Encouraging Language in Toddlers: Part Six

Encouraging Language: Be Patient

My next tip is simple but sweet.  When you are trying to encourage language, whether it be their first word or whether you are trying to encourage them to put words together: Use wait time.  This means that after you ask your child a question and you want them to respond, give them LOTS of time to answer.  Wait there quietly for a good minute.  You will be able to tell if your child is thinking or formulating a reply.  Sometimes we think that lulls in a conversation are awkward or even incorrect - but they're not!  Especially with younger children.  Some children have slower processing speed and they just need MORE TIME.  Some children might have difficulty coordinating the movement required for speech (such as apraxia).  Some children take time to process what the actual question was.  For these reasons and many more - remember it's okay to wait.

Show them that it's okay for them to think about their answer and that they don't have to answer immediately.  Take off the pressure.  Smile.  Get down on their level.  And wait.  I'm not making any promises, but give it a try!  You might be surprised!

Encouraging Language in Toddlers: Part 5

Encouraging Language: Focus on Power Words

When you're trying to encourage your young one to start saying more words, try focusing on 2-3 specific words for a while.  Good words to use would be 'power words'.  I've also heard them  referred to as 'stereotypical phrases.'  These are words that can stand alone yet still give a clear meaning.  They are used often throughout the day and they are very functional.  There is often a clear action or gesture associated with them as well.  Some examples include: Bye, Go, More, Uh-Oh, or Hi.  Pick one or two of these and then look for ways to fit them in naturally throughout the day. 

One of my favorites is "Go!"  You can make it very exciting by adding suspense before doing anything fun by counting to three, then saying, "Go!"  For example, when playing with a car, you say "One, Two, Three.......GO!"  Then push it across the floor.  You can do it while making lunch.  You need to pour in the milk?  "One, Two, Three,.....GO!"  After you do this a few times, pause for a second before you say "Go!" and then see how your child reacts.  He might lean forward, or bounce, or reach his hand forward.  He might even say "O" which is terrific!  Keep bombarding your child with these words in natural contexts, and they'll start to pick up on it in no time!

Encouraging Language in Toddlers: Part Four

Encouraging Language: Give your Child an Opportunity to Use Words

As parents, sometimes we have to be mind-readers.  Our newborn is crying, and we have to figure out why. Do they want changed?  Are they hungry?  Are they bored?  Eventually we start to learn that different cries mean different things.  We know just what they need, and we want to satisfy that need as soon as possible.  It's part of being a good mom, right?  Right.  Well, there comes a point where you need to stop being such a great mind-reader...or at least your child needs to think that your ability to read minds has suddenly disappeared.  Even though you secretly still know what they need.  What I'm trying to say is, 

Give your child an opportunity to use words.  

Here's an example: Your 14 month old is whining, and you know for a fact that he is hungry and wants a bottle of milk.  Before you just give him the bottle, take a few minutes and give him the chance to actually request it.  Take him into the kitchen and say "What do you want?"  Maybe he will point to the cupboard where you keep the bottles, or maybe to the fridge where the milk is.  Pointing is a good first step!  Encourage a word too.  "You want some milk?  A bottle?"  Pick a key word to use consistently and model it each time your child wants some milk in a bottle.  Or whatever the situation may be.  After you have given him the chance to respond and you have encouraged some communication on his part, then go ahead and give him the bottle.  Don't take so long that he gets really mad or really hungry.  The main point here is to give your child a chance to talk.  They might surprise you!

How to Encourage Language in Toddlers: Part Three

Encouraging Language: Talk to Your Child

Now that you've determined that your child has good hearing, you can rest assured that the language input that you work so hard to give them will be heard.  Now we can focus on the language input itself.  So here is my next tip.  Are you ready?

 Talk to your child.  

