When a preschool child begins using real words is the time to help the speech development process by using expansion. This is repeating what the child said, but adding to it.

If a one-year-old said to you “up” you can expand the one word phrase to a two or three word phrase by replying, “Go up”. Or if they say, “car” you can say to them, “Car goes” or “Car goes fast.”

For a two year old, you can expand their two word phrases into three or four words. “Me tired” can become, “I am tired.”. When your child comes to you and says “Mommy shoe” you can say, “Mommy put shoe on.”.

A three year old will already be using three to four word sentences but then can be expanded also. “I go home.”, changes into “Yes, let’s go home now”; or “A big truck” can become, “A big truck drove by.”

The expansion technique is most useful when done in a natural, relaxed, fun manner. You don’t need to tell the child to repeat your longer phrase, just hearing the longer example is sufficient. If you do this often enough, it'll become second nature to your conversations with your child and you'll be able to listen to their language grow and lengthen!

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