Education, guides, and resources on Language Development
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Some of the most important and valuable opportunities to improve communication skills come from the real world. If your child is working on speech and communication issues and you’re searching for enrichment activities to support those efforts, look first to your local community. There are easy, free, fun, and meaningful options just waiting for your kids to be able to practice their speaking skills. Continue reading
Sometimes the last thing parents and teachers consider for children with speech disorders is putting them on stage, but it’s time to consider theatre as an amazing opportunity for enrichment that can actually improve communication skills. Whether your child is ready to take on Shakespeare or more content to watch a children’s play at the local cinema, try to bring a little theatre into your child’s life.
What do Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, and Samuel Jackson have in common with approximately 8-9% of Kindergarten students in the United States? Both groups of people have battled speech impairments. You might not be surprised about the fact that almost 10% of young kids struggle with communication skills, but it is sometimes hard to reconcile that people who rely on their voices (and can earn Oscars in part because of it) were once children who battled speech disorders. In fact, Samuel Jackson turned to acting because of his speech disorder. As with so many things in life, practice and the repeated opportunities to build skills are sometimes he most effective remedy, and participating in the theatre can have positive impacts on those who need to improve communication skills. Continue reading
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School may be back in session but that doesn’t have to stop you from helping your child develop communication skills outside of school. Whether your child already attends music therapy sessions, is a tactile learner who struggles with verbal communication, or works with an SLP during school for a speech disorder, there are enrichment options you can use with your child. The best part of all is that these are not only effective for developing communication skills, but they can benefit your child’s overall learning development – and be fun on the side.
Much of the most effective learning children do is through play and building speech and language development skills are no exceptions. Parents and SLPs can work together use these 3 easy and creative games for speech therapy reinforcement that get kids moving, imagining, and developing those communication skills.
Especially great for kids with sensory and tactile needs, you can adapt this game to work with various speech therapy goals. Take a brown paper shopping bag and place 5-10 items inside of it that deal with your specific language goals. For example, if you are working on /s/ sounds, place the following in the bag: Continue reading
Speech therapy is offered through many different settings – in school, through in-home services, early childhood education, and private speech clinics. If your child has an appointment at a speech clinic for the first time, you might be wondering what to expect. Although each clinic and speech-language pathologist (SLP) will have their own ways of assessing your child and planning any speech therapy that is needed, there are some general steps that are quite common (and helpful) to take during that first appointment. Continue reading
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It’s not too late. That is perhaps the most important thing that parents and educators need to remember when working with older elementary and middle school children who have failing communication skills. Their speech, listening, reading, writing, or other abilities might be lagging, but there is still time to help them overcome or learn to navigate these challenges. The steps that might be taken and the resources that might be utilized might look different for a 5th grader compared to a 5 year-old receiving speech therapy, but the effects will hopefully be similar – effective communication skills. Continue reading
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Are you worried about your preschooler or kindergartener? Maybe there have been signs that something is just not quite right with her communication skills, or her preschool teacher has mentioned she isn’t reaching typical communication milestones just yet. You’ve maybe even heard that it is “just a phase” or that your child will “catch up” with the other kids her age. While every child is an individual and will make progress at his or her own unique pace, it is also important to listen to those gut feelings and inner voices you have that something might be causing this delay. Continue reading
More and more research is showing that quality early education opportunities have lifelong benefits not only for those children, but for society in general. By the time a child is just 5 years of age, the brain has undergone 85% of its development. That is a relatively short window of opportunity to provide the best environment for as much learning and growth as possible. Continue reading
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Since the day (or even before) your child was born you likely have had questions tumbling through your mind about everything from diaper choices to healthy growth and development. Your elementary age child has grown beyond those first steps, but still has many communication milestones to reach. If you are concerned that your child isn’t on track for these, there are several questions you must ask. Continue reading
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As the time approaches when many children are headed back to another year of school, many parents are left wondering if their children are ready for what lies ahead. Communication milestones is one term used to describe an intricate weaving of skills and tools that are acquired. These skills include those involving reading, writing, speech, language, use of voice, and more. Communication milestones for children in the older elementary years can be more subtle in nature, but they are nonetheless extremely important.
Most children have established a foundation of communication by the time they enter kindergarten, and the early elementary years are spent building on those, especially in areas such as reading and writing, as well as more complicated conversations. The older elementary years are no less important than these early years, but their progress might not seem as noticeable. It is during this time when the skills continue to increase at a steady pace, often all the way through high school (and hopefully beyond).
When it comes to communication milestones for older elementary students, look to see that your child is developing in these various areas, both in and out of school. Continue reading
