• Speech and Language Practice Tips

    Children who are receiving speech and language services should practice their skills on a daily basis. Please check out the Speech and Language Practice Link! This link provides sites for speech and language practice as well as important informational links for parents! 
    ARTICULATION Children who are receiving articulation therapy (practicing sounds) have a "sound notebook". These notebooks are filled with pages containing your child's sound. Please take 5-10 minutes a day to review the sound with your child. The more you practice with your child,the better your child's speech will get! I promise!
    LANGUAGE
    Parents always ask me what they can do at home to help their child increase their language skills. There are so many things you can do! Please check out the ideas below:
    Following directions You can practice this anywhere in your home!
    Great times to practice directions are usually during some of the busiest times of our day.  If you make a conscience effort to give your child 2-3 step directions at least twice a day, you are helping their language skills. Great times to give 2-3 step directions are:
    Meal Times- especially when cooking (get the carrots from the bottom shelf  and put them in the middle of the counter), setting the table ( get out the forks, knives and spoons before the plates), and clearing the table ( before you clean the plates put the salad dressing away).
    Sorting the laundry- (put the socks in the middle drawer,t-shirts in the top drawer)
    Bed time/Morning time- (Brush your teeth before you comb your hair)
    Sequencing Stories, Recalling events 
    The best time to work on this skill is when you are reading to your child. Often times we read a story to our children and when the story is over, its over.  Try this technique at night time or when ever you read with your child. 
     
    First before you read the story, preview the pages. See if your child can make a guess about what the story might be about before you read it.
     
    Next, as you read the story, ask a few "how do you know?" questions. (Such as "How do you know the children are sad?" (I can see it in the picture, her dog ran away)
     
    Then, when you are finished with the story, ask you child to recall the main events such as :Where does the story take place? Who were the characters in the book? What is the problem in the story? How did the problem get resolved?
     
    Finally, after some time has passed see if your child can retell you the story.  Have them use the words First, Next, Then, Finally when retelling the story.
    Practice sentence structure Make sure your child is using full sentences when you are talking with them.  Often our children give us 1-2 word answers, especially when we ask them questions. Remind them to answer in a full sentence and make sure they use words that were stated in your question.
    For example: What did you do in art class today?                     
    In art class we painted a picture and.......                    
    How was lunch today?                    
    Lunch today was a bit noisy, but I really liked my sandwich!
    Another tip: When asking your child questions, refrain from using "How was your day?" Most kids will answer good, bad,  or ok but do not give you specifics. Make your question more specific- How was art? or How was math?  It helps kids pinpoint a time of day and help them remember the specfic details of the day! :)