Extending
Extending means repeating what your child said while adding more information. Extending your child’s sentences is an important strategy as it helps them to express themselves in longer more complex ways.
Here are some simple tips to help you extend your child’s language;
Repeat what your child said using correct grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary.
Add more information such as; size, colour, or any type of information that will add to the message (e.g., child: the dinosaur eating, parent: the dinosaur is eating green leaves).
Slow down.
Stress the words you have added to help your child focus on these.
By extending your child’s sentences you encourage your child and provide an example that is one small step ahead. This will help your child to learn how to use language in more complex ways.
Speech Pathology Team