Blog for Parents

Differences in Boy’s and Girl’s Communication Skills

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.

Read More »

Social Skills Projects You Can Do at Home

Don’t get me wrong, I love nearly everything within my field that comes my way, but my true sweet spot is early language skills and social skills for children of any age. When it comes to working on social skills, I do a lot of super targeted lessons and explicit learning, but I also include long(er)-term or group projects whenever I can. Not only does this give us lots of real world practice in negotiating social skills in real-time, but they also address executive function skills—an area that many children, especially those struggling with social skills need help with. Social

Read More »
mom imitating child

Why you should imitate your child

Should we imitate our child? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  (Oscar Wilde) This is what we were told, but in everyday life it rankled. The sister that copied your fashion choices. The annoying kid that repeated what you said. The smothering friend who wanted to do everything you did. Yet there is tremendous power in being the leader. How often does your little one get to call the shots? Toddlers and preschoolers don’t usually get to give a lot of input in their day—and aside from strategic choices (more on this later), they need the structure we provide

Read More »

Is My Child a Late Talker?

What is a late talker? Like it sounds, a late talker is a child between 18 and 30 months who isn’t meeting expected speech and language milestones. They say fewer than 50 words and aren’t yet combining words, but seem to be on track in other areas of development. Often the parents will mention “he seems to understand what we say, he just doesn’t say anything.” About 15% of two-year olds fall into this category. It’s the type of concern that is often met with, “Don’t worry about it. My son didn’t speak until he was 3.” or “I’d wait

Read More »

Teaching Secret Keeping

This is the time of year I’m likely to suggest families work on secret-keeping. Does this sound a little inappropriate? Then think of it as keeping “surprises.” The idea behind secrets is pretty sophisticated and kids who struggle with perspective taking are going to have a particularly hard time (and need some specific instruction) in learning this skill. But it’s important! We keep secrets all the time. Sometimes it’s for really fun stuff like birthday presents, an unexpected note and surprise parties. Sometimes it’s for a harmless joke like putting a plastic spider in the fruit bowl. Sometimes it’s to

Read More »

Are You Interrogating or Modeling?

Fellow SLP, Are You Interrogating or Modeling? It’s a stereotype of movies and books, the mom who won’t stop interrogating their kids with questions. And it’s clear to anyone watching that the incessant interrogation is pushing the kids away whether they’re 10, 20 or 30 years old. And yet… SLPs do the same thing to the little ones in our therapy sessions.  Where? Who? What? Why? When? You feel the pressure of targeting all of the child’s goals and gathering sufficient data, so you inundate them with questions and never truly model the targeted skills. Say… Show me… Do… The

Read More »
Dad and toddler reading aloud

The Importance of Reading Aloud

If you’ve always been inclined towards pediatrics and you’ve been in the field….a while, it might be difficult to realize how many folks need training to read to their child, especially if that child needs more language support than typical. I tell many of my parents that one of their primary “homework” activities is reading aloud and not just for the preschool years.  I have a handout I give with explanations of why books and consistent reading aloud is so critical to school success.  Among other things it: Builds joint attention Build vocabulary Creates expectations for sequences and typical story

Read More »

Differences in Boy’s and Girl’s Communication Skills

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.

Read More »

Social Skills Projects You Can Do at Home

Don’t get me wrong, I love nearly everything within my field that comes my way, but my true sweet spot is early language skills and social skills for children of any age. When it comes to working on social skills, I do a lot of super targeted lessons and explicit learning, but I also include long(er)-term or group projects whenever I can. Not only does this give us lots of real world practice in negotiating social skills in real-time, but they also address executive function skills—an area that many children, especially those struggling with social skills need help with. Social

Read More »
mom imitating child

Why you should imitate your child

Should we imitate our child? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  (Oscar Wilde) This is what we were told, but in everyday life it rankled. The sister that copied your fashion choices. The annoying kid that repeated what you said. The smothering friend who wanted to do everything you did. Yet there is tremendous power in being the leader. How often does your little one get to call the shots? Toddlers and preschoolers don’t usually get to give a lot of input in their day—and aside from strategic choices (more on this later), they need the structure we provide

Read More »

Is My Child a Late Talker?

What is a late talker? Like it sounds, a late talker is a child between 18 and 30 months who isn’t meeting expected speech and language milestones. They say fewer than 50 words and aren’t yet combining words, but seem to be on track in other areas of development. Often the parents will mention “he seems to understand what we say, he just doesn’t say anything.” About 15% of two-year olds fall into this category. It’s the type of concern that is often met with, “Don’t worry about it. My son didn’t speak until he was 3.” or “I’d wait

Read More »

Teaching Secret Keeping

This is the time of year I’m likely to suggest families work on secret-keeping. Does this sound a little inappropriate? Then think of it as keeping “surprises.” The idea behind secrets is pretty sophisticated and kids who struggle with perspective taking are going to have a particularly hard time (and need some specific instruction) in learning this skill. But it’s important! We keep secrets all the time. Sometimes it’s for really fun stuff like birthday presents, an unexpected note and surprise parties. Sometimes it’s for a harmless joke like putting a plastic spider in the fruit bowl. Sometimes it’s to

Read More »

Are You Interrogating or Modeling?

Fellow SLP, Are You Interrogating or Modeling? It’s a stereotype of movies and books, the mom who won’t stop interrogating their kids with questions. And it’s clear to anyone watching that the incessant interrogation is pushing the kids away whether they’re 10, 20 or 30 years old. And yet… SLPs do the same thing to the little ones in our therapy sessions.  Where? Who? What? Why? When? You feel the pressure of targeting all of the child’s goals and gathering sufficient data, so you inundate them with questions and never truly model the targeted skills. Say… Show me… Do… The

Read More »
Dad and toddler reading aloud

The Importance of Reading Aloud

If you’ve always been inclined towards pediatrics and you’ve been in the field….a while, it might be difficult to realize how many folks need training to read to their child, especially if that child needs more language support than typical. I tell many of my parents that one of their primary “homework” activities is reading aloud and not just for the preschool years.  I have a handout I give with explanations of why books and consistent reading aloud is so critical to school success.  Among other things it: Builds joint attention Build vocabulary Creates expectations for sequences and typical story

Read More »