Section 4

Why is this important? 

Verbal understanding is like a ‘list’ of things/items that need to be remembered in order to carry out the task. An example of a two-word level instruction is ‘Give doll a banana’ (e.g. children have to remember ‘doll’ and ‘banana’). If children can’t do this, it may be that their auditory memory is
not yet sufficiently developed.

What to do:

• Put out four everyday objects (e.g. cup, teddy, pencil, sock).
• Say ‘Give me pencil and teddy’.
  Make sure the child waits until the end of the instruction before responding.
• Hold out your hands for the items.
• Replace and ask for two different items.
  N.B. Try to remember not to look at the items as you ask for them, or eye-point during the task as this gives clues over and above the meanings of the words only.
• Work towards the same aim via different activities:
  • Play a shopping game, or put two animals into the field, or two items of clothing into the washing machine, etc.
  • ‘Kim’s Game’ is good for developing memory and observation skills and is also great fun. Collect a small number of items on a tray and cover them with a cloth. Sit in a group where all the children can see the tray. Take away the cloth and allow the children time to scan the items carefully. Re-cover the tray then ask each child which items they can remember. The one who remembers most wins the game.

Why is this important? 

Adjectives are describing words that tell us a bit more about the object or item referred to (e.g. ‘wet hands’, ‘dirty shoes’).

What to do:

• Gather together some pairs of pictures.  One of the pictures should show the item in a different state (e.g. ‘dirty’, ‘happy’, ‘wet’, ‘broken’, ‘big’). The other picture should show the object in its ‘normal’ state.
• Put out two pairs (e.g. ‘happy’ girl and ‘normal’ girl; ‘broken’ cup and ‘normal’ cup).
• Ask the child to point to ‘broken cup’.
• If this is successful, move onto other picture sets.

Why is this important? 

Children use negatives to describe the ‘absence’ or non-existence of an object (e.g. a child finishes his/her drink and says ‘no juice’). Before children learn to use ‘no’ in two-word phrases, they must first be able to understand these structures and to use them appropriately.

What to do:

• Gather together two favourite toys (e.g. cat, puppy, doll, Spiderman).
• Use just two toys to begin with.
• From a store of everyday objects, choose a few (e.g. ball, cup, hat, socks).
• Give an object to one of the toys (e.g. put the hat on the cat’s head).
• Ask ‘Who’s got no hat on?’
• Encourage the child to point to the toy without the object.
• If the child points to the toy wearing the hat, say ‘Teddy’s got a hat, who’s got no hat?’
• If this continues to prove difficult, prompt by guiding the child’s hand towards the right response and reinforce it with ‘Look, teddy’s got no hat on’.

Why is this important? 

Imaginative play is crucial for learning new skills and practising these skills in a safe environment. Play is vital in encouraging language development.

What to do:

• Gather together dolls or other soft toys and one of the following:
  
  • Doll’s tea set.
  • Empty bottles, sponge, flannel, toothbrush, etc.
  • Bottle and bed (a shoe box will do).
  • Shop.
• Encourage the child to act out situations through play (e.g. tea party, bath-time).
• Talk to the child about what he/she is doing.
• Get a doll/teddy/favourite toy/playmobile figure for yourself and play alongside the child to show what to do. Talk to your doll so the child can hear – keeping your sentences short and just using the words you need (e.g. ‘doll drink’, ‘doll sleep’).

Why is this important? 

This activity will help children follow three key words in a sentence, thereby developing verbal understanding.

What to do:

• Three-word level instructions can be given during any and all daily activities.  In this way teaching and learning opportunities are available throughout the day.
• Gather together the following:
  
  • Doll, teddy (or alternative toy character).
  • Flannel
  • Hair brush
• Play together using the items to ‘wash’ and ‘brush’ doll/teddy’s body parts.
• Encourage the child to listen and then give an instruction using three key words:
  
  • ‘Wash teddy’s feet.’
  • ‘Brush doll’s hair.’
  • ‘Brush doll’s hand.’
    N.B. Try to remember not to look at, point to or give any visual clues (you can do this if you need to ‘Step down’).
• If the child doesn’t quite get it right, acknowledge what he/she has managed, repeat the instruction and then gently prompt/guide the child towards the correct toys. Repeat the instruction as you guide or the child copies you.

Why is this important? 

This activity encourages children to build sentences using two key words: it also helps to widen vocabulary.  This is an important step in the development of grammar.

