Supporting Older Toddlers’ Learning

Engage Children in Conversations that Go Beyond the Here and Now

Before watching this video, read the text below. When instructed, watch the segment of video beginning at 0:36 and ending at 2:53.

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Researchers have found that engaging young children in extended conversations that go beyond the here and now is one of the most effective ways to build their vocabularies and create strong foundations for literacy. These conversations may be about things that happened in the past or might happen in the future. They might include reasoning, planning, wondering, remembering, play-acting, or storytelling. You can find many opportunities to extend your conversations with children during book reading, play, art and construction activities, and in private moments when you can talk with just one child.

• Help children tell their stories by showing interest, asking questions, and filling in missing information. Ask questions such as “And then what happened?” to keep the story going and to help children explain how events relate to each other. Help children add detail as they retell stories. Research shows that toddlers who engage with adults in lots of storytelling and elaborated reminiscing (recalling past events and adding new details as they tell the story over and over again) become better storytellers and better pretend play partners as preschoolers, develop stronger language and vocabulary, and are likely to remember more about both past and new events.
• Make children think. Older toddlers can put ideas together and are beginning to make logical connections and informed predictions. You can stimulate and support their thinking. You might wonder aloud, ask “why” and “what if” questions, suggest new possibilities, supply or ask about missing connections between statements or ideas, or model their own reasoning and problem-solving.

Now watch the video segment. In this segment, you’ll see how Kathy, Kerry, and Maria talk with older toddlers, elicit their thinking, and listen to their stories and ideas. Begin at 0:36 as a child asks Kathy why the witch is crying and end at 2:53 when Maria gets ready to share a book with her group. As you watch, look for effective strategies used by the educators in the video and jot down answers to these viewing questions in your Learning Log.

• What examples do you see of conversations being extended “beyond the here and now” to include the past, the future, what might happen, and the imaginary?
• What strategies do you see educators using to encourage children to share their stories and ideas?
• What words do you hear educators and toddlers using that may not be typical for toddlers?

Review

How can you help toddlers to tell their stories and express their ideas?

• You can:
  • Listen closely. Make comments and ask questions that show your interest and understanding.
  • Ask about missing information or details so you can better understand the story, idea, or explanation.
  • Supply words that a toddler may be trying to say but does not yet know. Add any remembered details if invited, but don’t take over the toddler’s story.
  • Ask toddlers what they think and why.
  • Pause when reading a story to let toddlers ask questions. Respond by supplying answers, asking for their ideas, or finding out the answer together.
  • Use rituals such as group meetings and drawing in journals to help children plan outings and activities and talk about what they did, what they learned, and what they might want to do in the future.
  • Ask children what they know and what they want to know about a topic and how they could find out.
  • Be patient and give toddlers enough time to respond.

How can you encourage toddlers to make logical connections and explain and expand their thinking?

• You can:
  • Model your own thinking, reasoning, or approach to solving a problem.
  • Give toddlers time to formulate their ideas as they respond to questions or tell stories.
  • Ask a series of “why” questions, for example, “Why do the caterpillar’s eyes look funny?” (Toddler: “He’s sad.”) “Why is he sad?” (Toddler: “His tummy hurts.”) “Why does his tummy hurt?” (Toddler: “He ate too much.”)
  • Ask toddlers to predict what might happen, let them test their predictions, and then talk with them about their discoveries.   

What benefits do older toddlers gain from extended conversations that go beyond the here and now?

• Older toddlers gain the following benefits:
  • Mutually engaging conversations with five or more exchanges offer toddlers opportunities to express feelings and ideas; develop fluency and conversational skills; strengthen their sense of themselves as people with important things to say; and learn, practice, and use new words. 
  • Asking and answering questions about past events and telling and retelling stories of what happened helps build memory, storytelling skill, logical thinking, and vocabulary. Shared stories strengthen children’s relationships with family members, educators, and peers.
  • Conversations about things that are beyond everyday experience, such as topics children may learn about from books, photographs and videos, and adult experts, expand children’s horizons, spark new questions, fuel their imaginations, and often allow them to learn and use new words that may not be part of the typical toddler’s vocabulary.
  • Conversations that involve planning, predicting, hypothesizing (“What do you think will happen if …?”), and imagining support logical thinking and creativity as well as language. 

What experiences can you provide for older toddlers to spark interesting, extended conversations?

• You can:
  • Read fiction and nonfiction books or magazines and have them available for children to look at on their own and with each other.
  • Help children explore interesting scientific phenomena (such as insect and frog life cycles, melting and freezing, and condensation and evaporation) indoors, outside, and through images and videos on line.
  • Ask family members to share their skills, hobbies, and stories and to teach songs and games in their home languages.
  • Offer interesting art and building materials to explore and create with.
  • Bring in unusual items and artifacts for children to investigate.
  • Encourage family members to bring in photos, food packaging, artifacts, and other reminders of home. 

Reflect
Think about the infants in your own program as you answer these reflection questions in your Learning Log.

• How do you engage toddlers in extended conversations, with multiple exchanges, that go beyond the here and now?
• What did you learn that you will take back to your learning environment and put into practice?

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