Talk about everything you see.  Talk about everything you are doing.  Talk about everything you are eating.  It's never too soon to start introducing your baby to language.  I think most parents are pretty natural at this.  But maybe there are times in which you find yourself  thinking about other things such as errands, what to cook for dinner, what to buy at the store, etc, and so your mind is preoccupied.  Well that's going to happen to an extent, and that's fine.  When you're at the store, be one of those moms who looks like she is talking to herself.  "I'm looking for the ketchup!  Oh here it is! I found the ketchup.  Do you want to hold the ketchup?  Now we need some milk.  Let's go this way.  Over here!  Down this way.  Stop!  There it is!  There's the milk.  Do you see it?"  And so on.  I'm not saying you need to be constantly jabbering away and driving your child (and everyone around you) to craziness.  Certainly the child will need some time to think, process, and absorb.  Try to find a good balance.  Make sure it works for you and you are comfortable with it.  The main point here is that your child learns so much from YOU.  So make sure you are giving them plenty to learn from.  

How to Encourage Language in Toddlers: Part One

Encouraging Language in Toddlers: Introduction and Disclaimer

Lately I've had a few parents of one and two year olds ask me: "My child isn't really talking yet..should I be worried?" followed by "What should I do?"  In moments like this, my role as an SLP requires me to not only give a correct answer, but also make it somewhat short, without using a whole bunch of acronyms or strange vocabulary, give good resources and advice, and also assure Mom that she is doing a good job.  So I told myself, "It's time for Speaking of Kids to do a series on this subject!"

Let me start off with a little disclaimer: This series is not meant to replace a thorough speech/language evaluation.  If you have concerns about your child, you really ought to find a local friendly Speech-Language Pathologist who can evaluate your child's own specific strengths and weaknesses to determine a) what the problem is, b) what to do about it, and c) if there are any other underlying factors to take into account (such as apraxia, autism, syndromes, etc.)  The tips I will share are the tips another SLP would probably give you, so why not start now??

The first step is to decide if your child is behind or not.  Sometimes that can be very obvious, other times it's not.  But in this series I will be mostly focusing on Expressive Vocabulary, so here are the facts:

• At twelve months old, your child should be just starting to use words, maybe using one or two fairly consistently. (Usually "Momma", "Bottle", "Up"....)  (More on that here)
•  By 18 months, they should be using at least 10 words, and possibly up to 50. (More on that here)
• At 24 months, a child should be using between 200 and 300 words.  They should be starting to put two words together soon.  
• By 36 months, they should use about 1000 words.  Wow! (More on that here)

Now you are armed with knowledge!  If you think your child is behind, don't panic.  Find a speech therapist to talk to you specifically about your child.  Nothing is worse than wondering.  Just take action and see where it takes you.  In the meantime, I hope you're excited because the next post will be about the FIRST step to take if you think your child might be a little behind in language development.  See you next time!

Crafts and Toddlers and Language

Crafting with toddlers is good for so many reasons!  First, it makes you feel like a good mom/speech teacher.  I like it for that reason alone.  Also - it's fun!  But here are some other reasons why it's a good idea:

1) Making a craft is certainly better than drilling a child with flashcards or boring pictures.  Sometimes that works better for older kids but isn't it best to teach language in a natural way?  The child doesn't feel stressed or under pressure. You can incorporate basically any goal into a craft.  Which leads me to number two.

2) Any goal can be targeted while you work on a craft.  Does the child need to work on answering questions?  Just ask them questions related to the craft:  "What do we need to stick the eyes on?"  "Where does the tail go?" Or even just ask them more abstract "wh" questions and hold off on the required material until they complete the task.  Articulation works too.  "Say 'book' five times, then you can have the next popsicle stick."

3) Crafts lend themselves well to teaching basic concepts such as color, size, shapes, and numbers.  "What color is this feather?" "How many feathers are there?" "What shape do you want next?"

4) Theme-related crafts always add an element of fun, and it makes your therapy session easier to plan.  10 seconds on Pinterest and you can find a craft based on any holiday or any season.  Then you can build around that.  Make a snowman and read a book on snowmen, then sing a snowman song.  Make sure you have a clear idea of how you are targeting their goal, and don't just do those things for fun.

5)  These fun holidays and seasons seem to come and go so fast, it's great to take the opportunity to teach the child the related vocabulary.  Valentine, Jack O Lantern, Turkey, Shamrock, (I could go on and on) are all fun words that are important for the child to learn.  One reason for that is it builds their schema, or their background knowledge that will help them in reading later.  For example, next time they read a book about a turkey, they will form an idea in their mind based on what they have experienced with a turkey.  It leads to better comprehension because they already have a foundation knowledge of what it is, what it looks like, what it does, etc.

