The Georgia Early Learning Standards Activity Guides may - gapitc

Surround your twos with meaningful language. Describe what they are doing, what they are
playing with, what they see, and what they hear. This helps develop their vocabulary.
Remember that you are a language role model. Use full sentences with good grammar and
pronunciation.
Talk with one or two children at a time. It is difficult for two year olds to listen to others in a
large group.
Two year olds are learning the rules of talking. They will make mistakes by saying things like
“I took my socks off my foots.” It is best just to reflect back what they’ve said, correctly – “I
see you took your socks off your feet, Anna.” In time, they will learn to speak the way adults
around them speak.
Take time to talk one on one with your two year olds every day. Get down on their level, make
eye contact, and listen to them as they try out new words and put sentences together.
Be patient if your twos get frustrated when you cannot understand what they are saying. Tell
them you are sorry you do not understand and ask them to keep trying and show you what
they mean.
Young children may push, hit, or bite when they cannot make themselves understood. Help your
twos learn the words to tell what they want and what they do not!
Talk with the children about activities after you finish them. Ask questions such as “What did
you do outside today, Elijah?” Prompt, if necessary, by saying “I saw you playing in the sandbox.
What did you do there?”
Ask parents to donate telephones or cell phones that are no longer being used. When a child
is “missing mommy” let her pretend to call on the phone.
Tips about Bilingual Development
Children are capable of learning two or more languages in childhood.
Children who are exposed to two languages on a daily or weekly basis show the same milestones
in language development at roughly the same ages as children who are exposed to one
language.
Sometimes bilingual children know fewer words in one or both languages in comparison to
children who learn one language. This is because their memory must store words in two languages
rather than one.
Bilingual children learn words in each language from different people in different situations. For
example, they may learn some words from parents at home and others from teachers at school.
Therefore, they may know certain words in one language, but not in the other.
Mixing languages in sentences is natural and normal for bilingual children. This is because they
may know some words in one language, but not the other. They may “borrow” words from
one language to complete a sentence in the other. This tends to disappear by the time they
enter elementary school.
Knowing the language of children’s parents and grandparents is important to their cultural
identity.
205