Creating environments where everyone is understood
3 Years
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Using up to 700 words...Following instructions containing 3 key words ‘Put teddy under the table'
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Using sentences of 4 or more words
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Grammar is developing – little words such as ’me’ ‘a’ ‘the’ and adding past tense –ed, such as ‘walked’ but some over-generalisation ‘runned'
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Begin to talk outside of the here and now
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Ask lots of questions using ‘what’ ‘where’ and ‘why’
Your role as communication partner:
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Be careful with questions – asking children lots of questions puts them under pressure, so by commenting rather than questioning we reduce the pressure to respond
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Praise – be specific with praise and praise the behaviour and not the child, for example, ‘good painting’ rather than ‘good boy’. Golden rule of praise – it must be immediate and specific
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Pace your talking – as children develop a larger vocabulary, this can place greater demands on the fluency of their talking. By reducing the pace of your talking, you not only allow more processing time for the child but you also create a more relaxed communication environment
