Encourage Speech Development

We’ve talked about ways to encourage language skills with your kiddos at home, but what about their speech skills? It’s one of the first things we become aware of as our children are growing. I get questions like, “He’s not saying his R’s,” or, “People have a difficult time understanding her.”

Don’t worry- you are not alone in these thoughts!

First, I will direct you to my website, Rollins SpeechTherapy, where I have a developmental list of the speech sounds your kids should have, and by when.

Further, for parents who are worried about their children’s speech development, here are some ways to help encourage those speech sounds at home.

• Tell your kids how you’re making the sound as you say it…
• For example- “When I say /p/ for ‘popcorn’, my lips come together like this!...”
• OR “When I make the /s/ sound, it kind of sounds like a snake!”

Don’t do this every single time you hear or say that particular sound, but every know and then it’s fun to point those words out.

• Minimal pairs- I love minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are two words that sound the exact same but have one difference.
• For example- shoe/two, snail/nail, pad/bad

I can't read where I got this from, if you know of it's owner please let me know!

If your kiddo has difficulty with a particular sound, take their challenging sound with the sound they are producing and show them the difference.

            “I heard you say ‘nail’, but you’re looking at a sssnail! He is a cute ssssnail!”

There are also a variety of books available that could help encourage speech sounds.

I have many of these books referenced on my Pinterest page; take a look! There are also fun ideas to do with books, crafts, and more!

You could also make your own book! As you can see, I have made my fair share of books to encourage speech development. They don't have to be fancy (seriously... mine isn't!), but if you turn it into something fun, the kids adore them! PLUS! You aren't too sad if they get torn or ripped 😉!

With "The Smashing Snail", I had taken those small hammers from 'Don't Break the Ice!', and had kiddos smash different items throughout the story. They LOVE it, and they don't mind saying their sounds over and over while the sssssmash!

Thank you for reading, and also thank you to those of you who send me questions! They inspire me as I write my blogs and Instagram posts.

Keep it UP!

P.S. I'm going to Disneyland this weekend! I can't wait to tell you about my adventures when I return!

How to Use Books to Encourage Speech and Language

I love books. Which is why, here at Rollins Speech Therapy, it is 📚BOOK WEEK📚! 

As I have mentioned in my Instagram account (which you can follow by clicking HERE), each day I will share one of my favorite books to read with kiddos, and then at the end of Book Week (Sunday, March 26, 2017) I will be giving away a book and a literacy unit to go along with it!!! YAHOO! Don’t you love💜 book week too?!

As I’ve discussed in early 🌟Wonder Wednesdays🌟, reading with your kiddos is super important. Don’t take it from me though, there are plenty of resources that talk about this very thing! (I have some listed at the bottom of this blog post).

Here are just a FEW reasons why reading is so important:

📕Imagination- listening to stories read aloud increases imagination skills. Imagination is so important for our little ones. Listening to stories and then being able to tell stories are the fundamental components of imagination. To find out more ways imagination is helpful, check this Link from Speech Buddies.

📕Vocabulary- Listening and reading along to stories actually gives your children access to a variety of vocabulary that they might not hear in their day-to-day lives. Glen, from LifeDev stated that one actually gains better vocabulary from reading than from direct teaching or talking. He also explained that children’s books are “more sophisticated than (our) average conversations!”

📕Literacy skills- When you read to your children, you are showing them how to hold a book, that you read from left to right, that those symbols on the pages mean something. You might tell them that all the letters on that page actually make a word, and when there are many words together they make a sentence.

Not only does reading do all sorts of great things to your child’s mind, it creates a bonding experience for the two (or 3, or 4…) of you. Some of my most favorite memories as a child are when my mom read stories to me at bedtime. You are making those memories each time you open a book!

Give yourself a pat on the back- you deserve it! 👍 You’re making memories AND making your kiddo smarter- you ROCK.

So, now that we know that reading is awesome and we should do it every day (or as often as we can), lets talk about some ways we can actually help increase speech and language skills in our children.

💥Encourage them to read the book WITH you. I really love ‘There Was An Old Lady…” books for this. (You can find a plethora of those books HERE). Really, any repetitive books can serve this purpose. ‘Brown BearBrown Bear,’ ( I see a _____ looking at me!) ‘Dooly and the Snortsnoot,’(FEE FI FO FUM) ‘Go Away Big Green Monster,’ (Go away _____!)…

Basically, any way that you can leave a PAUSE while reading for your kiddos to chime in, is perfect!

💥While reading, if there are any words that jump out at you for being able to explain- DO IT! While this shouldn’t be done throughout the whole book (no one wants to be quizzed every single page), you could pick one or two words a story that could provide wonderful teaching moments.

For example… ‘The Day the Crayons Quit,’. There you go, a great teaching moment has presented itself before you have even begun reading. You could start out by saying, “The day the crayons QUIT. I wonder what this story will be about. Quit means to ‘stop’. What do you think it will be about?”

