Your child used to say "went" without any trouble. Then one day they started saying "goed." You wonder if something has gone wrong, or if your child is forgetting what they learned. In fact, the opposite is true. This kind of step backward is one of the clearest signs that real learning is happening.
What the U-Shape Means
Language researchers call this the U-shaped learning curve. Picture the letter U. At the start, a child gets some things right — not because they understand the rule, but because they memorized a word as a single chunk. "Went" is just a sound they copied. Then, as their brain starts noticing patterns, they discover that you add -ed to make a past tense. They apply this new rule to everything, including irregular verbs. So "went" becomes "goed," "came" becomes "comed," and "broke" becomes "breaked."
This middle dip of the U looks like a mistake. It is not. It shows that your child has moved from memorizing to understanding. They are testing a rule they just discovered. With enough exposure and practice, the brain learns which verbs are irregular and stops overapplying the rule. Your child climbs back up the other side of the U and gets it right again — this time for the right reason.
When Does This Happen?
The U-shape appears most often when children are making a real jump in their grasp of grammar. You might notice it with verb tenses, plurals ("mouses" instead of "mice"), or question forms. It can also look like a plateau — a stretch of weeks where your child seems stuck and stops producing new language. That quiet period often means the brain is organizing new information before the next burst of growth.
What Parents Can Do
The most helpful thing you can do is stay calm and keep talking. Avoid correcting your child repeatedly in a way that makes them self-conscious. Instead, model the correct form naturally in your reply. If your child says "we goed to the market," you can simply say, "Yes, we went to the market — it was fun." Your child hears the right word in context, without feeling embarrassed.
Reading together also helps. Books give children repeated, low-pressure exposure to correct forms. Over time, irregular verbs become familiar enough that the brain stores them separately from the regular pattern, and the errors fade on their own.
A Word About Plateaus
A plateau mid-year can feel discouraging, especially when you are watching closely for progress. But a child who stops adding new words for a few weeks may simply be deepening their use of words they already have — putting them into longer sentences, in new situations. Depth comes before breadth. Both matter.
If you have questions about your child's progress or want to know more about how we support language development at each stage, our teachers are always happy to talk. Learn more about our English classes at SSELC.