Speech and Curious George

lewispm · January 2014

K's favorite show is Curious George. It is really the only one he will watch at all for any period of time. He usually watches an episode or sometimes 2 before bed and we have CG playing in the car on the ride home from daycare when he is over tired and fussy. I have started to wonder if CG could be hindering his speech though. Obviously George just grunts and points, which is basically what K does. I put 2 and 2 together last night when we were watching CG and pointed to the light and grunted and K pointed to our light and mimicked him.

With K, he will say words when I ask him to (when he is not being stubborn) and he will repeat names of objects he points too (after I say them), but he really doesn't use but a handful of words on his own. For example, he can say banana, but no matter how many times I ask him "what do you want" when he is pointing and grunting for the banana, he wont say it. But then if I ask "do you want a banana?" He will say banana.

Anyway, do you think CG could be causing him to point and grunt rather than use the words I know he knows?? Maybe I should cut out CG (my savior!!) for a week or 2 and see if I notice a difference in his communication.

StokedWifey · January 2014

Unless it's just his all-the-time babysitter, I doubt it's is doing him any harm. Some kids just don't talk all that much until they're a little older. I wouldn't worry about it too much and enjoy the snuggles while watching silly ol' George.

lewispm · January 2014

Seriously though, K talks exactly like George. Even the intonations and what not. Its odd. Maybe that's why he loves it so much though? Since George speaks his language. LOL.

It might be silly, and I might be paranoid, but it really is worrying me!

Especially since he says so many words on command but rarely uses them on his own.

StokedWifey · January 2014

I think they can easily pick things up from TV shows. I mean, think about how quickly they'll randomly repeat your words or actions. That being said, I don't think it would slow down or hinder his speech. He'll say what he wants when he wants. I don't think anything you're doing is going to slow it down or speed it up.

If anything, he's probably just got a stubborn streak (must come from J, right?).

lewispm · January 2014

Trixi282 said:

Bliz1712 said:

Agree with PP. Hanna does the pointing and grunting also and has never seen an episode of CG at home.

Same - J has a lot of words, but if she wants something she goes "Eh, eh, eh" and points, but if I ask if she wants apple sauce she'll say "appa" and then return to saying "eh eh eh" while pointing at the fridge.

Also, it might be that he relates to George, like you said in the other comment. Maybe he sees that George is like him, which is why he enjoys watching it. But I really don't think he's necessarily doing it because of CG.It makes me feel better to hear that!

It makes me feel better to hear this. I guess my concern has always been that he knows words, but doesn't use them on his own much unless prompted. He will say dada, the dog's names, choo choo train, owl, please, thank you, uh oh (24/7 with the uh oh!), that, and "cuh juh (Curious George) unprompted, but the rest of his vocab is usually just right after he hears it or is asked to say it.

punkyshoester · January 2014

Will is the same exact way as Kellen and does not watch CG. I think it is just the stage he is in. We basically end up giving him what he wants, regardless (after some trial and error - banana? goldfish? cracker?)...so we've tried really encouraging him to use his words to tell us. Hasn't worked yet, but one day it will click!

SallySunrise · January 2014

Yes, it absolutely can and does happen a lot. You've done NOTHING wrong - you know 95% of us here let our kids watch tv and they all have their favorites - but since you're the one who sees and hears him, and you're saying that he does it EXACTLY like George, then yeah, I think he probably is learning things from his favorite character. Again, you didn't do anything wrong, and he's not broken.

Kids learn by watching, listening, and copying. TOTALLY normal behavior. Just maybe keep trying to introduce some other shows, and hope he'll latch onto something else for a while. Super Why is one that comes to mind that has pretty "normal" voices and speech patterns. Keep encouraging speech vs. grunting the way you have been, and he'll get it! Nothing major to worry about at all.

lewispm · January 2014

SallySunrise said:

Yes, it absolutely can and does happen a lot. You've done NOTHING wrong - you know 95% of us here let our kids watch tv and they all have their favorites - but since you're the one who sees and hears him, and you're saying that he does it EXACTLY like George, then yeah, I think he probably is learning things from his favorite character. Again, you didn't do anything wrong, and he's not broken. Kids learn by watching, listening, and copying. TOTALLY normal behavior. Just maybe keep trying to introduce some other shows, and hope he'll latch onto something else for a while. Super Why is one that comes to mind that has pretty "normal" voices and speech patterns. Keep encouraging speech vs. grunting the way you have been, and he'll get it! Nothing major to worry about at all.

I downloaded some Blue's Clues onto our Kindle for the longer car rides just today. Hopefully that will hold his attention. And he will kind of half engage when Doc McStuffins is on. I think I will take a break from the Curious George for a while. His obsession is getting a little out of hand anyway!

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