Blog for Parents

Why is early intervention important?

October 19, 2020 No Comments

We’ve heard family, friends, maybe even pediatricians, say that early intervention is important. But why? Is it that big of a deal to wait six months? When it comes to speech and language skills, waiting six months is not a life or death decision, but it can have a big impact on how big of a mountain you need to scale once you start. Let me explain. We talk a lot about milestones and we should because milestones are exciting! Those are what we add to FB feeds or text to family. It’s what we read in parenting books and

3 Halloween Books and How to Use Them to Build Language Skills

October 12, 2020 No Comments

Halloween is one of my favorite seasons. Once the fall air hits, it means apple and pumpkin picking, pumpkin-flavored everything, leaves changing and getting ready for all things Halloween. As a speech pathologist and mom, I’m always looking for fun and creative ways to incorporate the holidays into my therapy sessions and with my kids. The more fun they are having, the less likely they are to get bored or realize that they are actually engaging in educational activities. Halloween books are one of my go-tos! These seasonal choices can be books about Halloween specifically or it can be about

Learn to Build Children’s Attention Spans

October 5, 2020 No Comments

Did you know you can start building attention span even in preschool? The ability to attend is a critical foundational skill. If a child is unable to attend for a sustained period to a toy or activities, they’ll struggle to build their language or concept understanding. Down the line, lack of attention causes academic and behavior issues in the classroom. And if we are aware that they are behind in developing their attention span, how do we go about building it? 9 Tips for Building Improving Attention Spans Sleep and nutrition Both of these have a huge impact on sustaining

Expectations for Preschool Attention Spans

October 1, 2020 No Comments

There’s so much talk about “attention deficits” even in daycares and early childhood programs. When your preschool child flits from toy to toy, have you wondered if their attention span is something you need to worry about? How long should they be able to focus anyway? EXPECTATIONS FOR PRESCHOOL ATTENTION SPANS At a 12 months, a child will only attend for about a minute at a time. At 18 months, they will have worked up to 2-3 minutes. After that, a rough estimate is that a child will have an attention span that is 2-4 times their chronological age. 2

What is the price of speech therapy?

September 23, 2020 No Comments

One of the first questions families have when a recommendation for an evaluation is made is “what’s the price of speech therapy?” I get it. When you are juggling all the expenses of a young family the idea of adding on a weekly service is a big concern. Here’s how it works. Speech Evaluation vs. Therapy Services Receiving a referral for a speech and language evaluation means your child will be assessed to see their current speech and language level. Once the assessment is complete, then the speech-language pathologist will make recommendations. Your child’s skills might fall within the typical

Bubbles for Early Language Development

September 1, 2020 2 Comments

Bubbles and early language are a perfect match. It’s cheap and easy to carry. If you can overlook the periodic spill, it’s nearly perfect. Bubbles lend themselves easily to early language development—i.e. requests/demands (depends on your perspective), joint attention, turn-taking, size concepts, etc. plus early developing speech sounds like “b,” “p,” and “m.” Using bubbles for lip sounds (bilabials) When it comes to speech sounds, let’s talk about what bubbles are (and aren’t) good for: Lip sounds, like b, p and m, are some of the earliest to develop because the movement is a bit more broad and it’s very

Teaching Classroom Routines at Home

August 10, 2020 No Comments

It’s the procedures at school that often indicate early success—even more than the actual academic skills. Practicing and teaching classroom routines at home can go a long way in classroom success and your child’s confidence since it’s the procedures at school that often indicate early success—even more than the actual academic skills. While these skills are particularly important for our PreK and Kindergarten students who are just starting “real school” a review for little ones in first and even second grade can be beneficial given how long most have been (or will be) out of a formal school setting. Circle

Teaching Prepositions to Toddlers and Preschooler

May 20, 2020 No Comments

Prepositions are little words with an important responsibility. These are what we use to indicate the location or position of things. They’re words like “in,” “under,” “behind” and “next to.” Some of these develop early, during the toddler years, like “in” and “on.” Others will still be tricky up until our kids enter school; words like “through” and “between.” Because understanding a preposition means understanding the position of one thing in relation to another, I find it particularly helpful to teach these words by moving around, and, to start, I have the child move their own body into different relative

Do Children Need Playdates?

May 2, 2020 No Comments

We’ve been “safe at home” for nearly two months now. The mandated time apart from friends, extended family, and social activities have been a gift to some and a nearly unbearable burden to others. Some of us will continue to shelter in place. Others are looking at loosening restrictions and wondering if it’s ok to venture out. But do our children really need playdates? For those with little ones at home, there are concerns about Covid19 exposure, but also whether the lack of peer interaction is having a detrimental impact on development. Let’s explore. People are social creatures. Numerous studies

Differences in Boy’s and Girl’s Communication Skills

April 12, 2020 No Comments

Have you noticed a big difference between boy’s and girl’s communication skills? Have you ever walked into a preschool classroom and had a little girl walk up to you and start chatting in a way that seems well beyond her years? Certainly, way beyond the skills of your own little one? This precocious behavior is both adorable and a bit disconcerting. Is it normal? Grandma would say, “girls develop faster.” They’re right when it comes to communication. The average age for a first word is 7-12 mos. and girls are more likely than boys to fall on the earlier side.

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