How can I work on
expanding my
child’s utterances in
everyday life?
Expanding your child’s words and sentence length is done through providing a language-rich environment. This is something you can do in everyday routines! Providing a language-rich environment means modeling and expanding language. Modeling language allows your child to hear language and attach it to different routines and meanings.
Routines are the easiest way to promote language learning because they are familiar to your child! Below are different ways to incorporate modeling and providing a language rich environment in everyday routines!
Reading a book
You can target language
while reading a book!
When reading a book you
can cue your child to use
their words with
something called
expectant wait.
This is when you start a sentence, pause (expectant wait), and wait for your child to finish it. This works best with familiar repetitive books. A good repetitive book to use would be “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt." This book starts on each page with “we’re going on a bear hunt," which is a good example to use expectant wait with. You can say “we’re going on a—” and wait for your child to finish the sentence. If your child does not respond, repeat the sentence and try expectant wait again. If your child does not respond a second time, you can finish the sentence and continue reading, attempting the expectant wait again.
Snack Time
Snack time is a great way to work on building language! During snack time give your child part of the snack and wait for them to request more. For example, if you are having a pack of goldfish, give them one
goldfish and wait for them to
request more. If they reach for it instead of using their words,
you can model the word
“more”. Modeling more can be done with their hands (gestural/sign) or verbally. To model more with sign, gently
grab your child’s hands, and model more. When requesting verbally, bring the snack up to your face so your child can see that you’re saying more with your mouth. If your child gives no words, model one word answers. If they give you one word, expand their utterance. For example, if they say “more” you can say “want more”, if they say “want more”, you can say “I want more."
If you have any questions, feel free to talk to your speech therapist at your next appointment!
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