6) Sitting down and doing a craft is a good way of lengthening a child's attention and gets them prepared for school, where they will be required to sit down and follow directions given by a teacher.

7) Cutting, taping, pasting, and drawing are all great ways to build those fine motor skills.  Practice practice practice!

8) You can indirectly teach sequencing by structuring the craft in the right way.  Use words like "First, Then, Next, and Last" to teach the child that things have to happen in a certain order.

9) Crafting is a great way to focus on following directions - a crucial skill in the classroom environment.  It's easy to adapt the directions to one step or two steps, depending on the child's level.  You could start by simply saying, "Get the gluestick" and then when the child is older and smarter you can say things like, "First hand me the sticker, then you write your name."
 
10) Take it home and talk about it! Creating something leads to a feeling of ownership and pride, which can lead to great conversation and carry-over when the child proudly presents his new creation to Mom or Dad!

What Your 3 Year Old Should Be Doing

Right now I am working with a darling little boy who is turning 3 in a few weeks.  It's almost been 6 months since we first started doing therapy together and that means it's time to do some new language testing and see where he stands with hearing, language, and speech milestones.  As you can imagine, little kiddos change SO MUCH in a very short time so it's important to be constantly monitoring progress.  Every session should be diagnostic in nature, so no test results should be much of a surprise, but it's good to get a broad overview and look at standard scores, etc.  I made a little chart here of Speech/Language Milestones that should be reached between the ages of 2 and 3.  Just thought I would share it with you! Just click on the image to open, save, and print!


PS For all you moms who are like "What in the heck are phonological processes?" Never fear!  I will be doing a series on all things related to Phonological Processes very soon.  Be excited!

Preschool Matching Activity: Pets

Today I am taking my 3 year old to the pet store.  What a great place to use language!  Pets is always a fun theme for younger children.  Talk about the similarities and differences between each pet.  What do they sound like?  What do they eat?  What do they like to do?  Do you have any pets at home?  Here is a little activity I came up with.  Since most younger children can't read, it ends up being a good listening activity.  It also established the early foundations of defining words, which we talked about in detail a few weeks ago.

Summer Activities and Language Suggestions

Hello!  Are you having a fun summer?  Are you taking it easy or are you starting off with a bang, trying to pack in as much fun as you can?  I am having a blast hanging out with my 2 boys.  We are trying to find a good balance between taking it easy together and also doing lots of fun stuff.  I thought I would share with you my list of summer fun activities!  And it wouldn't be a good speech/language blog if I didn't give you some language-enhancing tips!  So here are 5 language skills that can be targeted while enjoying these activities:

1) Vocabulary - Most any activity comes with new vocabulary for a child to learn!  Pick two or three words that may be unfamiliar to them and make a point to use them over and over in different contexts.  Never underestimate the words your child can learn.  For example, on your family hike, point out some plant names.  Discuss trees vs. bushes, talk about the parts of a flower.
2) Sequencing - Most structured activities require that you follow certain steps in a certain order.  Teach your child the words "first, second, then, next, and last" while you make cookies or write letters.  If you're into apps and really want to focus on this concept - check out the Pictello app.
3) Descriptions - I've worked with lots of kids who know plenty of nouns but when it comes to describing them, they would rather not.  :) Discuss words like: sticky, rough, smooth, clean, wet, hot, cold, spicy, sweet, loud, etc.  Make a contest to see how many words you can think of to describe something.
4)  Predicting - An important skill for social language as well as reading.  Ask your child questions about what will happen next: "What is going to happen when I mix these two colors?" or  "What do you think might happen if we didn't put a letter on this stamp?"  or "What if our boat gets really wet?" or "Those two ducks are going for the same piece of bread...what are they going to do?"  Encourage guessing and see if they can start asking you questions in return.
5) Developing Schema - A less-known concept but a very important one for all parents.  'Schema' refers to the child's own database of personal experiences.  It is crucial for reading comprehension, as children need to learn to make personal connections to events or places in books.  If a child encounters a book about fishing, and they just recently went fishing, they will have a much better understanding of what you need to take with you, how to use a fishing pole, and how you have to sit and wait.  Much of those things are not specifically mentioned in books and must then be inferred by the reader.  So basically any activity you do with your child this summer is theoretically helping your child's future reading comprehension abilities.  Good to know, right? :)

So here's my list: I tried to credit the ideas back to the original blogger/website so be sure to check out the links!

