What is running commentary?

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Rene Hackney
Parenting Playgroups
www.parentingplaygroups.com  
(703)922-0044

Originally a full-time preschool teacher, Dr. Rene Hackney now holds a Master?s in school psychology and a PhD. in developmental psychology from George Mason University. She trained at the Developmental Clinic at Children?s National Medical Center and for the public schools, teaching in parenting programs at each. She has also acted as a consultant to several area preschools.

For the last four years, Dr. Hackney has owned and lectured for Parenting Playgroups, Inc, a parenting resource center and preschool classroom in Alexandria Virginia. She has offered workshops to a wide

range of parent, teacher and social work groups during this time.

Workshop topics include eight hours on positive discipline techniques, five hours on early academic issues and common issues such as sibling rivalry and potty training. All workshops provide well researched lecture, in-class practice and open discussion time. Additionally she hosts a monthly parenting focused book club and fun play programs to introduce the preschool setting to young families.

Dr. Hackney is married and has two young children of her own.

What is running commentary?

In this video, parenting educator Dr. Rene Hackney provides information about typical language development and related red flags. The information provided is about encouraging early speech and building later vocabulary. This includes descriptions of running commentary and echo expansion.

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This series: 27,578 views

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Transcripts

Host: What is running commentary?

Rene Hackney: Running commentary is a really easy way to provide early language to the young children. Running commentary suggest that parents should be talking about what children are thinking, seeing, feeling, doing and they are talking the whole time. Running commentary also gives a lot labels. So, if I am at the grocery store and my young child is sitting in the car, I might say as running commentary, We need to get some apple, Wow! Look here is an apple; mummy is going to put the apple into the bag. Now, we are taking the apple home. It sounds like a lot of language and it is, but if you think about it you ve just given that child the word apple in context four times in as many as 30 seconds.

So, they are much more likely to gain that. Now, as you talk about running commentary. It s good they talk about giving a child focused talk you say, Johnny has the ball, look you have it, you are bouncing the ball. You are talking about what the child is doing and then the object language we say, Wow! The ball is rolling fast. We are talking about the thing and then the self language Mummy caught the ball, I have it! So, when you say all that together, one you are giving them the language in context, but they also starting to get the ease of pronouns and how that languages changes.

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