Today I received a question from a mom who said her child knows well over 100 words, but nearly all of them are nouns. She asked when he should learn to use and understand other kinds of words and for help teaching him new words. I suggested she begin with actions (verbs) and location words ( prepositions). Rather than reinventing the wheel, I included text straight from the receptive language chapter of Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual. Heres my advice: Understands familiar action words – A toddler with typically developing language skills comprehends simple verbs or action words by 18 to 21 months. These words are so much fun when targeted in movement activities. Who doesn’t like to go, jump, run, roll, fall, kick, stomp, push, pull, march, brush, smash, and crash? I could go on and on! Toddlers love to learn by DOING, and there’s no other category of words that lend themselves to DOING like verbs! So DO the actions to help him internalize these concepts. This milestone is also easily targeted during play with sets of toys. If you’re playing with a farm, a child can make any animal eat, run, or sleep. He can make the tractor go and stop. He can make the duck fly or dance. The farmer can kiss the puppy. The possibilities are endless. Don’t forget to provide appropriate cues to help a child perform these actions. “Tell him, Show him, Help him” cues are so effective for teaching action words, especially with a fun person to playfully model actions. While you should label and point out examples of verbs or actions while reading books with a child, please don’t rely on this as your primary method of teaching this important word category during this developmental phase. Give parents specific verbs to target during daily routines based on your successful activities during sessions. Help them brainstorm daily routines when these verbs would be applicable and easily included. Want more ideas? Get your own copy of Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual!
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 18:05:21 +0000
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