I should be…

  • Beginning to understand that some phrases mean something else (metaphors) e.g. “Mummy was climbing the walls!” and asking what they mean if I don’t understand them.
  • Making predictions about future events e.g. say what will happen next in a story.
  • Beginning to ‘read between the lines’ to make simple inferences.
  • Understanding words that mean conditions like ‘if’, ‘or’ and ‘but not
  • Providing and identifying key information needed when giving explanations.
  • Identifying similarities and differences and group things together in many different ways.
  • Using a range of regular and irregular grammatical word endings like ‘thought’, ‘might’, ‘rode’, ‘sheep’ and ‘mice’ without making many errors.
  • Using time related language like ‘morning’, ‘later’, ‘next week’ and ‘today’.
  • Using words like, ‘know’, ‘feel’, ‘sure’ and ‘guess’ to explain my thinking.

Don’t worry if…

  • I sometimes struggle to follow longer instructions.
  • I sometimes make grammatical errors or use new, more complex words incorrectly.
  • I find it hard to explain how I have worked things out.
  • I find it tricky to repair a conversation that’s gone wrong.
  • I sometimes take things literally and don’t always recognise when I need to infer meaning.

Seek advice if…

  • My speech is difficult to understand.
  • I am not joining sentences in my talking using words like ‘and’, ‘then’, or ‘but’.
  • I struggle to understand that words can have multiple meanings.
  • It can be difficult to follow or join in with my conversation.