Advice on 2 year old speech please

[PartyFops]

DD is 2.2 and she knows lots and lots of words and puts them together etc. However, she doesn't answer questions very well, she just repeats me.
I.e if I ask her if she had a nice day today, she will reply with 'today'. If I ask her what was the best bit of music class today she will say 'music class today'. I'm struggling to get over this and am in need of some advice please.

She's only little. Maybe your questions are too complicated, maybe she just doesn't like being put on the spot.

Maybe try saying statements to her for her to comment on instead of questions sometimes, so she has more of a model. eg "I liked singing Baa Baa black sheep at music class today!" and give her an opportunity to comment herself. Or you could ask her more closed questions "Do you like X or Y?"

Being bombarded with loads of questions might just be overwhelming for her even if her vocabulary is good.

I know shes only little and i'm not trying to push her, really i'm not. I was just looking for some ideas to get her thinking instead of just repeating.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were pushing her!

Perhaps a way to get her thinking in the way you mean could be using something as a focus, like a picture - that way she doesn't have to do the extra step of imagining/remembering something in her head and then also answering a question about it.

I have a just turned 2 year old too - she loves chatting about pictures in books.

I'd honestly say this is pretty normal. She's learning by copying, but your sentences are long so she's just repeating the end.

When DS was 6m he started watching a DVD called learn to talk. At the end of the DVD it has a parent bit which explains that you must only stay 1 step ahead of your child - 1 word, then 2 together, then short sentences... The DVD is no use to you btw but perhaps you've taken too big a jump. Maybe shorten the questions you want answering and expect only yes/no answers, and make statements for her so she learns how to describe things. So you tell her what your favourite bit of music class was etc.

Tbh if she's actually listening to the whole question then you're doing well.

Don't worry, you'll soon not be able to keep her quiet. DS is nearly 3 and is a very confident conversationalist and we have why, why, why a million times a day! Love it when he comes out with something that's clearly a me expression though.

I think those type of questions are maybe just a bit abstract for a 2.2 yo. My dd is 2.3 and wouldn't be able to answer these. She will expand on things I say though if it's something she's enthusiastic about - eg 'we had fun at soft play didn't we?' 'Soft play, big slide, wheeeee!' She will also answer if I give her a choice between two things to eat or wear etc. Thinking about it my dd talks most when looking at books together, she's often quite perceptive then, I think the pictures really help.

I took my 2.4 year old for her 2 year HV check last month. We were given a leaflet re expanding vocab. They had some hints like if you were saying "let's go in the car" you would say "let's go in the blue car". Just adding an extra word to a sentence they would repeat back. I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense but hopefully it does.

Or and a friend of mine whose child did have a significant speech delay was advised to focus on toys that encouraged speech like a teaset.

Sorry meant to add, my dd doesn't do well with questions. She will natter away but if you ask her something like "what did you do at Nanas?" she will say "saw Nana", but if she sees someone else like her dad or a random stranger they'll get chapter and verse