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Grammar

	Standard: IV.A.1 - Gains meaning by listening Standard: IV.B.1 - Speaks clearly enough to be understood without contextual clues Standard: IV.D.1 - Uses age-appropriate grammar in conversations and increasingly complex phrases and sentences Standard: IV.D.2 - Connects phrases and sentences to build ideas

When we use words and sentences to communicate, we follow rules that govern how we put words together. These rules make up the syntax or grammar of our language. Children learn to apply these rules instinctively long before they formally know what the rules are.

Children demonstrate their increasing use of complex phrases and sentences in the ways they combine words. A toddler reaches out and says, “Milk!” while months later, the same child says, “Want milk.” Still later, he might say, “I want milk,” a complete sentence. Eventually, his combination of words becomes more precise and the grammar becomes more complex when he asks a question, “May I please have some milk?”

Children learn most of what they know about English grammar before they reach kindergarten. They learn during the first few years of life, through listening to others communicate and through their own attempts at communication, what grammatical structures work in our language and which ones don’t work. They develop a sense of what “sounds right” and what doesn’t.

Children acquire this sense of grammar best when they experience many models of language, used well, and when they have many opportunities to talk with more mature users of the language. Young children need many opportunities to talk with adults who will listen attentively and expand on what they say. It is through these experiences that children grow in their use of language. The more children talk, the more they understand language, and the better they get at using language.

Speaking

	Standard: IV.A.1 - Gains meaning by listening

As children grow, they learn more about how to pronounce words so they can be understood by others. We’ve all heard young children’s attempts to say words. Sometimes those attempts are very close approximations of the word, and sometimes the child’s pronunciation makes the word very difficult to understand. Sometimes, only a parent can understand what the child is saying. To be understood by others, a child must learn to produce sounds in words that are closer to the way others produce those same sounds. When they can do this, this shows they are learning to attend to the sounds in language.

If children are embarrassed and disturbed by their speech, or if their language skills seem to be well behind that of their peers, discuss your concerns with supervisors or other appropriate persons.

In addition to learning to speak more clearly, prekindergarten children are expanding their conversational skills. It is important for children to learn how to initiate and participate in conversations, how to take turns speaking in different settings, and how to listen and respond to communication. Specific instructional strategies and environmental considerations are included in this training to help you learn more about how to improve children’s speaking, listening, and conversational skills.