Using See and Learn Phrases 2
See and Learn Phrases 2 is designed to teach children to progress from using single words to using two words together when they talk.
See and Learn Phrases 2 teaches two-keyword phrases illustrated in themed books using early vocabulary that is taught in See and Learn Vocabulary 1 and See and Learn Vocabulary 2.
See and Learn Phrases 2 also introduces sight word reading using simple matching, selecting and naming activities.
When to start
See and Learn Phrases 2 is designed for children who:
- understand 80 or more words, including some nouns and some verbs
- can say or sign 20 or more of the words that they understand
- can follow two-keyword instructions -- for example, "wash face", "give baby a drink" in a play situation
Children who have completed the activities in See and Learn Vocabulary 1, See and Learn Vocabulary 2 and See and Learn Phrases 1 should be ready to start the activities in See and Learn Phrases 2.
Activities
See and Learn Phrases 2 includes 6 activities to teach 44 two-keyword phrases and 30 sight words. It also includes 7 sight words and 4 phrases that were previously taught in See and Learn Phrases 1 to encourage success by building on and extending what your child already knows.
The phrases taught in See and Learn Phrases 2 include 4 different types of two keyword phrases usually learned at this stage of language development. The sight words taught include nouns, verbs, adjectives and a preposition, an article (the), auxiliary verb (is) and conjunctions (and, with).
1 - Reading books
The first activity introduces children to books. As you read to your child and talk about what you can see in the pictures in the books, you begin to teach the meaning of the phrases. This activity also begins to draw your child's attention to the printed words as you read the phrases and encourage your child to say them with you.
2 - Matching sight words
After introducing the words in a book, the second activity encourages your child to look carefully at the written words and to link them with their spoken forms.
3 - Selecting sight words
The third activity allows your child to demonstrate that they are learning to link each printed word with its spoken form.
4 - Reading sight words
The fourth activity encourages your child to practise saying the words that they can read.
5 - Understanding sight words
Having established that your child can recognise printed words and link them with the corresponding spoken words, the fifth activity allows your child to show that they understand the words that they can read. In this activity, we ask them to match written words with the corresponding picture.
6 - Understanding phrases
The final activity in See and Learn Phrases 2 allows your child to show that they understand the phrases that they can read by matching phrases with the corresponding pictures.
This activity can also be used to allow your child to show that they understand phrases when they hear them (by reading the phrases to them). For children who find learning to read more difficult, this enables them to show that they are learning the phrases and developing their language.
Working through the words and phrases
We recommend that you work through the books, sight words and phrases methodically - introducing a book, then teaching the sight words needed to read the book, then testing you child's understanding of the sight words, and finally their understanding of the phrases in the book.
We suggest that you start with the "Who is eating?" book as it includes 2 phrases and 3 sight words (cat, dog, eating) previously introduced in See and Learn Phrases 1, which will help your child master this book. There are 4 new animal names (horse, rabbit, monkey, fish) to learn.
You can then move to the "Who is jumping" book as there is only one new word to learn (jumping). We have tried to ensure that new sight words learned are then used in more than one phrase example to consolidate children's learning.
Read the book and start to teach the sight words that appear in the book - first by playing matching games (Activity 2), then by asking your child to select the sight words (Activity 3) and then practising saying the words (Activity 4).
When your child is able to select the sight words, test their understanding by asking them to read the printed words and match them to the corresponding pictures (Activity 5).
When you know they understand the sight words, you can test their understanding of the phrases in the book you have been focussed on (Activity 6).
Work through the activities with one book at a time, teaching the sight words and phrases that occur in that book.
When you have completed all six activities with the first two books, "Who is eating?" and "Who is jumping?", we suggest you proceed through the books in the following order:
- "Big and little" - your child will have two new sight words to learn (big and little) to read this book successfully
- "On" - your child will have three new sight words to learn (bus, train, boat) to read this book successfully
- "Eating" - your child will have six new sight words to learn (apple, bread, banana, yoghurt/yogurt, biscuit/cookie, dinner) to read this book successfully
- "Cutting" - your child will have three new sight words to learn (cutting, hair, flower)) to read this book successfully
- "Playing" - your child will have three new sight words to learn (playing, car, bubbles) to read this book successfully
- "Wet and dirty" - your child will have four new sight words to learn (wet, dirty, coat, shoe)) to read this book successfully
We have included the function words [is], [the], [and] and [with] in the sight words. We recommend teaching the keywords first, as described above. When your child has learned to read the two keyword phrases, you can then move on to teach the function sight words.
First attempts at saying phrases
As children start to use two words together when they talk they are not able to say phrases as clearly as an adult might. It takes all children some time to develop clear speech.
When your child begins to use simple phrases to communicate, we recommend that you do not attempt to correct their pronunciation while they are talking to you. You should listen carefully to their attempts and respond to them by repeating the phrase and confirming that you have understood your child. We want to encourage children to use words and phrases to communicate.
Similarly, we suggest that you do not correct your child's pronunciation when engaged in language teaching activities. Focus on teaching the meaning of words and phrases and encouraging your child to say them.
Following your child's lead
The activities in See and Learn Phrases 2 give your child the opportunity to learn to read independently. Some children will learn to read sight words quickly; others will make slower progress. However, the activities should also teach your child to understand and say these two-keyword phrases even if they are not yet reading, and so support their language development.
