3 years old and mixing up pronouns

My b/g twins turned 3 years old in December. Both of them (but DS especially) seem to be having trouble with pronouns. For example, they will use "he" and "she" incorrectly (they seem to randomly guess which to use). My DS will also use "me", "mine", "my" and "I" incorrectly. Both of them were late talkers and my DS was in speech therapy for a year, but that stopped when he turned 3. I know they will eventually figure it out, but I'm wondering what other 3 years olds are doing with pronouns. Any info will be appreciated.

thanks,
thea

 

:hug: It's hard not to worry, but they are only 3. I don't think some mix ups are anything to worry about. Just correct them while talking to them, not making a big deal about it, and eventually they will figure it all out.

 

I'm sure it's normal. T&T still use the wrong pronouns on a regular basis. I repeat back with the correct pronoun and we move on. FWIW, they were early talkers. No worries, they will eventually sort it all out.

 

I'm a spec ed teacher, and this is perfectly normal. With most kids it can take til about 5 before their concept of their identity vs. others identitiy kicks in cognitively. If they haven't worked through it before, say, the summer before they start Kindergarten, maybe talk to your local schools' sppech and language therapist. they could give you some tools to help them out over the summer and get them ready for K. Have you thought about a pre-K program at all?

 

QUOTE(Neumsy @ Mar 5 2009, 04:15 AM) [snapback]1215172[/snapback]
I'm a spec ed teacher, and this is perfectly normal. With most kids it can take til about 5 before their concept of their identity vs. others identitiy kicks in cognitively. If they haven't worked through it before, say, the summer before they start Kindergarten, maybe talk to your local schools' sppech and language therapist. they could give you some tools to help them out over the summer and get them ready for K. Have you thought about a pre-K program at all?


For us, it's not a matter of mixing their own vs. others' identity but rather either a grammatical whoops (it's him's car rather than it's his car) or using the wrong gender (talking about something their aunt did saying he instead of she even though they can tell you that their aunt is a girl). This is what I understood from the OP.

 

We have the same thing going on with Alex, he was also in speech therapy for a while too. He is fully aware that Sarah is a girl and he is a boy, but still says "Sarah's going to his room". And now that I think about, everybody is a "he", and no one is a "she". We correct him often though, and he says "Oh....right, HER room......" He's tryin'!

 

:hug: Perfectly normal! It's hard not to worry! It'll come (language!).

 

my daughter (who was the earlier talker) says hims instead of his all the time - I was assured by their daycare teacher (who is studying to be a special ed teacher) that its normal

 

I'm always correcting mine for the same thing and they have been talking very well for over a year now. They frequently use "my" instead of "I" like "My tired now" but their speech is great. They use big words and you can have a conversation with them it's just they mix up their pronouns. I think it's normal.

 

No need to worry. It's totally normal. Mine just turned 3 last month and are still, most of the time, saying "mine, me, or my" instead of I. We just correct them and say "I do it" when they say "my do it". It will come, don't worry.

 

Hi,
Thanks for all your responses. Just to clarify, my kids do know who are "boys" and "girls", but they will say things like "Mama is washing his hair" or "Dada is eating her dinner." So the mistake isn't from misunderstanding the gender of the person. Thanks for your feedback that this is "normal."

thanks,
thea