How do i stop my 5yr old repeating herself and is she fine?

Question

she says," I want, I want , I want to drink water". Or "I don't I don't I don't want to go". When she is angry or chatting to her dolls, she does not repeat herself. Apart from that she is fine and likes playing with other kids. This started a bout a year ago after she changed from an English speaking school to An Albanian speaking school. She is going back to an English school in September.

Answer 1

It is quite normal. My 5 year old does it. A little bit of searching shows THIS article and THIS article. The child will most likely work this out on their own. I noticed this happens a lot when my child is excited or wants to start saying something quickly so he can have his turn talking before someone else starts talking and he has to wait.

The articles go a bit more in to depth to get more rounded knowledge on the subject, but the meat of what to do is:

First, and foremost, resist the temptation to tell your child to stop and slow down or to think about what she is going to say. Many of us feel tempted to dole out this advice because this is what works for us when we start to get tangled in our thoughts while speaking. Stuttering, however, stems from a different type of difficulty than does our grown-up ability to organize our thoughts. Telling a child to stop and slow down often serves to increase stuttering rather than decrease it.

Instead of interrupting your child or calling attention to the stutter, do the opposite: Give your child eye contact, give her plenty of time to finish her thought, and then simply respond to the content of what she said. I know it's hard to avoid the temptation to interrupt your child. No parent wants to watch their child struggle, and it's only human nature to want to help. But rest assured that by doing nothing--by letting your child finish in her own time--you are actually very much doing something.

Then, when you go to respond to what your child is saying, pause a moment before you respond. Allow the pace of the conversation to slow a bit. When you respond, talk slowly and calmly, but naturally at the same time (a tricky feat, for sure. It took me many times in grad school to get it right!). Although many children do not respond to being directly told to "stop" and "slow down," they do respond when this type of speaking is subtly demonstrated for them by an adult. No need to tell them what you are doing-- just slow down the pace of the conversation on your own and watch as your child follows your lead.