Speech Sound Homework- Tips for Promoting Home Carryover in Articulation Therapy

by Holly F. Parents' Corner Pronunciation & Lisps Speech Therapy Techniques
cat talking about homework

Source: quickmeme.com

Children often have social studies, spelling or math homework on a daily, if not weekly basis. Why? Because educators know the importance of reinforcing difficult concepts outside of the classroom is just as important as inside. Further, this can help involve parents in the process. Speech therapy should be thought of similarly. Although a specific skill might be taught in a structured lesson during the day doesn’t mean it can’t be reinforced outside of therapy as well. “Homework” might not be graded but the idea is the same; children should take home speech sound targets or techniques for activities at home not only to improve but to involve parents in as well.

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When and How to Use Carrier Phrases in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
I want carrier phrase in PECS

Source: iqjournals.com

Sometimes children learning language need a little support in order to say more. A sentence such as a carrier phase in speech therapy can be used to jumpstart a sentence with some guidance or prompting to get the child started and helps expand the length of an utterance. You may have heard a few, the classic being, “I want…” but here are many ways and reasons to use carrier phrases to expand speech and language development including “I see…” or “I have…” to name a few.

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Sizzling Summer Themed Activities for Speech and Language

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
beach race language game

Source: letstalkslp.blogspot.com

Summer is here and if you haven’t got your speech and language materials ready now is the time to do it. Some children start summer speech services in July, while others might go year-round. It is important to take advantage of the “summer theme” because it helps to build new vocabulary and relate activities the child may be currently participating into their speech and language goals. If they are not receiving summer services, it’s still important to maintain skills and promote language throughout the sunny season. Brainstorm a few summer themed activities or look here to get started.

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Modifying Board Games for Articulation Therapy

by Holly F. At Home Ideas Expert Corner Parents' Corner Pronunciation & Lisps Speech Therapy Techniques

game closet

Source: theboardgamefamily.com

Nothing says childhood like a good game of Candyland. But what if you could also use great childhood games in speech therapy? Just like the modifications and creative uses of Angry Birdswe wrote about last week, classic games can be cleverly engineered for articulation. Modifying might mean changing the way the game is played or the pieces used to do it.  The nature/goal of each game does not need to change too much in order to keep it fun and interesting and lowers your budget for speech therapy materials and if you’re a recent grad struggling with  student loan debt , the last thing you can afford is expensive materials. Instead, use what you already have. Games for articulation therapy are easy to create and fun to play.

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Angry Bird Articulation and Language Activities

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
angry birds character descriptions

Source: chlorophyllblog.com

 

A lot of speech therapy is adult directed. The speech pathologist decides the task, how to play, how long it will take, and the end reward  (if there is one) leaving little control to the student over their topics of interests. Every once in a while it is important to incorporate highly motivating and even “hot” topics into speech therapy to engage children and even leverage a little more “buy in” from sometimes reluctant participants. One clever way to do that is with Angry Birds. Angry Birds is a popular (12 million downloads can’t be wrong) and relatively new (introduced in 2009) digital game. The goal doesn’t have much at all to do with speech and language and is based on the premise of using a slingshot to launch some colorful birds at pigs stationed in various structures. While the content leaves SLPs little to work with in the way of content for articulation therapy, the characters and premise of “launching” is an easy one to work with in speech therapy.

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Using an iPad for Data Collection in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

iPad with graphs

Source: omnigroup.com

Any speech pathologist will tell you that one of the biggest headaches of being a treatment provider is documentation. Whether it be IEPs, data collection, progress reports or evaluations, documentation can be a big burden on an SLP’s time; often taking away from material making or treatment time. But have no fear; luckily new technology is making it easier for SLPs and educators to track not just one but multiple children’s progress in an easy and streamlined fashion. But how and where to start can be a big daunting, or even freighting for a technophobe.

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The Best Storytelling Apps for Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
the perfect story guidelines

Source: the-cma.com

What you did this weekend, the best movie you ever saw and the story of The Three Little Pigs. What do these three things have in common? They are all narratives. They are stories you might tell a friend, as a child to tell you or share with a child. Stories are an important part of speech and language. Children need to develop the ability to logically and accurately recall details and the timely of events in addition to meaningful descriptions of what occurred. Children working on articulation need to move from saying sounds at the syllable level to within a short sentence and eventually, in connected speech. Storytelling is an important area to target in speech therapy and there are some great new tools to do it. Using the iPad, some great storytelling apps help children develop and engage with their narrative while providing multisensory feedback. They are engaging, easy to save and share and return to later for editing or expanding.

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Three Ways to Use Dress Up Games to Target Speech Therapy Goals

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
dress up stats for children

Source: supportimagination.com

 

Every so often you meet a child that just loves costumes and characters. You know, the ones who will enviably grow up to be awared-winning entertainers? While it might seem like just a playful child activity, there is a lot of language that can be targeted during an afternoon of dress up. Both boys and girls seem to enjoy the experience of wearing funny hats and high heels while sometimes sporting accents or crazy stories about their characters. This also, as you can imagine, involves a great deal of pretend play, which we know is important to language development. Here are three ways to use dress up games to target speech therapy goals:

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Cool Tools for Targeting Multisyllabic Words in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
syllable sorting game

Source: topteacher.com.au

Speech therapy operates on a continuum. For most aspects of speech and language, children might master one aspect before moving to another. When children master single syllables, the next step is two then three and so forth. Multisyllabic words in speech therapy can have many challenges for children with articulation disorders and apraxia. Similarly, finding and making motivating materials can be equally frustrating for SLPs. Try these cool tools, tips and word lists.

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Making Music a Meaningful Part of Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
your kids brain on music

Source: loogguitars.com

Perhaps you’ve had an impromptu dance party or found yourself making the dinnertime routine into a little song. If so, you’ve already discovered that music makes many things better, including language learning. For children who need speech and language therapy, music can be essential. It is motivating, familiar, rhythmic and stimulates a variety of senses. It might have a calming effect on some making it easier to learn and listen and attend. Using music in speech therapy often gives a great opportunity to use visual cues like hand motions or gestures along with the lyrics to help reinforce concepts in a motivating medium.  The repetition is also useful in reinforcing words and concepts on a frequent basis.

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