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QUESTION...
I am the key person in a busy nursery for a little boy who is nearly three years old. He has been at the nursery for almost a year and I am beginning to have concerns about his talking. He uses only single words when talking and often will gesture or point at what he wants. He seems to understand more than he can say and will follow instructions such as ‘Give me teddy’s hat’, and he can point out pictures in books if I ask questions such as ‘Where’s the big dog?’ Should I be concerned by this level of development?
The development of talking, also known as expressive language, takes a big leap forward between the ages of two and three. This is because a child’s understanding of language has developed, allowing them to actually use words and build sentences.
Children’s speech sounds also develop during this year, and while at age two, children are hard to understand, typically by three years old, most of what children say can be understood. It is important for anyone working with children to notice and track children’s progress during this year. Being able to talk will allow children to make friends, play imaginatively and increasingly manage their feelings and behaviour.
To understand whether this child may need support, it is helpful to look at what is typical development between the ages of two and three. The milestones for this year are often given in six-month blocks as there is a significant difference between how well a child talks at the start of the year compared with their language at age three.
EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE
2 years – 2 ½ years
By two years old, most children will be using around 50 words, including simple action words such as ‘want’, and naming some body parts. They will also start to put two words together such as ‘big teddy’, ‘mummy kiss’ and ‘more drink’. Many children in this period will also use simple questions such as ‘what’s dat?’ alongside pointing.
It is not uncommon for children to use this as a strategy to gain and keep an adult’s attention. Most children will also have learnt to vary their tone and intonation when they talk.
2½ years – 3 years
In this period, a child will typically increase the number of words that they can say, with many children using more than 300 words by the time they reach three years old.
The speed at which children gain new words during this period often surprises adults and it is sometimes referred to as the ‘naming explosion’.
This increased vocabulary allows children to put three to five words together to make little sentences – for example, ‘big doggy under chair’ or ‘I want more ice cream’.
Typically, children will be able to use action words such as ‘run’ and ‘give’, object words such as ‘chair’ and ‘teddy’ and adjectives such as ‘big’ and ‘little’, as well as words describing time and space such as ‘today’, ‘in’ and ‘under’.
Their use of questions increases during this time, with children frequently using simple questions such as ‘what?’ and ‘where?’.
WHEN TO BE CONCERNED
A child may require further support in developing their talking if they:
- are not attempting to join two words together such as ‘more drink’, ‘mummy gone’ by the age of two-and-half years old
- make no attempt to communicate or interact
- have a small number and range of words
- use words in the wrong order in a sentence – for example, ‘gone ball’ rather than ‘ball gone’
- communicate by pointing or using gestures rather than talking
- have speech that is unclear and hard for adults to understand at three years of age.
In the case of this little boy, the description suggests that there is a significant mismatch between what he understands and what he can say. Given that he is only using single words and is communicating by pointing or using gestures, a referral to the local speech and language therapy team would be recommended.
HOW TO SUPPORT EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
- Create time to be with a child during everyday routines such as snack time. Some children like to be with an adult for a little while before they start to talk.
- Notice what a child is looking at or is doing. Make this the focus of your communication.
- Show children that you have plenty of time to be with them by coming down to their level and by using a relaxed tone of voice.
- Allow plenty of time after making a comment to allow a child to respond.
- Avoid asking too many questions as this can make some children feel under pressure.
- Talk in the ‘here and now’. Make comments about what a child is doing or using – for example, ‘you are painting a picture’ or ‘the car is going down the ramp’.
- Try repeating and adding a word to a child’s sentence. For example, if a child says ‘teddy jump’, say ‘big teddy’s jumping’ or ‘Jack’s teddy’s jumping’.
- Use opportunities such as routine activities to expand a child’s sentences by modelling sentences – such as, ‘Hannah is eating the banana’.
- If a child is using only single words, help them to learn to join two words together by adding a word to their sentence. Useful words to start with are ‘more’ and ‘gone’. You can add these to activities such as tidying up – ‘car gone’ – or when a child wants more of an activity or an object – ‘more puzzle?’ or ‘more apple?’.
- Think about the type of words that you are encouraging children to say. Prioritise words that are meaningful and useful to the child. For example, words such as ‘more’, ‘drink’, ‘all gone’ will be more useful to a child than ‘please’ or ‘thank you’.
- Share books on a 1:1 with children who are not talking much. Don’t worry if they want to go back to earlier pages or stay looking at the same page for a while. If a child is clearly interested in a book, share the same book several times. Try leaving out the odd word and see if the child can fill it.
Part 9 of this series will be published in the 7-20 January 2019 issue of Nursery World
Nursery World Show 2019
Penny Tassoni will be among the top early years experts delivering our seminar and masterclass programme at the Nursery World Show in Islington, London on 1-2 February 2019.
Penny will be tackling two of the subjects that Government and Ofsted now deem critical to a child’s academic success and ‘closing the gap’: the ability to self-regulate and a good vocabulary.
Other speakers at the two-day event include Kym Scott, who will be looking at challenge and progression in children’s learning; Jan Dubiel will be tackling learning and teaching in the EYFS; and Jane Dyke will be outlining a Froebelian approach to behaviour.
Giving advice on how to support children with hidden disabilities and children with autistic spectrum disorders will be inclusion expert Wendy Usher. And returning for another year to speak on the principles of the curriculum and on cultural diversity is Judith Twani.
For full details of the seminar and masterclass programme and to book a place, visit: www.nurseryworldshow.com