And there you have it! Teaching moment has come, been discussed, and now they will be thinking about how the crayons are QUITTING, or stopping, throughout the whole story! You could even say at the end, “You were right! The crayons wanted to stop doing their jobs; they wanted to quit!”

💥Whenever I receive new clients (and of course with my present ones), I like to go through books, and take note on how I could target that child’s particular challenges within that story. Teaching is typically not achieved by been talked AT, but rather talked WITH. Basically, I am providing therapy without the kiddo even knowing that I am!

I consistently change the words to target their specific goals, make up names for the characters within the book for the child’s target sound… You really have a plethora of ways to use books to encourage speech and language.

Be looking for the opportunity to subscripe to Rollins Speech Therapy’s blog, where you can get updates on my posts as well as resources that can be used to encourage speech and language therapy!

Thanks for reading! Signing out, Kassi, the speech therapist in Phoenix.

Resources 

F., Holly. (May 9, 2013). Speech Buddies. Using Imaginative Play in Speech Therapy. https://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/speech-therapy-techniques/using-imaginative-play-in-speech-therapy/

Glen. (December 17, 2014. ‘8 Benefits of Reading (or Ways Reading Makes You Better at Life). LifeDev. https://lifedev.net/2009/06/01/reading-makes-you-better/

Felicity. Best Books for Kids. http://www.best-books-for-kids.com/benefits-of-reading.html

Do Your Speech Homework...

It’s simple. You are given speech and language homework from your hardworking speech-language pathologist…. Or is it?

We all know as researched has stated again and again, that participation and involvement from parents/caregivers is crucial to your children’s speech and language development. From an SLP’s point of view, a one-hour session per week isn’t enough to make an impact on your children’s speech and/or language development. As Amanda Rhodes Fyfe so eloquently stated, that means 167 hours per week is spent outside of treatment (wow!).

Many SLPs know that you love and care about your child, and obviously want the best for them. Yet, what they don’t know, is that you have 3 other children, supper to make, a house to clean, school homework to get finished. Phew! I’m tired even typing that. Moreover, your kiddo is probably exhausted too! The last thing they want to work on is their “speech homework”.

Image Courtesy of www.stayathomemum.com.au    

This blog post is for you. The busy, hard-working, kiddo loving self and your jam-packed schedules.

Here are some tips and tricks to help busy parents who really WANT to help their children succeed, but maybe just CAN’T.

Go to your children’s therapy sessions.
Even if it's just one time per month. Even if they don’t invite you. 🚗Go! Watching first hand how your speech language pathologist works with your child, and what they are working on (you child’s goals) will give you more inspiration and insight into working on your child’s goals at home. ** If the only therapy your child gets is at school, at your next IEP meeting or parent-teacher conferences have your SLP role play with you to show you their strategies. Maybe schedule a time you and your child could come early to school to participate in a therapy session.

Favorites. 

Your child definitely has favorite toys/books/movies. Bring those into therapy or send them into school. Using items your child is familiar with already will increase the likelihood that when they use that in the future, they will remember when they used it in therapy and the skills they practiced with that.

Use other family members.

👪You might be busy, however your oldest child could be free as a whistle to spend quality time, giving language-rich play time to your kiddo in need.

TRICK THEM! 

The best part about speech and language homework, is that it almost doesn’t seem like homework. Throughout our busy days we are constantly talking with those around us; why not steer conversations towards your child’s particular goal?!

Homework Binder📒.

Fill the binder (brilliant idea from ‘Speech Buddies’) with blank pages and let your child record topics that go with his or her speech or language goal. Become a ‘Speech Detective” and find words while out and about that have their target sound, or language goal.

My First Blog Post!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Rollins Speech Therapy's Blog.
My name is Kassi and I would like to start out by telling everyone a little bit about myself!
​

​I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah where there is the best snow on earth and beautiful mountains to enjoy and play in.
​
While in Salt Lake, I was fortunate enough to gain experience in elementary and secondary schools working as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant. This helped confirm my love for the profession, and from there I attended the University of Utah for both my undergraduate and graduate studies in Speech Language Pathology. I completed externships in the preschool and elementary setting, and went on to complete my certification year in a preschool.




I am married to Scott whom I love dearly. We have one fur baby, Bently who is the sweetest, most lovable pup you could meet. 

                                              Isn't my little family cute?!

I have many things I love to do in my

                  day to day life. These include reading, knitting,

quilting, cross stitching, hiking,

camping, making s'mores, playing with my

pup, having date nights with my

hubby, and playing with my

​family and friends

I am so lucky to be surrounded by my wonderful friends and family who have supported me in this journey of Rollins Speech Therapy, providing speech and language therapy in Phoenix, Arizona.

Check out my website, rollinsspeechtherapy.com for ideas to encourage speech and language, as well as more information on services I provide for speech therapy in Phoenix, Arizona.