Key Takeaways – Understanding Little Children
- Two-year-olds typically have a vocabulary of around 50 words and can use two- to three-word phrases.
- They learn language by imitating adults and can handle five-word phrases confidently.
- They enjoy interactive books, identify pictures, and chat during play, practicing their language skills.
- Three-year-olds understand and begin to apply grammatical rules, experimenting with word combinations.
- They are skilled conversationalists, adjusting their speech based on their audience’s age and vocabulary.
Understanding little children, especially in their toddler years, is always full of pleasant surprises. This is the time when your children’s grammar skills are developing at a much faster rate. You never know what funny words will come out of their mouths.
Beginning at 2 years old, these kids can already pick up correct use of verbs, nouns, pronouns, prepositions, and all the other language bits by ear and speak them right out.
Some characteristics of 2 year olds – Understanding Little Children
According to previous studies, two year olds have been found to have more than 50 words in their vocabulary. They communicate mostly by saying two- and three word phrases that enable them to participate in adult-like conversations. Most of these words are nouns (for objects and people), greetings, and other key words such as more and now. They can answer simple questions, too.
Children of this age are more than eager to hone their language skills by imitating and copying adults and older children. Later, they are able to manage and make five-word phrases confidently.
They are captivated by animated adults reading illustrated books. These books teach them new words that they seldom hear. A book about the zoo introducing the animals brings in new words for their vocabulary.
These children are quick to identify pictures in books, helping them in their language development, even interacting with storytellers. They chat to themselves during play, which is actually a good way to practice their talking skills.
At this age, these children are aware of others around them. They use their names, and they are beginning to understand the concept of the pronouns he and she.
They are able to manage themselves: taking a bath, getting dressed, eating, and playing. They are also able to identify at least 6 parts of their bodies, which include the hands, legs, nose, and mouth.
These children can follow simple, two-step instructions. (Please pick up the ball and put it in the box.) They are not yet ready to ask questions, but they can understand easy questions asked of them, like Where is mommy? This is because their receptive language skills (understanding of words and language) develop faster than their expressive skills, or oral abilities in words and language.
They know how to use their own names, effectively identifying themselves from the others. This is the beginning of awareness of his or her own personality, an important milestone for any developing child.
They can sing parts or whole nursery rhymes, enjoying the music, and having the interest to sing along with it. This is also an opportunity to practice using more words.
At this stage, the child can communicate variations of the word “no” and other negative phrases. This is a powerful and useful skill for him. The child is also able to understand the idea of past actions and the use of the past tense,
Also, they are able to pronounce the sounds of the letters B, P, M, G, N, K, H, W, D, and T.
Some characteristics of a 3-year old. – Understanding Little Children
3-year olds understand most aspects of the language and start to figure out the grammatical rules and add them to their speech.
Sometimes, what sounds like nonsense words are word experiments for them, like calling a fountain “crash water”, a picturesque name. They know how words sound and how sentences are put together and begin to mix new word combinations on their own.
They understand well how meanings change in a language even before they can speak: by changing the word order and adding prefixes and suffixes in the words.
By the time they turn three, children are most likely to be very good talkers. They can carry a conversation well, know how to adjust their tones and speech patterns to the vocabulary of their speaking partner. (They use simpler words with another child their own age, but can be more verbal with adults.)
