Early language development, experts tell us, is the cornerstone of nearly every aspect of future development, not to mention success in school. That sounds a bit daunting, doesn't it? Luckily, children are to language as fish are to water: drop them in a language-rich environment, and they learn to swim (or rather, to understand, talk, memorize, read, narrate, imagine....). But what does a "language-rich environment" mean, exactly? And how does this amazing process of language acquisition really work? What kinds of conversations, poems, songs, books, and activities are best for our own particular children, and when? Let's find out.
When speaking, my child consistently does how many of the following?
- Raise intonation at end of a question
- Whisper or speak softly in the library or theater
- Accent words to indicate emphasis
- Raise voice to indicate urgency
- Speak more slowly when trying to explain something
My child verbally communicates how many of the following?
- His/her need to use bathroom
- His/her emotions
- Descriptions of pictures being drawn
- His/Her apologies
- Directions for where to find something
My child provides feasible answers to "What would happen if…" questions.
My child uses increasingly specific vocabulary instead of general terms. For example:
- Bread: biscuit, muffin, roll, bagel
- Coat: jacket, sweat shirt, sweater
- Talk: speak, shout, whisper
- Big: large, huge, gigantic
- Sad: unhappy, angry, frustrated
My child can produce a rhyming word, given words such as dog, cat, or sad.
My child can orally segment words into syllables, given multi-syllabic words such as garden, elephant, bicycle, etc.. (e.g., e-phant)?
You've finished the first set of questions for Language Development. Click "Save and Continue" to move onto the next set of questions in this area. Click "Save and View Result" to get a personalized learning portrait for your child.
