Oral Language Development

• States first and last name when asked
• Starting to speak in full sentences
• Expresses wants, needs, feelings, and emotions
• Asks for help when needed
• Takes turns in conversations with others
• Retells simple stories
• Begins to rhyme words

A Few Tips to Help

• Encourage Conversation - The greatest thing you can do to help you child develop oral language skills is to talk with them. Have conversations: take turns talking and listening, ask questions, rephrase answers, prompt them for more, to encourage the conversation to continue. Ask your child about his or her day and how they are feeling. Learning to express themselves will help them get their needs met when they are not with you.
• Model Sentence Structure and Syntax - When your child uses an incomplete sentence, model a complete sentence back to them. Not only does this help with his or her oral language practice, it will help with writing as well.
• Make Eye Contact - Children will learn to gauge your attention and adjust their language, volume, or speech. It will help them pick up on nonverbal cues and communicate more clearly.
• Remind Children to Articulate Clearly - Sometimes children need a gentle reminder to slow their speech and pronounce words clearly. It is often helpful to model the correct pronunciation so they can repeat it back to you.
• Play Rhyming Games - Children love to be silly and they love to rhyme. Combine the two by thinking of silly (or real) rhyming words together.

Note: Be sure not to interrupt or correct mistakes too quickly. Instead, rephrase what the child says using the correct form.

If the child says, "I eated my sandwich fast," you might say, "Wow! You ate your sandwich so quickly. You must have been hungry."

You show interest in what the child is saying and model the correct word without embarrassing him or her.