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Karen T
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| Posted: June 06 2007 at 8:24am | IP Logged
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My 5.5 yo dd has some very poor grammar in her speech. When she and 7 yo ds were younger both had some speech delays (hers very minor, his very significant) so we tended to not correct any mistakes, not wanting to dampen their enthusiasm for speaking. I just figured that eventually they'd hear our correct English and also from all the read-alouds we do and pick up good English that way. But I realized lately that although ds has improved a lot, dd still has a lot of bad habits. I'm worried that they're becoming so ingrained she'll have a hard time changing. For example, somewhere along the line she must have heard "his" and "he's" as the same word, so she extrapolated and now uses "she's" in place of "her" like "that is she's hair." I cringe sometimes to hear her talk to others.
I've started correcting her gently but I've been doing that for over a month with no results at all.
Will she eventually just correct herself or do I need to do something more formal? She is reading simple words and likes doing Explode the code for phonics and we do copywork and Miquon Math orange, but other than that everything is read-alouds, outside time, etc since she won't be 6 until the middle of Sept (here she would only be starting Kindy this fall).
Karen T
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acystay
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| Posted: June 06 2007 at 1:39pm | IP Logged
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I wouldn't worry too much. I realize she is 5 1/2 and you're looking at others and see her speech. It looks as though her pattern for grammar (she's/her and his he's) is fine. I wouldn't intially say to her it's her and not she's. I say that b/c it could become a demeaning thing for her over time if she just doesn't get it. Just repeat back the sentence to her. Ex. if she says, She's bike in the garage." reply back, "yep, her bike is in the garage." It could take some time, but eventually she will get it.
My daughter (5 1/2 in July) still says willn't occasionally. This word has come in out of her speech for several years. There are months at a time she won't (willn't) use it and then one day comes and there it is again. It bugs me when my friend's husband corrects her b/c I do see the look on her face.
I just say don't correct in the sense of say this b/c it won't make a longer connection into her brain. And keep in mind, if she is acquiring a vast amount of knowledge and gross motor/fine motor skills right now she could revert on some things. She will get it it just may take a little longer.
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stefoodie
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| Posted: June 06 2007 at 2:36pm | IP Logged
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All my kids went through this and the 5 1/2 still does it. They've more or less self-corrected themselves through the years, with lots of read-alouds and reading to themselves. Not to minimize your concern, but maybe give it a few months more, or a year, and see how she progresses? Probably I've seen the most improvement around the ages of 8-10, in my kids at least, when they start becoming really aware of how grammar and spelling work, etc. But of course YMMV.
hth,
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folklaur
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| Posted: June 06 2007 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
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From what I have heard, pronouns are hard for some kids to get the hang of anyway (as are some past tense forms - ie: saying "eated" instead of "ate", because they are trying to follow the "normal" grammer rules.) I would probably do what was suggested and just repeat it back in the correct form ( well, that is what I do with my just-turned-five yo.)
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 06 2007 at 9:57pm | IP Logged
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acystay wrote:
I wouldn't intially say to her it's her and not she's. I say that b/c it could become a demeaning thing for her over time if she just doesn't get it. Just repeat back the sentence to her. Ex. if she says, She's bike in the garage." reply back, "yep, her bike is in the garage." It could take some time, but eventually she will get it.
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Thanks, that is what I do to correct her, just repeat it the right way, not make a point of showing her that she's wrong. You're right, I don't want to make her feel bad and worry about saying the wrong thing.
Karen
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graciefaith
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| Posted: June 10 2007 at 2:07am | IP Logged
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Wow, my daughter is the same age as yours and i had the same concern. I took her to a speech pathologist who eased my fears. He said that to show her good grammar skills by speaking well myself, read a lot and basically keep doing what im doing. He reassured me that some sounds, like the th/sh/ch/s/r sounds may not even totally develop til as late as 8yrs old.
Oh he also encouraged me to ask the why/when/where/how questions as much as i can. I guess it forces her to explain herself more rather than a simple yes/no answer. He said to try and make everything a "language" experience.
And one more thing, yes you are correcting her the right way, by just repeating it back correctly. He said not to make her say it correctly because it makes them dislike speaking if they have to constantly repeat it again correctly. I agree because i use to make my daughter say it correctly and i actually still have a habit of doing that sometimes. It did make her dislike talking and she would just say "forget it" and move on because she hated having to repeat it all over again.
I wouldnt worry about it!
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Blessed wife and mom of 3 girls, Sept. '01, Dec. '02 and Oct. '07
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: poor grammar in 5.5 yo?
