Using Survey Monkey for Voting in Speech Therapy
Ever take a vote in speech? I’m pretty nerdy when it comes to the privilege of voting and I’m thrilled that my entire family will (for the first time) be able to vote in the presidential election. In our family, we vote on lots of stuff—how to carve the pumpkin, what to serve at Thanksgiving, how a family vacation went…the list goes on. When the kids were really little we did a show of hands. Later it became paper ballots that you’d slide into the top drawer in the pantry. Now I send out surveys via Survey Monkey. Not only
Bubbles for Early Language Development
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
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
Speech and Language Infographics for Parent Education
If you’re already following me on IG, you might be one of the hundreds that have bookmarked my speech and language infographics. Not only are these easily digestible “cheat sheets,” but infographics can be invaluable for parent education. Click on the image if you are interested in the original post. Parents I work with have love receiving these quick references after a tough conversation. It’s never easy to talk about your child’s deficits or when you’re half-listening and half-watching a child. By providing them with a written reminder, it also saves on follow-up questions and ensures that my suggestions are
Teaching Prepositions to Toddlers and Preschooler
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
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.
DIY Articulation Miniatures
I’ve posted about using miniatures for articulation therapy a few times before, but I realize that curating a collection takes time and often leaves you with lots of some sounds and very few of others. For myself, I started making my own miniatures to fill in the gaps! This takes a bit of time, and you’ll need to order some supplies, but it’s actually the kind of relaxing project you can do in front of the TV. Here’s how I assemble them. Print all the circles/pictures on cardstock. Cut along the dotted lines. Using a 1” circle cutter, cut all
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
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
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
Using Survey Monkey for Voting in Speech Therapy
Ever take a vote in speech? I’m pretty nerdy when it comes to the privilege of voting and I’m thrilled that my entire family will (for the first time) be able to vote in the presidential election. In our family, we vote on lots of stuff—how to carve the pumpkin, what to serve at Thanksgiving, how a family vacation went…the list goes on. When the kids were really little we did a show of hands. Later it became paper ballots that you’d slide into the top drawer in the pantry. Now I send out surveys via Survey Monkey. Not only
Bubbles for Early Language Development
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
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
Speech and Language Infographics for Parent Education
If you’re already following me on IG, you might be one of the hundreds that have bookmarked my speech and language infographics. Not only are these easily digestible “cheat sheets,” but infographics can be invaluable for parent education. Click on the image if you are interested in the original post. Parents I work with have love receiving these quick references after a tough conversation. It’s never easy to talk about your child’s deficits or when you’re half-listening and half-watching a child. By providing them with a written reminder, it also saves on follow-up questions and ensures that my suggestions are
Teaching Prepositions to Toddlers and Preschooler
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
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.
DIY Articulation Miniatures
I’ve posted about using miniatures for articulation therapy a few times before, but I realize that curating a collection takes time and often leaves you with lots of some sounds and very few of others. For myself, I started making my own miniatures to fill in the gaps! This takes a bit of time, and you’ll need to order some supplies, but it’s actually the kind of relaxing project you can do in front of the TV. Here’s how I assemble them. Print all the circles/pictures on cardstock. Cut along the dotted lines. Using a 1” circle cutter, cut all
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
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
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