If your child takes more time to develop their sight word reading skills, they will still benefit from reading in a 'supported' way by being read to and encouraged to imitate the words and phrases. In this situation, focus on reading and enjoying the books together and point to the words as you read them. Continue to go through the matching, selecting and naming activities with prompts to help your child learn about print. The small number of sight words used and the frequency with which they are repeated in the books should help most children learn to read them over time.
If your child is not becoming an independent reader, you can still check their two-keyword understanding when listening to spoken language by reading the phrases and asking them to point to the correct picture (Activity 6).
Promoting success
During each teaching session it is important that your child experiences success at every stage. The activity instructions often ask you to prompt your child. This means you should give your child time to try the activity but then assist or guide them as much as necessary to ensure they complete it successfully. Offer less help as your child becomes more able to complete the activities independently.
Where possible, take turns with your child to provide a model of how to do the activity. For example, you could match one word then ask your child to match the next word. Taking turns can also take some of the pressure of your child and help make the activity more enjoyable.
Language
We recommend using simple language throughout the teaching activities. This will make it easier for the children to learn the words and phrases, and to understand what they are being shown.
We provide recommended spoken prompts, instructions and questions in the guidance for each activity, which we encourage you to use. These are designed to reduce working memory and language demands.
Signing
Many children with Down syndrome can sign words before they can say them. When learning to read they may show that they can read the word by signing it rather than saying it. Their signs should be accepted as showing they are learning to correctly read words but also encourage your child to attempt to say the words.
A recent review of research into how children with Down syndrome use signs indicates that they do not usually spontaneously join two signs together to express two-keyword meanings. However, they may learn to do so while working through these activities. If they learn to use two signs together while not yet able to say the words this is still an important step forward in language development.
Keeping records
We recommend that you keep records of your child's progress using the record forms provided.
The record sheets enable you to record your child's progress in understanding, saying and reading phrases. These records will help you to decide when to move on and introduce new phrases.
Studies show that children with Down syndrome vary widely on their rates of progress and many will have large vocabularies of words that they understand but cannot yet say or even sign. They may still be ready to understand two-keyword phrases and it is important that we enable them to continue to develop their language understanding until their speech production skills progress enough to enable them to begin to say the phrases.
Keeping a record of what your child knows means that their understanding will not be underestimated and it should also encourage everyone around them to keep communicating and encouraging them.
Organising sessions
Location
Find a place to carry out the activities that is comfortable, quiet, well-lit and free from distractions. Ensure that there are not lots of things in easy reach or on view that your child would rather do.
Timing
Choose whatever time that you feel is best for both you and your child, for example, when your child is not too tired, and when you are not likely to be interrupted.
Developing your child's ability to sit still, concentrate and engage effectively in learning activities is an important goal to prepare them for learning in preschool and at school. Be confident and positive, but set the expectation that when you ask them to achieve a task they will complete it successfully - even if you do it together with plenty of prompts at first.
Duration
Keep the sessions short so that you can keep your child's interest. You may start with sessions lasting just a few minutes if your child is new to this type of activity.
Gradually increase the length of each session, up to 5-10 minutes. Try to always end on a positive note. Avoid carrying on for too long and losing your child's interest.
Frequency
'Little and often' is the best principle to encourage progress. Repetition is essential for your child to make progress. Complete a short activity session as often as you can. Ideally, this will be daily.
Opportunities for additional practice
Take the opportunity to use the two-keyword phrases during everyday activities.
If you have not already done so, take photos of your child, family members, friends and pets and teach your child to read their names using the same matching and selecting activities. You can then make books taking photos with these familiar people or pets jumping or playing or cutting, or with dirty hands or wet hair.
Find opportunities to use the constructions taught in See and Learn Phrases 2 -- for example, "the chicken is eating", "Daddy is reading", "big car, little car", "dirty boots, wet boots". Use similar constructions with other words your child has learned in See and Learn Vocabulary 2 such as [splashing], [clapping], [balloon], [tree], [bike], [hand], [down], [up].\
You will find that you are using prepositions and possessives naturally as you talk to your child during the day but you can perhaps be more aware of stressing them when the opportunity occurs now you are teaching them to your child.
It might be helpful to have examples of the phrase types that you are teaching on a notice board to remind everyone who talks to your child what they are learning.
Play sessions provide many opportunities to model two-keyword phrases especially when playing in the home corner with dolls, clothes, beds, baths, tea sets, cookers and with animal, farm and zoo sets.
It is not necessary to teach children to read all the words we want to encourage them to use and combine in their daily communication with everyone around them. If your child is finding it easy to learn to read printed words then of course you can teach them more and make more books based on what they are interested in.
Additional phrases to teach
Many of the first word combinations that children use are not easy to picture.
For example, children often use what are called 'pivot' words in their first word combinations such as gone, more, no, saying -- for example, "daddy gone", "cat gone", "more dinner", "more juice", "no wash", "no bed".
Listen to your child and support all their two word combinations in everyday communication with you during the day, especially during dressing, washing, mealtimes, bath times and outings.
They may develop other pivot words such as [look], [there] and [want] -- to draw your attention to what they are looking at -- for example, "look bird" and "bird there".
