{"id":2511,"date":"2016-08-18T17:53:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T21:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parenttraining.chip.uconn.edu\/?page_id=2511"},"modified":"2026-02-15T16:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T21:46:15","slug":"expressive-categories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parenttraining.chip.uconn.edu\/index.php\/expressive-categories\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressive Categories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next we are going to talk about how to teach your child to label the categories to which items belong. For this teaching program, you can use the same pictures you have been using for all of the Receptive and Expressive teaching programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Your Child Should Know Before Starting this Teaching Program<\/h2>\n

You should not begin the Expressive Categories teaching program until your child has mastered at least three categories in the Receptive Categories teaching program. In other words, she should be able to point to items from at least three different categories when you say the names of those categories. For example, if you have a picture of a cookie, a dog, and a shirt on the table, your child should be able to pick out the right picture when you ask her which one is a food, an animal or a kind of clothing. She should be able to do this without any help. She should also have mastered at least 5 expressive labels, from each of those three categories. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And here’s another important point: you should never use an item that your child cannot name when teaching the label for the category to which that item belongs. For example, if your child is not yet able to say \u201csoup\u201d when you show her a bowl of soup or a picture of a bowl of soup, you should not use soup as an example of food when teaching Expressive Categories. \u00a0Sometimes, teaching a child to label the\u00a0category for a word she cannot yet say results in the child confusing the category label with the label for the item itself. In the case of soup, she may mistakenly learn that the word for that bowl of warm broth that she eats with a spoon, is “food.”<\/span><\/p>\n

You should never use an item that your child cannot name when teaching the label for the category to which that item belongs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is a list of nine common categories that we showed you when discussing the Receptive Categories teaching program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Food (Including Drinks)<\/strong><\/td>\nAnimals<\/strong><\/td>\nClothing\u00a0(Including footwear)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Furniture<\/td>\nVehicles<\/td>\nBody Parts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Colors<\/td>\nShapes<\/td>\nAppliances<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Begin with a set of 5 to 7 items from each of three categories. \u00a0Make sure that your child can point to all of these items when you label them and that she can also label (say the words) all of these items herself. Here is a sample starter set of items in three categories. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/strong><\/td>\nAnimals<\/strong><\/td>\nClothing<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Apple<\/td>\nDog<\/td>\nSock<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cheerios<\/td>\nCat<\/td>\nShirt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cookie<\/td>\nCow<\/td>\nShoe (s)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bread<\/td>\nHorse<\/td>\nPants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yogurt<\/td>\nBird<\/td>\nShorts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Milk<\/td>\nElephant<\/td>\nDress<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Banana<\/td>\nGiraffe<\/td>\nCoat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Expressive Categories Teaching Program<\/h2>\n

To start, hold up a picture from one of the categories in front of your child. First ask her to name the picture by asking her, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d For example, hold up a picture of a dog and ask, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d Your child should respond by saying \u201cdog\u201d. \u00a0Praise her right away and then ask, \u201cWhat is a dog?\u201d Then prompt her to say \u201canimal.\u201d<\/p>\n