What to do:

• You will need:
  
  • Teddy and doll (or two other favourite toys).
  • Cup, brush, item of food, flannel.
• Put out teddy and doll and two different items (e.g. cup and flannel). Say:
  
  • ‘Make teddy drink.’
  • ‘Wash doll.’
  • ‘Make doll drink.’
• You could also ask the child to make doll or teddy perform an action that doesn’t need any additional items (e.g. sleep, run, hop, sit, wave, clap).
  
  • ‘Make teddy jump.’
  • ‘Make teddy sit.’
  • ‘Make doll sleep.’
• When the child has successfully followed an instruction, ask ‘What’s happening?’ ncourage the child to use a two-word phrase to describe (e.g. ‘teddy jump’, ‘doll drink’).
• If the child doesn’t respond or uses a single-word (e.g. ‘jump’), offer a choice:
  
  • Adult: ‘Make teddy jump.’
  • Child follows instruction correctly.
  • Adult praises: ‘Well done. What’s happening?’ (points to teddy).
  • Child: ‘Teddy.’
  • Adult: ‘Is teddy sleeping or teddy jumping?’
  • Child: ‘Teddy jump.’

Why is this important? 

Prepositions are words that describe the position of an object (e.g. ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘under’ and ‘behind’). They are useful foundations for describing physical relationships in the world around.

What to do:

• Gather together some toys and place them around the room: put them ‘in’ and ‘on’ things.
• As the child locates an object, encourage him/her to say where the preposition is
  being used (e.g. ‘in’ cup; ‘on’ bed).
• If the child makes a mistake or doesn’t respond, offer a choice (e.g. ‘Is the car in or on the box?’).
• When all the toys have been seen, change places and encourage the child to place them this time, and then tell you where to look, using the preposition.

Why is this important? 

The present tense ‘ing’ is used following an action word to describe something that is happening now (e.g. ‘boy running’, ‘girl hopping’). This is important for the development of grammatical skills.

What to do:

• Look at books together and talk about what people, animals, etc. are doing.
• Use phrases to help, e.g.
  
  • ‘That boy is running, what about him, he’s …’
• Offer choices: ‘Is the boy running or walking?’
• If the child responds correctly, praise and repeat the sentence back, e.g.
  
  • ‘Well done, the boy is walking.’
• If the child responds incorrectly (e.g. says ‘boy walk’), do the following:
  
  • Praise for trying.
  • Repeat the sentence emphasising the missed element (e.g. ‘Boy walking. Can you tell me what the boy is doing?’).
• Talk about what toys are doing during play and give choices relating to the child’s play, e.g.
  
  • Child playing with cars: ‘Is the car driving or walking down the road?’
  • Child playing in home corner: ‘Is teddy sleeping or washing?’

Why is this important? 

Pronouns are words that replace the name of a person (e.g. instead of the speaker saying ‘Mummy would like a cup of tea’, Mummy refers to herself as ‘I’). When asking someone else a question, ‘you’ is used instead of the name of the person (e.g. ‘Did you see the car?’ instead of ‘Did Sammy see the car?’). This is another step in the development of grammar.

What to do:

• Set up a pretend tea party.
• Gather together cups, plates, plastic cutlery, foods, pretend kettle and teapot, etc.
• Play modelling pronouns, e.g.
  
  • ‘I want some tea.’
  • ‘Sunil, do you want some tea?’
• Set up situations where you can model ‘I’ and ‘you’ and then ask a question, e.g.
  
  • Adult: ‘I put my coat on, what are you doing Sunil?’
  • Child: ‘I put coat on.’

Why is this important? 

‘Big’ and ‘little’ are important opposites. They form the building blocks of more abstract concept development and give children a means to describe the world around them. They are often amongst the earliest adjectives (describing words) that children learn. Usually ‘big’ is learned before ‘little’.

What to do:

• Gather together:
  
  • A selection of objects – one ‘big’ and one ‘little’ (e.g. ‘big’ cup and ‘little’ cup;
    ‘big’ pencil and ‘little’ pencil).
• Explain that you are going to take it in turns to tidy up and put the things away into a box/bag.
• Put out a pair of items (e.g. two cups, one ‘big’ and one ‘little’). Tell the child to find the ‘big cup’. Put it in the box.
• Ask the child:
  
  • Adult: ‘What did you put in the box?’
  • Child: ‘Big (cup)’.
• Point to the remaining cup:
  
  • Adult: ‘What shall I put in the box?’
  • Child: ‘Little (cup)’.
• During outdoor play, ask the child to jump into a ‘big’/‘little’ hoop. ‘Step up’ by asking: ‘Which hoop are you in?’
• There are numerous opportunities throughout the day for teaching ‘big’ and ‘little’ – laying the table (‘big’ spoon, ‘little’ spoon), matching shoes etc.