My daughter recently started referring to herself in the third person, she is 22 months old. Is there a way to help her understand the concept of "I" or "You" every time I try to say it It comes out wrong and she gets confused.
How do you know if your child will refer to themselves in the third person? How normal is this?
Anonymous
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Most children refer to themselves in the third person for a while and get their grammar mixed up.
At this point in her development you shouldn't be too worried about that level of her language development.
You don't even need to correct her for something like this. Just use correct grammar in your own speech and when you speak with her, don't say, "does Jenny want to eat?" say, "do you want to eat?" Refer to yourself using "me" and "I" instead of referring to yourself as Mommy.
She is 22 months and she is talking and that is fantastic. It is a positive reflection on you as a parent. She will work out all of the little kinks with her speech as she develops more experience. She is a beginner and understanding the abstract concept that she isn't saying something the right way, is too advanced for her right now. When someone is learning how to do something, it is silly to try to teach them an advanced concept. stay simple and make sure that you are always speaking correctly.
jlb
It takes awhile for most toddlers to understand pronouns. She is totally normal.
My *almost 2yr old* has just started using pronouns correctly, sometimes. Most of what she says is still in the 3rd person.
I don't really think there is a way to teach it other then just modeling correct speech. I don't try to correct her, just let her figure it out on her own.
Anonymous
Does she understand cities, counties, states, countries and the universe yet?
It will come with time. Keep using the words and she will pick up on them. No need to directly 'teach' this.
Ducky
Your daughter is fine.
This is normal.
It is okay for her to confuse "I" and "Me"......just gently correct her each time she says it wrong.
Now the You and Me thing can be solved by games and time.
Take some of her objects (toys,her brush, her bed) and say "is this for you or me?" and vise versa (use your keys, cell phone, your brush,your bed). Make sure you use things that she can't get confused on.
Best of luck! And have fun with it!
Ducky
Thank goodness you are not teaching her Spanish!!!! :D
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your lucky she has got such a good vocabulary at her age if your worrying about this! :)
its normal, its something that gets learnt as they get older - my son is 4 and says things like - "when i was an adult i had that motorbike" when we see motorbikes and he's just trying to explain himself.