As you may know, Ev is having a speech therapy session every week at our home. I thought I'd share some of the tips and tricks the therapist has given me...
- Children must master sounds to gain words. Therefore, it is important to always be making sounds with them - animal noises, sound effects, all kinds of noises. This is not something that comes natural for me.
- Around 2 kids should be given options as much as possible. When preparing dinner, ask if the child wants the yellow or pink plate. They should be given choices for as much as possible. Just make sure you will be comfortable with what they choose - this might be especially important if you are letting them pick their clothes.
- Blowing whistles and bubbles is not just fun, but helps them develop critical muscles and mouth positions that are necessary for speaking. You might find when they fist use whistles they are biting them, so try to have them use their lips rather than teeth. I have a bag of different whistles and both of the girls just love blowing them. You can buy lots of cheap whistles at the $1 store or Target in the "goodie bag" section.
- The ability to make a fast, accurate decision is important. Take a bag and place in it shapes or colors or animals or whatever... Puzzle pieces work very well. Have your child sit in front of you. Pull out 2 pieces and hold them up - ask the child to point to the dog. If s/he points to the cow, pull the pieces back and ask them to point to the dog. This should help them make fast, accurate choices. My girls just love this game.
- Playdoh, stamps, stickers, crayons, markers, pens -- kids just love any kind of crafts. But, don't just plunk them down and let them play on their own. At least some of the time sit with him/her and talk about what they are doing - have sound effects and make it as much fun as possible.
- Play I Spy with the things around you. Ask your child to bring you the yellow sock or whatever. This will be fun for them and will also help them focus and scout things out.
- Children must master sounds to gain words. Therefore, it is important to always be making sounds with them - animal noises, sound effects, all kinds of noises. This is not something that comes natural for me.
- Around 2 kids should be given options as much as possible. When preparing dinner, ask if the child wants the yellow or pink plate. They should be given choices for as much as possible. Just make sure you will be comfortable with what they choose - this might be especially important if you are letting them pick their clothes.
- Blowing whistles and bubbles is not just fun, but helps them develop critical muscles and mouth positions that are necessary for speaking. You might find when they fist use whistles they are biting them, so try to have them use their lips rather than teeth. I have a bag of different whistles and both of the girls just love blowing them. You can buy lots of cheap whistles at the $1 store or Target in the "goodie bag" section.
- The ability to make a fast, accurate decision is important. Take a bag and place in it shapes or colors or animals or whatever... Puzzle pieces work very well. Have your child sit in front of you. Pull out 2 pieces and hold them up - ask the child to point to the dog. If s/he points to the cow, pull the pieces back and ask them to point to the dog. This should help them make fast, accurate choices. My girls just love this game.
- Playdoh, stamps, stickers, crayons, markers, pens -- kids just love any kind of crafts. But, don't just plunk them down and let them play on their own. At least some of the time sit with him/her and talk about what they are doing - have sound effects and make it as much fun as possible.
- Play I Spy with the things around you. Ask your child to bring you the yellow sock or whatever. This will be fun for them and will also help them focus and scout things out.
1 comment:
Those are great ideas - thanks for sharing! I remember when babygirl was first born and I realized I was "supposed to be" signing with her and I kept blanking on any kids songs... I actually made a list "Farmer in the Dell, Old McDonald etc." so I could glance over and remember one if I wanted to sing. Isn't that silly?
I definitely look forward to the I Spy game once she's older...I can see that being really fun for the little ones! My love to E&E!
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