Wait and See.....

This strategy is probably the easiest to understand but the most difficult to apply day to day. The idea behind the wait and see strategy is to do just that; wait and see...wait and see what the child will say. Too many times adults ask question upon question to children and don't wait and allow them enough time to respond on their own. Young children often have a lot to say but if we don't allow them the chance to speak we limit their chances to practice and grow in their language development. The wait and see strategy encourages adults to be patient when waiting for a child to respond to their questions. A good rule of thumb for this strategy is to try and wait about 5 to 10 seconds after asking a child a question. That may not sound like very long but boy can it feel like forever sometimes. Just keep trying and remember, each time you wait and allow your child time to think of what they want to say you are letting them know that you care about what they have to say. Your'e also promoting a better conversation. Here's an example; if you ask your child this question while he is playing with cars; "What Happened?" Using the wait and see strategy would mean that after asking the question you would pause for 5 to 10 seconds prior to jumping back into the conversation. So, with this strategy remember to wait, wait wait.