4’s Skills

HeritageLearningCenter

Skill Sheet

Language Skills

Tells First and Last Name

As preschool children begin to venture out into the larger world beyond home and preschool, they need some basic skills. Children need to be taught how to greet others, how to enter into conversations and feel comfortable in small groups. A beginning step is having the confidence to speak up and tell your first and last names. Very young children sometimes do not know their last name; it may not occur to parents to teach it as it is so basic a concept.

We ask the children to tell us their first and last names. We want them to know their complete name and have the confidence to tell us what it is. We want them to be proud of themselves and their families. You can help by telling them about why you chose their name; a little history about their last name if you know it (and as it is appropriate to their age), and stories about their extended family that will make them feel they belong to a great clan!

Speaks Clearly and Conveys Ideas:

Parents can use various methods to help with their child’s speech and language development.

Speak clearly, naturally and, most of all, correctly.
Model the correct way to say a word.
Repeat or expand on what your child says using correct sounds and words. Don’t call attention to speech errors your child may have. If your child says a word incorrectly, give your child many opportunities to hear the sound modeled (said) correctly.

To help your child convey ideas –

Use photographs of familiar people and places and retell what happened or create new stories.
Follow your child’s directions as she or he explains how to do something.

It is important for you to encourage and expect your child to speak the best he can. Most of all, be patient, and also tell him how proud you are when he tries his best.

Identifying Body Parts

As preschool children develop their language abilities an important skill is the ability to label objects in the environment. We begin with identifying body parts—head, stomach, arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes, knee, wrist, shoulder, neck, elbow, ankle, waist and hips.

To specifically work on labeling body parts you might:

Play games such as “Simon Says” using body parts (good for listening skills too).

Use bath time and dressing time to emphasize the names of body parts.

Play the “Hokey Pokey” and similar games.