At what age should I expect better grammar?

Question

Hi,

My step daughter is 7, and in the first grade. I find her saying things like "knowed" instead of "knew" or "writed" instead of "wrote" or "rided" instead of "rode" and it's starting to grate on my nerves!

Is there an age where I can expect these things to be covered at school, that I should bite my tongue for a year or two yet? Or should I begin correcting her at home, now?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You should have started correcting her the first time she said anything wrong.  Not in a mean way remember she is learning thses somewhere.  Let he know the correct words and she will use them.

Answer 2

Don't depend on the school to correct her, do it yourself. I've seen too many adults with a high school diploma that speak like your step-daughter. I don't know where these people hear such things, but I would correct her gently and maybe even reward her occasionally when she says something spectacular. You need to nip this in the bud ASAP.

Answer 3

NOW. Don't bite your tongue, correct her when you hear something incorrect - in a nice way. Explain it well.

Answer 4

My son is five and I always correct him when I hear him say things like that.  It is easier to correct things like that early than to try and break bad habits later.

Answer 5

You can correct her now - I am always telling the children that some word they used was used wrong or isnt a word at all.

Answer 6

just correct her(nicely) whenever you hear her say something incorrectly ...i mean, you dont want her speaking like some of them on this site when shes grown do you?  lol

i wouldnt worry too much about people ripping on parenting skills in here, i have sure seen enough of them that had ZERO skills preaching to others about how it should be done, so just consider the source and move along, it makes it alot easier lol.

im not perfect by any means and dont want to come off sounding  like i think i am, but seriously, some of these "parents" in here scare me.

Answer 7

You should correct her some of the time, but she may not have learnt everything yet. Shes only in grade one so give her time, but theres no harm in telling her every once in a while to help her out.

Answer 8

I wouldn't promote it but on through middle school, and high school, you still hear teachers correcting students for bad grammar. It's pretty sad.

Answer 9

You should be correcting her at home starting 3 years ago.

Do not depend on the school system to teach your children.  That is your job.  You may use the school system as a tool to help the education of the child, but expecting them to teach a child the difference between "knowed" and knew is laughable.

In fact I would bet within 2 years the school will require her to read one of the Junie B Jones books where Junie commonly uses "knowed" instead of knew.  

Teach her at home.... use the school to support your teachings and when Junie exclaims, "I knowed that!"  you can laugh together and say, "You used to talk like that too" at which time your daughter can get all embarrassed and wish you would stop with the little kid stories!

Answer 10

in 2 or 3 gr

Answer 11

That's normal. My seven year old daughter still says those things. We just gently correct her. They're still figuring our weird language and trying to learn to read and write it as well. If you're really concerned, talk to her teacher and ask what expectations should be.

Answer 12

I agree with the previous responder.  Correct your step daughter gently.  Say something like "Write is a funny verb-it's irregular.  We say 'wrote'  we talk about the past".  

Sad to say, many schools don't focus on grammer the way they used to, and children often pass bad habits on to eachother.  With a little luck, you can improve your step daughter's speech and she can be a good influence on her peers.

Answer 13

Things like that need to start from the moment they learn how to form words.  I know that it sounds like too much to expect from a toddler but it really isn't.  The earlier that things like that are introduced to them the easier it is for them to correct themselves when they reach school age.  My son is almost 7 and having the same exact problem and now he's kinda struggling in school because it's one of those "if I knew then what I know now" situations.  Fortunately though, he is currently in a literacy group to help with his reading, speech and writing because it goes hand in hand and we're more active and conscious of everything he says and learns.  We constantly correct him and now when he says certain things that he knows is wrong he'll stop himself and correct it.  Don't leave it up to the school system, because it tends to stick with them longer when it comes from home as well.  Get your step-daughter into a speech and literacy group...trust me it helps!!!  Good luck to you.

Answer 14

It will come naturally in school as she progresses in grade level. In the mean time, you may correct her at home, but be supportive of it. Tell her "Oh, honey, do you mean _________ ? (The word she said) is not a real word, but ______ is!"