Talk, Talk, Talk
I remember when my kids were all little, the house was always loud and full of conversions ( a little fighting too). There were 5 of them, something was always going on! Those conversations were just a natural thing in our household and I loved it. I think most families are probably just like ours. Thoughtful, fun conversions from everything about what they did at school today to how their brother took their toy.
With that in mind, some of the things I have found in coming kindergarteners struggling with include being able to come up with a reasonable answer to an everyday problem and being able to talk about the books we have just read. Here are a few ideas that you can use at home during your conversions to help build their language.
- Think of reasonable situations and ask your kids what they would do. Examples I use with my grandson include: What would you do if you were hungry? What would you do if you walked into your bedroom and it was dark? What would you do if you wanted to go outside but it was cold? How can you help your mom at home tonight?
- A second idea is to give them lots of choices. When you are pouring them juice ask them which glass they would like you to use. How would you like me to cut your sandwich at lunch today? Let them pick out their own clothes and then ask them how those clothes are alike and different?
- Every time you read to them ask them who the characters are, what the setting is and what happened in the story. The more detail from the story ( or even exact language) the better. Try to get them to tell you the story in the sequence or order the story actually happened in the story.
Remember the more they talk at a young age the better. Also, the more they hear complex language from you as their model, the more comfortable they will become with using it themselves. Enjoy your family time!