of a fallen nature. They believe humans are simply products of their environment and perfecting environments will perfect human beings. I am sorry to break it to them, but all human beings come into this world with a fallen nature. To deny the fallen nature puts all of their theories and philosophies on the wrong foundation. Children do not have to be taught to do wrong. It comes naturally to them. A great deal of tattling comes from a guilty conscience or just plain meanness. When children begin to tattle on other children for the very things they do themselves, they are either trying to deflect attention from their own wrongdoing or they simply want to see someone else get in trouble. Some days children just get in moods where they want to get everyone in trouble for no real apparent reason other than spite. These darker reasons for tattling rarely find their way into the typical discussions on this subject. I do not know about you, but when I have an issue in my childcare, I want information that digs down into the nitty gritty of the matter. I truly believe that many childcare providers come away from behavioral trainings feeling beat up for not having perfect environments that will head off all behavioral problems. In the real world, the perfect environment does not exist. We deal with children with fallen natures, and maybe one of these days someone will be brave enough to actually do behavioral trainings from that point of view. However, for now the liberal majority holds sway and will not even let such topics even be discussed at trainings.
How can we as childcare providers and parents deal with all this tattling?
Number one, do not give it credence. It is very easy for adults to get sucked into the role of referee when the tattling starts. However, if we train ourselves to never give credence to anything done in a whiny tone of voice, we will shut down a great deal of tattling. Most children cannot tattle without whining. Repeat after me, "My ears do not hear things in a whiny voice." Some people will use the phrase with older children "I don't speak whinese." Either way, you will eventually teach the children that whining gets shut down on the spot. However, do not think that this will completely eliminate the tattling. Some children will adapt.
Tattling vs. Reporting
On top of training yourself not to listen to whiny tattling, you will need to instruct the children on the difference between tattling and reporting. I have made this one of the lessons in my rules instruction that I do on a regular basis. I teach them that tattling is trying to get someone in trouble and reporting is when something dangerous or very important is happening. You will very much have to clarify the meaning of very important because to small children everything falls into that category. Often, when the kids come to me tattling, I will start down my list of what constitutes reporting. I will ask them "Is someone bleeding or hurt? Are they doing something dangerous? Is it a real emergency?" When they have to answer "no" to all of those questions, I will then ask them what they are doing. At that point, they have to admit to tattling. Then I send them on their way. Sometimes, a real situation will be happening with the children that does not necessarily fall into what constitutes reporting. Usually, in this situation the child is wanting you to fight his/her battles. Do not let yourself get sucked into being a referee. Instead, teach the child to stand up for himself/herself. I will often know by the tattling whether or not this is the case. If I child comes to me and says "tell _______ to stop doing _______," I will tell the child to go tell that child himself/herself. If the other child persists after the first child has stood up for himself/herself, I will intervene. We want the children to feel free to come to us for help, but we do not want them to become dependent on us to fight all of their battles. We should be the appeals court and not the first strategy.
Dealing with Hypocrisy
Before I leave this subject, I want to touch on another area that I have never seen discussed along with tattling, and that is teaching children not to be hypocrites. Very often, children tattle on other children for the very things they are presently doing or do on a regular basis. I never let this slide. If a child starts complaining about another child doing something they very often do, we have a discussion. I want the children to learn early to understand their own faults and not to judge others before they have judged themselves. Nobody likes hypocrites, and we do the children an enormous favor by starting this instruction in the preschool years.
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
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Language Development for 2 1/2 to 3 year olds - Communication (Part 4)
This post will continue the discussion for the Communication area of learning. We are still discussing the component - Expressive Language. We will begin the discussion for the learning expectation: Uses some conventions of speech when expressing thoughts and ideas, and may comment on observations. Remember, I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first performance indicator for this learning expectation is: Uses appropriate simple adjectives in sentences (big, little, soft, hard, colors) e.g. "I'm a big boy." This performance indicator assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. Before they can use those types of words, they have to know what they mean. It has been my experience that unless they have been with me since they were 12 months old, this is a far stretch for most 2 1/2 to 3 year olds. I start working on these types of words with my 18 to 24 month children or as soon as they walk in the door if they are older. I never assume the children know these types of concepts anymore because they usually do not. Children simply do not receive enough language exposure in today's culture most of the time to pick up these concepts from daily life. Therefore, you must teach these concepts before you will see them appear in the child's everyday conversation whether they are two or four years old.
