Pronoun update
M is working on the I/me/I'm/my/mine puzzle.
For a while, I was under the mistaken impression that he was just getting the "I'm" sounds backwards when he said things like "My excited!" or "My going downstairs." It's been a mystery for me why he still uses that construction. I decided that he must be working on other things right now and had put subject pronouns on the back burner. "My" gets his point across, after all.
But now my theory is that he's using "My" for "I'm" because of the following exchange, which happens in one form or another about fifty times a day:
or
Our usual technique in vocabulary development is to repeat back to him what he says, but correctly articulated or pronounced. Usually, this is good. For instance, he'll say "Imeem, please," and we'll say "Ice cream coming right up!"--that way he hears the correct pronunciation of "ice cream." We don't make a big deal about it, or say it pointedly, or passive aggressively, we just say it normally and it's up to him to pick up cues.
But the contraction "You're" sounds the same as the possessive "your." So in his mind, the aforementioned exchange goes like this:
So he inadvertently gets positive reinforcement for using a possessive pronoun when he should use a pronoun and a being verb.
I'll change my style of response to him and update you in a few days.
For a while, I was under the mistaken impression that he was just getting the "I'm" sounds backwards when he said things like "My excited!" or "My going downstairs." It's been a mystery for me why he still uses that construction. I decided that he must be working on other things right now and had put subject pronouns on the back burner. "My" gets his point across, after all.
But now my theory is that he's using "My" for "I'm" because of the following exchange, which happens in one form or another about fifty times a day:
M: My going downstairs.
Parent: You're going downstairs?
M: Yes.
or
M: My hungry.
Parent: You're hungry?
M: Yes.
Our usual technique in vocabulary development is to repeat back to him what he says, but correctly articulated or pronounced. Usually, this is good. For instance, he'll say "Imeem, please," and we'll say "Ice cream coming right up!"--that way he hears the correct pronunciation of "ice cream." We don't make a big deal about it, or say it pointedly, or passive aggressively, we just say it normally and it's up to him to pick up cues.
But the contraction "You're" sounds the same as the possessive "your." So in his mind, the aforementioned exchange goes like this:
M: My going downstairs. (possessive pronoun)
Parent: Your going downstairs? (possessive pronoun)
M: Yes.
So he inadvertently gets positive reinforcement for using a possessive pronoun when he should use a pronoun and a being verb.
I'll change my style of response to him and update you in a few days.
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