All Modules B6-Development Matters in the early years | Page 21

Playing and Exploring, Active Learning, and Creating and Thinking Critically support children’s learning across all areas

3 Communication and Language: Speaking
Positive Relationships:
what adults could do

what adults could provide

• Wait and allow the child time to start the conversation.
• Follow the child’s lead to talk about what they are
interested in.
• Give children ‘thinking time’. Wait for them to think about
what they want to say and put their thoughts into words,
without jumping in too soon to say something yourself.
• For children learning English as an additional language,
value non-verbal communications and those offered in
home languages.
• Add words to what children say, e.g. child says ‘Brush
dolly hair’, you say ‘Yes, Lucy is brushing dolly’s hair.’
• Talk with children to make links between their body
language and words, e.g. “Your face does look cross. Has
something upset you?”
• Introduce new words in the context of play and activities.
• Use a lot of statements and fewer questions. When
you do ask a question, use an open question with many
possible answers.
• Show interest in the words children use to communicate
and describe their experiences.
• Help children expand on what they say, introducing and
reinforcing the use of more complex sentences.

• Display pictures and photographs showing familiar
events, objects and activities and talk about them with
the children.
• Provide activities which help children to learn to
distinguish differences in sounds, word patterns and
rhythms.
• Plan to encourage correct use of language by telling
repetitive stories, and playing games which involve
repetition of words or phrases.
• Provide opportunities for children whose home
language is other than English, to use that language.
• Help children to build their vocabulary by extending the
range of their experiences.
• Ensure that all practitioners use correct grammar.
• Foster children’s enjoyment of spoken and written
language by providing interesting and stimulating play
opportunities.
• Environment must offer language of thinking as a
pedagogical strategy to offer a rich environment for
children to grow and develop language and
cognitive skills
• Expose language in various forms through the
documentations
• All documentations need to have children’s work
and input.

63. Uses language as a powerful means of widening
contacts, sharing feelings, experiences and thoughts.
64. Holds a conversation, jumping from topic to topic.
65. Learns new words very rapidly and is able to use them
in communicating.
66. Uses gestures, sometimes with limited talk, e.g.
reaches toward toy, saying ‘I have it’.
22-36 months 67. Uses a variety of questions (e.g. what, where, who).
68. Uses simple sentences (e.g.’ Mummy gonna work.’)
69. • Beginning to use word endings (e.g. going, cats).

70. Beginning to use more complex sentences to link thoughts
71. (e.g. using and, because).
72. Can retell a simple past event in correct order (e.g. went
down slide, hurt finger).
73. Uses talk to connect ideas, explain what is happening
and anticipate what might happen next, recall and relive
past experiences.
30-50 months 74. Questions why things happen and gives explanations.
Asks e.g. who, what, when, how.
75. Uses a range of tenses (e.g. play, playing, will play, played).
76. Uses intonation, rhythm and phrasing to make the
meaning clear to others.
77. Uses vocabulary focused on objects and people that are
of particular importance to them.
78. Builds up vocabulary that reflects the breadth of
their experiences.
79. • Uses talk in pretending that objects stand for something
else in play, e,g, ‘This box is my castle.’
80. Often expresses questions as statement
81. Uses feeling words to describe own and other’s feelings
82. Takes risks in using new vocabulary in different contexts
83. Use the language to communicate needs and ideas
84. Uses the language of thinking spontaneously if
previously exposed to it by adults in the context.
85. Transfer language of thinking to home using words
like “connection”, “Thinking”, “points of view”,
“reflection”, “What makes you say that?, “wonder”
86. Uses the language of science: inquire, hypothesis,
experiment, observe, document, analyze, conclude
etc.

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Enabling Environments:

Communication and Language: Speaking

A Unique Child:
observin