Use Of He/She

[justgettingstarted]

This is a little OT but I'm wondering if you know when it is appropriate to expect a child to use the terms he/she and her/his? My DS calls everyone he and uses his no matter to whom he is referring. I didn't pay much attention to this as he was only 2 but now that he's 3 and we're expecting a baby girl I've gently started correcting him. He very much wants the baby to be a boy and to name it James (from Thomas of course) so I'm not sure if he's resisting the whole idea of girls :: or if this is developmentally normal. Thanks!!

[daycaremom76]

I have a 3yr old that started here a few months back and he does the he, him, his for everyone. I questioned his Mom about and her answer was well I never really thought about correcting him So I correct him cause to me that's just nuts not to correct him, he also calls dogs "ruff ruffs" and emergency vehicles "woo woos" there are a few other things he calls by the sounds they make and it drives me nuts why this 3yr old almost 4yr old talks like a baby! And it's ALL the time not just to be cute. So after a few months correcting him every time says it he is correcting himself there are a lot of "he she took my truck" LOL but he's getting there! happyface

[SquirrellyMama]

I think it is normal but is easily corrected. When I have a kid that uses "he" for everyone I'll just repeat what that child says but use the correct pronoun. So, if the child says, "He took my bear" but the he was a she I'll say, "Oh, she took your bear?" I make sure I emphasize the correct pronoun when I say it. When they are young I try not to let them know I'm correcting them.

K

[Blackcat31]

Here is a info/table I kept from college

Learning the English pronominal system is a very complex process. This table offers the general order of pronoun acquisition, however, the actual order is variable with each child. As a group, subjective pronouns, such as he, she, and they, are acquired before objective pronouns, such as him, her, and them. These are followed by possessive pronouns, such as his, her, and their, and finally, around age 5, by reflexive pronouns, such as himself, herself, and themselves

Approximate Age in Months ..................pronouns

12-26............................................I, it (subjective and objective)

27-30............................................My, me, mine, you

31-34............................................Your, she, he, yours, we

35-40 months..................................they, us, hers, his, them, her

41-46............................................Its, our, him, myself, yourself, ours, their, theirs

47+...............................................Herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves


Adapted from Haas & Owens (1985); Huxley (1970); Morehead & Ingram (1973); Waterman & Schatz (1982); and Wells (1985).