I have been feeling amused lately, having spent some extra time with the smaller people in my life, by some of the things they say, which are rather funny in my opinion. Examples include a child commenting she would rather like to watch the "Donkey-mentary" about Frozen on television.....or the same child, having watched The Sound of Music, putting a serviette on her head and saying "I'm one of those uns!" [Think she thought people were saying 'an un' rather than 'a nun'.....?] Not long after, her sibling appeared and said "Can I get a drink please while the 'adverps' are on?"
I can think of countless examples over the years, where children are communicating with the words they have learned from those around them who use language, and they mis-pronounce, misinterpret, or use words they think are the right ones but are perhaps not quite what they mean to say. I think all this can be linked to Shared Meaning, and what an important thing this is to acknowledge when working with children, especially little ones.
I can think of times in the past where I have been trying to understand a child's words and perhaps made guesses at what they are trying to say, and eventually they give up and say "Yes, that's it....." but I can tell by their body language that I have still not understood. So important, I think, to persist and make the time to listen, hear, understand and confirm what children are saying to us, valuing shared meaning, even if they are simply saying they have blue socks on today or that they saw an ant on the floor. We can celebrate sharing their words, even if is about something that feels 'small', no matter how long it might take us to understand.
Judith :lol:
