Top Tweets for #privatespeech

“Yes, we can.” Faced with a difficult challenge - an unusually long and steep set of outdoor stairs - this little one makes use of a specific mental tool to help make it to the top. It’s private speech, meant for an audience of one. Private speech (common among children ages 2-7) is an externalized version of the thoughts she will soon internalize as part of her own inner monologue. When she says “yes we can” she’s not really talking to mom as much as she is convincing herself that she’s capable of this outsized task. And it works. Research finds a positive correlation between children's use of private speech and their task performance and achievement. But my favorite part of the video comes near the end - when “yes we can” becomes “I think I can.” Many of you will recognize this as the popular refrain from the children’s book “The Little Engine That Could.” In one short video we’re getting a window - not just on this little one’s private thoughts, but one her highly literate home life. Love it! This bookish little climber was shared to IG by maggie_medical_mama.