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My girls are 8 years old and already they add alot of "you know's" and "like" when they speak. I've tried everything to break them of this habit and nothing works. I will also add I model very good speaking habits and am big on grammar. They do not watch TV so they must be hearing it at school.
I've tried interrupting them when I hear it and that just makes them mad and shuts down communication
I've tried telling them how important it is to speak correctly. " The minute you open your mouth people start to make judgments about your background and education". Their eyes glazed over.
I told them the story about Caroline Kennedy who thought she had a chance to become Senator but the minute she gave public speaking a try she came off very inarticulate. "What does that mean and who is she and why should we care?"
Any suggestions? Not everybody speaks this way and I wonder how they avoided this terrible habit. I feel if I can break this habit while they are young, it will be more ingrained in them to speak properly.
My girls are 8 years old and already they add alot of "you know's" and "like" when they speak. I've tried everything to break them of this habit and nothing works. I will also add I model very good speaking habits and am big on grammar. They do not watch TV so they must be hearing it at school.
I've tried interrupting them when I hear it and that just makes them mad and shuts down communication
I've tried telling them how important it is to speak correctly. " The minute you open your mouth people start to make judgments about your background and education". Their eyes glazed over.
I told them the story about Caroline Kennedy who thought she had a chance to become Senator but the minute she gave public speaking a try she came off very inarticulate. "What does that mean and who is she and why should we care?"
Any suggestions? Not everybody speaks this way and I wonder how they avoided this terrible habit. I feel if I can break this habit while they are young, it will be more ingrained in them to speak properly.
Whether they like it or not, your best bet is to continue to interrupt them when they do this and make them start over again.
The key is to be consistent - YOU have do it EVERY TIME. Believe me, you'll break the habit quicker than you think. And you are right to want to nip this in the bud right now
This drives me insane with my daughter doing it also. She is 13. Every other word is "like". I think I have about broken her from it, I told her it was on the same level to me as a dirty word and it costs her money in the cuss jar.
Are you dealing with twins? That makes it much tougher I think. But do whatever you must! I have a good friend who had a daughter with the same habit. My friend would brag about how intelligent her girl was (and that was probably true, since the parents are highly educated), but the daughter sounded like a complete idiot. The parents figured she would outgrow it if they ignored it, but it reached the point where no adult was willing to engage this child in conversation. It isn't cute!
I would absolutely ignore any of their attempts to talk with you when they are using these affectations. Just as with small children when they need to be ignored for whining, tell them to try again with big girl words.
Actually, it's not something that is picked up from school or TV. When a kid (or anyone really for that matter) is speaking and says like, you know or uhh, that means they're pausing to think about what they're going to say. A good example is politicians- listen closely to them when they talk. When it's something they clearly know a lot about, they NEVER say like or uh. But when it's something they don't know a lot about, they say like or uh a lot, because they're thinking about what they want to say.
All I can do is tell you what not to do...and that is correct them all the time. My Mother used to conostantly correct my English whenever I spoke with her, it was so annoying, I just stopped talking to her, because it was not pleasant, it was as if she did not care about the content of what I was actually saying, just analyzing if my English was correct. it was a horrible feeling. To this day, I still remember how hurt I was when I wanted to talk to her about some problems I was having at school, and she started correctly my speech. If felt like she didi not care about me at all.
So, does the speech really matter that much? If it does to you...I think that you are overly controlling and perfection is more important to you than talking to your children, and actually listeing to what they say. I hope this is not correct. Because that is very sad.
All I can do is tell you what not to do...and that is correct them all the time. My Mother used to conostantly correct my English whenever I spoke with her, it was so annoying, I just stopped talking to her, because it was not pleasant, it was as if she did not care about the content of what I was actually saying, just analyzing if my English was correct. it was a horrible feeling. To this day, I still remember how hurt I was when I wanted to talk to her about some problems I was having at school, and she started correctly my speech. If felt like she didi not care about me at all.
So, does the speech really matter that much? If it does to you...I think that you are overly controlling and perfection is more important to you than talking to your children, and actually listeing to what they say. I hope this is not correct. Because that is very sad.
May I ask, how old are you, and are you a parent yourself?
My girls are 8 years old and already they add alot of "you know's" and "like" when they speak. I've tried everything to break them of this habit and nothing works. I will also add I model very good speaking habits and am big on grammar. They do not watch TV so they must be hearing it at school.
I've tried interrupting them when I hear it and that just makes them mad and shuts down communication
I've tried telling them how important it is to speak correctly. " The minute you open your mouth people start to make judgments about your background and education". Their eyes glazed over.
I told them the story about Caroline Kennedy who thought she had a chance to become Senator but the minute she gave public speaking a try she came off very inarticulate. "What does that mean and who is she and why should we care?"
Any suggestions? Not everybody speaks this way and I wonder how they avoided this terrible habit. I feel if I can break this habit while they are young, it will be more ingrained in them to speak properly.
When my son started saying things such as: "She had like a green top." I would ask him (every time) "Was it like and green top, or was it an actual green top?" He eventually go the idea. He is now 14 and does not speak that way any more.
I second the ignoring them when they don't speak correctly. My mom did this with me as a child and it worked. Trying to break my 6 year old of the same habit right now (starting to speak before fully developing the sentence in my mind). When they actually want you to hear them talking (ie when asking for something) they'll speak the way you want them to!
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I've tried everything to break them of this habit and nothing works.
I will also add I model very good speaking habits and am big on grammar. They do not watch TV so they must be hearing it at school.
