Add a Little Bit

Language Expansion



This is a learning tool that I use a hundred times a day with Brooke. It is easy to do once you understand what you are doing.

When Brooke says something to me, I repeat it back to her in an expanded form. Let me give you a recent example.

Last year Brooke's vocabulary was pretty limited. She would say something like, "Where's my......." and then pat her head since the word "hat" was not quite fully in her vocabulary yet. I would wait about 5 seconds for her to think about it and come up with the word. If she couldn't think of it, I would say, "Where's my hard hat?" and then she repeated, "Where's my hat?"

The next level was when Brooke had more vocabulary to use. She would ask me, "Where's my hat?" It would be easy to say, "your helmet" back to her....but that is not giving her all the language she needs, so instead I would expand on her question and say, "Your helmet, that you wear when you roller skate, is in the basket?" Brooke would usually say, "Oh, my helmet is in the basket." I gave her a pronoun (you), more vocabulary (helmet, roller skate, basket), and the location word "in".

Today, Brooke asked, "Mommy, I can't find my Princess helmet." As her vocabulary and sentence structures grow, I continue to expand on her language saying, "Brooke, I think the pink Princess helmet that you use for roller skating is in the green basket." I continue to add to her vocabulary by using pronouns (I and you), adjectives (pink, green) verbs (that you use), prepositions (in the green basket).

Plus a Little More

I usually give her a little more vocabulary by adding another idea. So, after she finds her helmet, I might say, "Good job remembering to wear your helmet when you roller skate; the helmet will protect your head in case you fall down. What a smart girl!" Not only am I praising her, but I'm adding the reason we need the helmet to build her thinking skills and her language skills as well.