Repeat, Repeat

Being able to repeat 8-10 words by age five is actually a very difficult task.  My daughter loves to imitate (we really have to be careful - especially when we listen to music on the radio), but even this was hard for her.  Instead of just sitting there and asking her to repeat after me, I picked up the phone and we changed the message on our answering system.  And both the kids were involved.  My son's job was to say "Hello" and my daughter's job was to say, "It's the __ family.  Please leave a message after the beep."  It took us almost 8 minutes (gotta love the timer on those phones) and probably about 15 tries but after lots of laughs, we finally got it perfect.  OK, not PERFECT, but perfect in our eyes.

We all know children will repeat what we say, that's why we're careful when they are around.  How about singing a repeat after me song to help them learn how to repeat as well?  Here's a fun one I used to sing as a kid.

The Green Grass Grows All Around(A repeat-after-me song with an accumulating chorus)
There was a tree [repeat
All in the wood.[repeat]
The prettiest tree [repeat]
That you ever did see. [repeat]
Chorus: The tree in the hole,
And the hole in the ground,
And the green grass grew all around, all around,
And the green grass grew all around.
And on that tree [repeat]
There was a limb. [repeat]
The prettiest limb [repeat]
That you ever did see [repeat]
Chorus:The limb on the tree
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around, all around,
And the green grass grew all around.
And on that limb [repeat]
There was a branch [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And on that branch [repeat]
There was a nest [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And in that nest [repeat]
There was an egg [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And in that egg [repeat]
There was a bird [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And on that bird [repeat]
There was a wing [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And on that wing [repeat]
There was a feather [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus:
And on that feather [repeat]
There was a bug [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus
And on that bug [repeat]
There was a germ [repeat]...(etc.)
Chorus: