Sometimes getting our children to repeat things or do things the way we ask can be difficult. This can happen when trying to get your child to say something correctly. As teachers, we must always ask ourselves, “Did I word the request or direction to get the outcome I wanted?” Or “Did I word my direction so that my student can accomplish it?” If you ask a child to simply repeat what they said, most likely they will say it exactly the same as they did the first time. The following pages have some ideas on how to phrase things to get the results you want.

If rate of speech is a problem, first ask your child to repeat more slowly. ("Please say that again slowly") If this helps, but they are still not understandable, repeat back to them what you “caught” of the message. This cuts down on their frustration as to what it is you want from them. This also tells them which part of the message they must “repair”. Instead of saying, “What did you say?” you can phrase it, “You said that you played with ____?” It is easier for them to restate one or two words clearly than repeating the whole sentence.

If your child continues to speak very fast, you can also say in a pleasant tone, “This is what I heard” and repeat it the way it sounded. This takes some of the frustration off your child as they think the problem might be your hearing! But it also gives them a chance to hear what they sound like when they are speaking

Children’s brains are not as competent at doing many things at once as adult brains are. If they already need to split their brain power between thinking about what they want to say and the motor planning for speaking, it is rare that they will also actually do a third process and listen to what they are saying and how it sounds. Sometimes tape recording your child and letting them listen to themselves speak is a big help.

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