The next performance indicator is: Uses simple adverbs in sentences (very, slow, fast) e.g., "That car goes very fast." Again, this performance indicator assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. Many children these days are barely talking by 3 years old. To use that complex a sentence is way beyond their abilities. However, there will be some 3 year olds talking in paragraphs. The diversity of skills for this age group can be immense. Which children will be able to conquer this performance indicator? The ones that have been read to on a regular basis all of their life AND given the opportunity for conversation every day. Until a child receives enough of these types of experiences, these language performance indicators will simply not be there. Do not despair if 3 and 4 year olds come through your door unable to use simple adverbs. With quality experiences they will pull up quickly unless a developmental delay is at play.
Next on the list is: Uses prepositions (on, in, under). Once again, this is a performance indicator that assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. I include these types of words in what I call position and direction words. I start instruction on these words sometime around the second birthday or before if they are ready. However, I also start 4 year olds that walk through the door at this point because I have learned to never assume previous knowledge. Our visual culture really bites us in the butt on language development issues. Our children do not receive enough exposure to language to pick up these types of language skills from everyday conversation and exposure. Just like the previous two performance indicator, you will have to be proactive in teaching these concepts to ensure the children gain these skills. I usually teach these in pairs of opposites working on one pair for a week, which seems to work very well. Just develop as extensive of a list of these types of words and incorporate this type of instruction somewhere in your day.
The last performance indicator for this post is: Uses some plurals (car and cars) appropriately. This performance indicator may show up earlier than the previous three depending on the child. Children seem to pick up on plurals faster than adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, but not always. As I have said before, the diversity of skill in this age group can be immense. Children that have had great exposure to language up until this point in their life will conquer all of these performance indicators. Children that have not may be barely talking. This particular skill can be picked up by children from conversations when those conversations happen often enough. As adults we model this one without even thinking. If a 3 year old has not picked up on plurals, you might want to insert specific instruction to work on this skill. If a 4 year old has not picked up on plurals, you might want to test for developmental delays. Many, many children seem to dragging on language skills at this time. Therefore, be slow to jump to the developmental delay conclusion until you have given instruction time to fill in the gaps.
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
The first performance indicator for this learning expectation is: Uses appropriate simple adjectives in sentences (big, little, soft, hard, colors) e.g. "I'm a big boy." This performance indicator assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. Before they can use those types of words, they have to know what they mean. It has been my experience that unless they have been with me since they were 12 months old, this is a far stretch for most 2 1/2 to 3 year olds. I start working on these types of words with my 18 to 24 month children or as soon as they walk in the door if they are older. I never assume the children know these types of concepts anymore because they usually do not. Children simply do not receive enough language exposure in today's culture most of the time to pick up these concepts from daily life. Therefore, you must teach these concepts before you will see them appear in the child's everyday conversation whether they are two or four years old.
The next performance indicator is: Uses simple adverbs in sentences (very, slow, fast) e.g., "That car goes very fast." Again, this performance indicator assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. Many children these days are barely talking by 3 years old. To use that complex a sentence is way beyond their abilities. However, there will be some 3 year olds talking in paragraphs. The diversity of skills for this age group can be immense. Which children will be able to conquer this performance indicator? The ones that have been read to on a regular basis all of their life AND given the opportunity for conversation every day. Until a child receives enough of these types of experiences, these language performance indicators will simply not be there. Do not despair if 3 and 4 year olds come through your door unable to use simple adverbs. With quality experiences they will pull up quickly unless a developmental delay is at play.
Next on the list is: Uses prepositions (on, in, under). Once again, this is a performance indicator that assumes a great deal of previous knowledge for this age group. I include these types of words in what I call position and direction words. I start instruction on these words sometime around the second birthday or before if they are ready. However, I also start 4 year olds that walk through the door at this point because I have learned to never assume previous knowledge. Our visual culture really bites us in the butt on language development issues. Our children do not receive enough exposure to language to pick up these types of language skills from everyday conversation and exposure. Just like the previous two performance indicator, you will have to be proactive in teaching these concepts to ensure the children gain these skills. I usually teach these in pairs of opposites working on one pair for a week, which seems to work very well. Just develop as extensive of a list of these types of words and incorporate this type of instruction somewhere in your day.
The last performance indicator for this post is: Uses some plurals (car and cars) appropriately. This performance indicator may show up earlier than the previous three depending on the child. Children seem to pick up on plurals faster than adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, but not always. As I have said before, the diversity of skill in this age group can be immense. Children that have had great exposure to language up until this point in their life will conquer all of these performance indicators. Children that have not may be barely talking. This particular skill can be picked up by children from conversations when those conversations happen often enough. As adults we model this one without even thinking. If a 3 year old has not picked up on plurals, you might want to insert specific instruction to work on this skill. If a 4 year old has not picked up on plurals, you might want to test for developmental delays. Many, many children seem to dragging on language skills at this time. Therefore, be slow to jump to the developmental delay conclusion until you have given instruction time to fill in the gaps.
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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