3.4

Understanding sentences with two key words

Why is this important?

This is part of the continuum of language development: children learn to abstract meaning from one (key) word and then move to being able to do the same with two.

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What to do
• Gather together:
★ Teddy and doll (or two of the child’s toys).
★ Two of the following objects: bed/chair/table/box/plate/cup.
• Put out the two toys and three objects.
• Ask the child to put one of the toys ‘in’/‘on’ one of the objects, e.g.
★ ‘Put doll on the table.’
★ ‘Put teddy in the box.’
• Vary the instructions and use different toys and objects.
N.B. The child doesn’t need to understand the prepositions in/on to do this task.