Strategies

WAIT BEFORE YOU GIVE YOUR CHILD A MODEL.

ONCE YOUR CHILD HAS SAID SOMETHING, USE THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIES TO EXPAND:

·       To help your child say longer sentences, first, listen to what your child says (e.g. “I want juice”). Then, expand by repeating what your child has said and adding one to two words. You can add a word to the beginning, middle or end of what your child says. For example:

–        Child: “I go to the zoo”

–        Adult: “Yes, you went to the zoo because it was your birthday”

–        Child: “I’m putting it there”

–        Adult: “Yes, you’re putting it in the box”

–     Child: “I want to go play”

–       Adult: “Oh, you want to go play on the swings”

–     Child: “I have a car too”

–    Adult: “Yes, you have a car and it’s blue and green”

–   Child: “I went to the park”

–   Adult: “Yes, you went to the park with Sam”

§  You can also expand on a topic by adding new information. For example:

–    Child: “truck is broken”

–    Adult: “Yeah, it’s broken. Its wheel fell off.”

·    Ask open-ended questions to encourage your child to expand on a topic.   For example:

–    Child: “There’s no more milk”

–    Adult: “Oh, the milk is all gone. Hmm, what should we do now?”

–    Child: “I went to the park”

–   Adult: “Wow. What did you do at the park?” (instead of: did you play on the swings?)

By Pauline: Speech Pathologist