Halloween books in speech

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

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

Read More »

Learn to Build Children’s Attention Spans

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »
speech and language infographics collage

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

Read More »

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

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 »

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

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 »
Halloween books in speech

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

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

Read More »

Learn to Build Children’s Attention Spans

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »
speech and language infographics collage

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

Read More »

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

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 »

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

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 »