May 29th, 2018
ATN
May is better speech and hearing month! Here are some ideas to help your child practice his/her articulation and language skills over the summer.
- Read books aloud together
- Listen for your child’s target sound and have him/her repeat words
- Ask who, what, where, how, and why questions about the story
- Ask your child to re-tell the story chapter focusing on event sequencing, main idea, and important details
- Pick an object/idea from the story to describe (category, function, additional attributes, parts, location, materials, etc.
- Drawing pictures together
- Have your child follow verbal directions using concepts like: first, before, big, small, purple, beside, around, middle, above, several, many, etc. (e.g. first draw a big blue house in the middle of the page, then draw a little yellow flower next to the house)
- Look for objects within the picture with targeted speech sounds and repeat his/her words
- Field trip
- Draw a map of your neighborhood/town and go on a “field trip”
- Have your child sequence directions to get from one place to another
- Follow his/her directions (even if they are incorrect) and see if your child can get to the correct place (this targets problem solving, directional skills, grammar, and descriptive skills)
- Also have your child practice his/her targeted speech sounds when giving directions (if applicable)
- Cooking together
- Choose a fun recipe to make with your child
- Decide what supplies are needed, what steps need to be completed, and the order of steps
- Have your child re-tell the cooking sequence focusing on proper sequence of events, grammar, and targeted speech sounds
- Vacation postcard
- If you go on vacation this summer have your child fill out a postcard (highlighting some of the most important things they did/activities they liked the most)
- You can do this if you stay home too (have them make your own postcard and write their favorite parts of the summer)
- You can mail them off to a friend or family member for a fun surprise!
- Focus on targeted speech sounds, sequencing, grammar, descriptive words, etc.
Nikki Kirchoff, MA, CCC-SLP
Thanks for telling me that letting my daughter describe a character from a book she just read is a great way to improve her speech and language skills. I noticed that she doesn’t talk a lot and stammers often, so I guess she’s a little behind her peers. It might also be a good idea to explore our therapy options and see if this is our best choice.
It’s great that you talked about how reading helps your kid improves their speech skills. A few days ago, I met with my sister for a coffee, and she mentioned she’s worried about her daughter’s speech skills. She said she noticed her daughter having trouble communicating, and she doesn’t know what to do. I believe that this article could help my sister out, so I’ll be sure to share it. Thanks for the tips about how to help your child with their speech development.