Splinter Skills

Admittedly, the speechie in me screams on a daily basis these days. Two kids have minor language delays, articulation errors like crazy, and a dialect mixed in. Speed has a very limited vocabulary when it comes to naming things. Sometimes he knows a word in the morning, but can't remember it at night. The guy is a puzzle.

Two months ago, Speed thought all animals were called "dogs." We started small and over a few weeks added "cat" and "bunny" to our vocabulary. We still struggle with the difference between a bird and a fish.

Also two months ago, we started reading Duck on a Bike. Nightly. Each page says something like this:

"And Duck rode past Cow. "moooooo" said Cow. But what she really wanted to say was "A duck on a bike? Now that's the silliest thing I've ever seen!"

The book has a duck, mouse, cat, dog, horse, cow, goat and two pigs. We name these items nightly. We talk about what sound they make.

Today in the car, Speed started a question game: What does a (animal) say?

"Mommy Tammy, what a cat say?" --Meow
"Speed, what does a dog say?" --woof woof
"Mommy Tammy, what a mouse say?" --squeak squeak
"Speed, what does a horse say?"
--I don't know.
"What does a chicken say?"
--Hey Duck! Watch where you're going!!

Precisely.