Learning to use groups of words

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HealthWiki > Helping Children Who Are Deaf > Chapter 9: Learning to use a spoken language > Learning to use groups of words

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In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

For a child to begin using groups of words by himself, he needs to know several words so he can put them together in different ways.

Ways to encourage your child to put words together

When your child says a single word, encourage him to expand on what he says. You could:

expand on the words yourself and encourage him to copy you.	ask a question and encourage him to answer.
Push! Say 'push more'.	Do you want to push high? Can you say 'push high'?

Here are some more ideas for encouraging your child to use groups of words:

• Ask your child about what she is doing.

That smells good! What is in the pot?

• When your child has a problem, ask him to tell you how to solve it.

Heavy.

The basket is too heavy? What should we do?

• Ask your child to deliver a simple message.

Tell Papa,
'come eat'.

• Try telling stories together. When your child has heard and seen a story many times, she may be able to tell part of it herself.

...and then
the farmer —

— fell in
the river!

• Encourage your child to act out different roles.

Now you be Mama for a while. What does Mama do?

Mama
cooks

• Praise him when he puts words together. By using complete sentences, expand on what he says. Talk to him in complete sentences. But do not expect him to use complete sentences yet.

No stop.

Don't stop singing? Okay, let's sing one more song.

• Share the ideas or feelings you are thinking about as you play together.

Sometimes I get angry at something you do, Li Ming...

...but I love you very much.

Keep practicing the spoken language. Remember, it is important for your child to have a language that all of you can share.