Do You Correct Children’s Speech?

[Rockgirl]

I don’t mean toddlers who are just learning. Dcb, age 4, constantly says things like, “Her’s going to play with me.”.....”Let’s pick we’re toys up.”....”He ate him’s snack.” Etc.

I’ve been repeating the sentence back to him, with correct speech. “She’s going to play with you.” I don’t think his parents do anything....they seem to enjoy him being more babyish, but I think four is old enough to be learning proper speech, within reason. My other 4’s have a good grasp of it.

What do y’all think?

[Valerie928]

I correct them! Why not try to teach them the right way🙂

[Mariposa]

It is normal and ok at 4. Just keep gently repeating the sentence correctly, maybe take the dolls out and talk things out in a non confrontational way, point them out in books, etc.
They won't be 30 years old saying it still; they will figure it out.
Gender concepts are brand new for them.

Be careful with this in this climate. When I used to work in the school system we were told by admin not to correct it because this might be how they talk at home. Also, parents will come in and complain they're being made fun of for being ESL or not college/high school educated.

[Mariposa]

That is true, always consider the family's culture and listen to parents' speech habits...

[coloradoprovider]

I absolutely will use correct English when speaking to children. I will not be afraid to rephrase using correct speech. I will not allow a child to fall behind his/her peers when it's in my power to help. If the parents don't use correct English at home, perhaps they appreciate their child learning correctly. People whose command of speech is poor, come across as ignorant at best and lacking in intelligence at worst. I know that's not necessarily true, but I won't perpetuate the child's ignorance.

[Rockgirl]

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like I’m good to keep doing as I have been.

I’ve been doing daycare for a long time, but I haven’t had this come up with a child his age, to this extent.

[CeriBear]

Depends on the age. I don’t correct toddlers or young preschoolers but by the time they are in pre-k I do. I once had a 5 year old tell me “he taked my fire truck.” I simply told him “you mean he took your fire truck.”

[Meeko]

Originally Posted by coloradoprovider

I absolutely will use correct English when speaking to children. I will not be afraid to rephrase using correct speech. I will not allow a child to fall behind his/her peers when it's in my power to help. If the parents don't use correct English at home, perhaps they appreciate their child learning correctly. People whose command of speech is poor, come across as ignorant at best and lacking in intelligence at worst. I know that's not necessarily true, but I won't perpetuate the child's ignorance.

I agree. I'm not about to adjust for every child. I gently remind the child the right way to say something.

I also demand good manners. Nobody gets anything without a please/may I etc.

If a parents doesn't want a polite child who speaks properly...they know where the door is.

[e.j.]

Originally Posted by Rockgirl

I don’t mean toddlers who are just learning. Dcb, age 4, constantly says things like, “Her’s going to play with me.”.....”Let’s pick we’re toys up.”....”He ate him’s snack.” Etc.

I’ve been repeating the sentence back to him, with correct speech. “She’s going to play with you.” I don’t think his parents do anything....they seem to enjoy him being more babyish, but I think four is old enough to be learning proper speech, within reason. My other 4’s have a good grasp of it.

What do y’all think?

I usually try to model correct speech so I'll say something like, "Oh! She's going to play with you? That's great to hear?", "Let's pick up our toys? What a good idea!" or "He ate his snack? He must have been hungry."

[Sunshine69]

I correct them if I think they’re mature enough to understand. Soon they’re going to be graded on their English in school. Sometimes the older kids will correct them too. 🙂

[Ariana]

I correct by repeating the statement with the correct grammar but like I am asking a question. I don’t get the child to repeat as a SLP told me not to do that.

Johnny “Her is going outside todays”
Me “She is going outside today?”
Emphasis on SHE and TODAY and then Johnny might repeat on his own or answer yes.

[AmyKidsCo]

Originally Posted by Ariana

I correct by repeating the statement with the correct grammar but like I am asking a question. I don’t get the child to repeat as a SLP told me not to do that.

Johnny “Her is going outside todays”
Me “She is going outside today?”
Emphasis on SHE and TODAY and then Johnny might repeat on his own or answer yes.

Me too, but not always as a question. More often I just repeat it without emphasis or "you mean" "you should say" etc...

"Her is going outside todays."
"Yup, she's going outside today."

[springv]

When I was in college, we had a professor tell us to not correct a child's speech especially if they are from Louisiana because they speak more creole or the french dialect

[Jo123ABC]

I correct them all, including toddlers but in a subtle way. I repeat what they say back to them like a question. Ex:" I ate the skabetti all gone". "You ate all of your spaghetti?!" "That's awesome! You're going to be big and strong!"

[coloradoprovider]

Originally Posted by Ariana

I correct by repeating the statement with the correct grammar but like I am asking a question. I don’t get the child to repeat as a SLP told me not to do that.

Johnny “Her is going outside todays”
Me “She is going outside today?”
Emphasis on SHE and TODAY and then Johnny might repeat on his own or answer yes.

I do it the same way. Rephrase as a question (like example above) or I might say "Yes, SHE is going outside TODAY."

[CeriBear]

Originally Posted by Ariana

Johnny “Her is going outside todays”
Me “She is going outside today?”
Emphasis on SHE and TODAY and then Johnny might repeat on his own or answer yes.

That’s I what I do as well.
Child: “I makked up my cot myself.”
Me: “You made up your cot all by yourself?”

Again for me it depends on the age. I’m more likely to correct a 4 year old than a toddler. If a child is under 2.5 I usually don’t say anything at all. I’m just happy to see them using big boy/girl words.