Joey has been picking up on questions about his day. He's at least starting to understand that we expect him to make some kind of answer, and that saying something to the effect of "I had fun!" means the activity is likely to be repeated. He will answer yes and no questions with more or less accuracy, depending on how tired he is and how much of his attention you have.
However, he will not talk about school. Trying to get him to talk at all immediately after school is a lost cause. I am going with the working assumption that he is tired, trying to regain his bearings, and perhaps is simply unable to access language after a lot of hard work. I'll keep you posted as I test this theory, as he gains more ability to communicate with us. Anyway, no point in grilling him immediately after school. I'm lucky to get any words at all.
However, asking him questions about school is generally problematic. If he's really with me and I have his attention, he'll give me scripted responses (What did you do at school today? "I had fun, Mrs. Huff was at school today, Went to school" etc.) and will answer all yes/no questions with "yes" (Did you sing a song today? Yes. Did you read a story today? Yes. Did you play outside today? Yes. Did you turn your teacher into a frog today? Yes.) For other activities, I get some spontaneous answers. (Did you sing a song in Speech Camp today? Yes- Wheels on the Bus! Did you enjoy swimming today? Yes- sprinklers! Fun!) For school... nada. i have no idea what he's doing this week. The teacher sent me home a note on the first day, but since then, nothing.
I find this a little odd, and a little worrying. I could do some more peculation as to why school seems to be a taboo subject for question-answering, but it wouldbe just that- speculation. It's also worrying that I have no way to really supporting the school program at home. If I don't know what songs are being sung or what stories are being read, I can't keep up the theme at home. For example, if they are doing, say, Three Billy Goats Gruff, I can play the Leah's Farm Signing Time more, maybe plan to take him down to Maymount to feed goats this weekend, and read him fairytales with trolls, and talk about fairies and things with him. Or if they are singing "Wheels on the Bus" every morning, I can get out his buses and we can sit outside and watch the Fred Bus and the trolley go by, and talk about how people get where they need to go. But I have to wing it.
I'm starting to think he really did turn the teacher into a frog.
However, he will not talk about school. Trying to get him to talk at all immediately after school is a lost cause. I am going with the working assumption that he is tired, trying to regain his bearings, and perhaps is simply unable to access language after a lot of hard work. I'll keep you posted as I test this theory, as he gains more ability to communicate with us. Anyway, no point in grilling him immediately after school. I'm lucky to get any words at all.
However, asking him questions about school is generally problematic. If he's really with me and I have his attention, he'll give me scripted responses (What did you do at school today? "I had fun, Mrs. Huff was at school today, Went to school" etc.) and will answer all yes/no questions with "yes" (Did you sing a song today? Yes. Did you read a story today? Yes. Did you play outside today? Yes. Did you turn your teacher into a frog today? Yes.) For other activities, I get some spontaneous answers. (Did you sing a song in Speech Camp today? Yes- Wheels on the Bus! Did you enjoy swimming today? Yes- sprinklers! Fun!) For school... nada. i have no idea what he's doing this week. The teacher sent me home a note on the first day, but since then, nothing.
I find this a little odd, and a little worrying. I could do some more peculation as to why school seems to be a taboo subject for question-answering, but it wouldbe just that- speculation. It's also worrying that I have no way to really supporting the school program at home. If I don't know what songs are being sung or what stories are being read, I can't keep up the theme at home. For example, if they are doing, say, Three Billy Goats Gruff, I can play the Leah's Farm Signing Time more, maybe plan to take him down to Maymount to feed goats this weekend, and read him fairytales with trolls, and talk about fairies and things with him. Or if they are singing "Wheels on the Bus" every morning, I can get out his buses and we can sit outside and watch the Fred Bus and the trolley go by, and talk about how people get where they need to go. But I have to wing it.
I'm starting to think he really did turn the teacher into a frog.