Question-solving: How to treat children’s self-talk?

cherry Na

May 10th · High-quality emotional field creator

Four-year-old An An is painting alone in her room. When he finished, we overheard her saying loudly: "Now I'm going to take the paintings to dry. I'm going to put them all on the wall and dry them quickly. I'm going to paint a lot more." Flowers."

Many parents reported that they often see "the same An'an" in their children.

Some parents also said that they often see their children in the corner, talking to themselves in the air, mumbling to themselves.

Or talking while holding a doll, and laughing from time to time.

Seeing this scene, parents often ask questions in their hearts?

Is the child "sick"? "fantasy"? "Talkabout"? "Autistic..."?

If your child is exhibiting this behavior, first settle the lingering questions in your mind and don’t panic.

Children’s behavior of talking to themselves (self-talk) is called internal language in child psychology. It is a stage that occurs in the development of children’s speech.

Research shows that:

20-50% of what children aged 4-10 say is self-talk.

Children aged 2-3 years old will make some sounds and words as a pastime while lying in bed.

4. 5-year-old children use self-talk as a way to express their imagination and emotions.

Older children whisper in a voice that is barely audible to others.

From this we can see that talking to oneself is not only a normal performance in children’s speech development stage, but also a very common phenomenon.

Why do children talk to themselves like this?

Let’s take a look at the views of psychologists:

Piaget, a representative of cognitive developmentalism, believes that self-talk is a sign of children’s cognitive immaturity.

He believes that young children are in the egocentric stage and cannot yet recognize other people's perspectives and cannot communicate well with others. They can only say what they think.

At the same time, Piaget believed that self-talk can help young children integrate language and thinking.

Vygotsky, another psychologist, regarded self-talk as a special form of children's communication: dialogue with oneself.

Seeing this, are you relieved?

Talking to oneself is not only not a "disease", but it can also promote children's development:

It helps young children integrate language and thinking.

The need for self-talk is a common stage of children’s cognitive development and can promote cognitive development

Self-talk plays a role in children’s self-management (just like An An in the case at the beginning of the article Similarly, complete drawing tasks on your own without supervision)

In an observational study of children aged 3-5, it was found that children who are more social and have more social conversations tend to do so. The most commonly used self-talk.

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So, what are the types of children’s self-talk?

Researchers summarize it into the following types.

1. Word games and repeated sentences

This type of activity is characterized by children repeating some words or sounds, often in fun and rhyming recitations.

For example, a child walks around the room and says while walking: Put the blocks in the sand, put the blocks in the bucket, put the blocks in the clothes.

2. Play fantasy games alone and talk to non-human things

Typical games of this type are talking to objects, role-playing, and dubbing objects.

For example, I once saw a child saying "Piu Piu, oh, fall down" and gesturing with his fingers like he was holding a pistol.

Another example is holding a rag doll: "Baby, be good, open your mouth to eat." (in a role-playing game)

Little Bear, are you happy?

3. Emotional catharsis and expression

This type of emotional catharsis and expression is to express emotions or feelings directly to yourself, rather than to someone else.

For example: When you get a new toy, you will hear the child say: Wow, that’s great, I’m so happy.

While saying this, the child was not facing anyone.

4. Egocentric communication

This type of self-talk is characterized by communicating with another person, but the information expressed is incomplete or so special that others cannot understand it. .

For example:

Bao A said to Bao B: "Where are the skewered ones?"

Bao B asked: "What kind of skewers are good?" "?"

A Bao shrugged and left.

5. Describe or guide one’s own activities

A typical activity performed by children is to describe their own actions

For example: a child sits at the drawing table and Say to yourself: "I want to draw, let me see, I want a piece of paper and a pen, I want to draw my beautiful dress."

6. Read aloud and say A certain word: read aloud, or say some words while reading

For example: the child is reading a book and reads a difficult word, slowly try: "ha-li-bo-te" , and then try again "Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter."

(This type is often seen in 6 or 7-year-old children who can read. Often seen. )

7. Inaudible mumbling: speak softly so that others cannot hear.

For example: some children’s lips keep moving when they are walking or doing questions. But I couldn't hear what he said.

I am mumbling to myself

Talk to oneself is very common between the ages of 2 and 10. Therefore, during the stage of self-talk, parents should have a normal attitude and treat it correctly, and do not need to Don't worry too much, stop, or yell at your children.

Finally, on how to reduce children’s self-talk, I would like to say:

On the one hand, family members can give their children more company, play and communicate with them, and divert their attention. , can also effectively help children reduce talking to themselves.

On the other hand, as children grow older and social interactions increase, talking to themselves will gradually disappear.

But if you find that your child never communicates with the people around him except talking to himself, but is just immersed in his own world, and the language logic is confusing, then your family needs to pay close attention to it. It is necessary You still have to go to a professional institution for further inspection.

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Introduction to the author of the article: Cherry Na, educator, national senior nursery nurse, specializes in writing in the field of emotional parenting. I am grateful to meet you in the text. Welcome to follow me, your support is the best motivation for my creation. If you like the article, don’t forget to forward it.