-          Swimming

-          Bowling

-          Watergun Fight

-          Water Balloons

-          ScavengerHunt

-           Fishing

-          Fly a Kite

-          Make cookies

-          Read books

-           Go on a picnic

-          Makeplaydough

-          Fingerpainting

-          Go to the zoo

-          Rainbow Volcanoes

-          BalloonTennis

-          Puppet Show for Dad

-          Watercoloring

-          Fun Things with Crayons

-          Write Letters to Family with lots of stickers

-          Geocaching

- Wash the car

-          PopsicleStick Puzzles

-          Giant Bubbles

-          Homemadelava lamps

-          Marshmallows and Toothpicks

-          Bug Hunt (magnifying glass and tube found at Dollar Store)

-          Pillow Fights

-          Run through the sprinklers

-          Paperboats down the river (or even the gutter when it’s full)

-          Archeology Dig (plastic dinosaurs in dirt/sand)

-          MagneticPuzzles

-          CraftStick Letters with Velcro

-          Visit a farm

-          Makeslime

-          Family Hike

- Paper Airplanes

-          FrozenFigures 

-          Learn some new songs with actions

-          Mini Golf

-          Make a Spotting Scope or binoculars

- Edible Bird Nests (and read "Are You My Mother" just because it's so cute)

-          Go to a local splash pad

-          Feed the ducks

-          Play date at the park

-          Get snow cones

-          Cut out pictures from Sunday ads and make a collage

-          Storytime at the library

-  Salt Dough Footprints

- Bike Ride

- Picnic

- Learn some new jokes and teach them to Dad

- Popcorn and Pajama Night

Book Review

BOOKS!  I can't emphasize the importance of reading books to your kids.  It teaches them so much, and they pick up on more things than we even realize.  Here are some essential skills that are strengthened when you read to your kids:

- Text/Print Awareness
- Vocabulary
- Narrative Skills  (sequencing and telling stories)
- Story Grammar (the essentials of story-telling: character, setting, problem, feeling, ending)
- Rhyming
- Letter Knowledge
- Inference
- Prediction
- Listening Skills
- Attention Skills (Yes! It can be taught!)
- Plus it's bonding and it helps your child relax and feel safe.

And it's never too early to start reading to your child.  In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting by 6 months!  

Anyway.

Here's a great book.  It's called "Roadwork" by Sally Sutton.  It's great for kids ages 1-3.  And boys would especially like all the trucks and machinery in it.  I like it because it's slightly repetitive, which kids enjoy and it helps aid learning.  It teaches rhyming.  It experiments with sounds and rhyming which adds an element of fun.  The words are nice and big.  And overall it teaches that building a road involves lots of steps and they happen in a certain order.  Kids need to start learning how to sequence things and how to describe steps in different processes; such as building a road, making a peanut butter sandwich, or how to build a snowman.

All that in one little book?  You bet.  So go to your local library today and find a new gem.

Language Activity: Treasure Hunt

Something I'd like to do with this blog is post ideas for games and activities you can do with your child, and also include ideas on how to strengthen language or speech skills with that particular game.  So here's an example:

Activity:  Treasure Hunt
Ages:  2+
Language Skills Targeted: -Directional Vocabulary (left, right, straight, up, down, under, next to, on top, beneath, etc.)

So here's what you do.  You find a treasure box.  Or a shoebox.  Or a leftover container.  Really it doesn't matter.  That's the wonderful thing about kids and their imaginations.  You say, "This is our treasure chest!" with enthusiasm in your voice, and they'll run with it.  I happened to have a little treasure chest I bought at Michael's back in my college days.

Now go ahead and dump your change jar full of pennies into the treasure chest/shoebox/leftover container.  Or you could also find those cheapo bags of chocolate wrapped in gold foil.  Then muster up your inner-child's enthusiasm and say, "This is our GOLD!  Now let's pretend to be pirates! I'm going to hide my treasure where you'll never find it!"

Okay you don't have to use those exact words.  But you get the idea.

Then for the fun part. Take turns hiding the treasure chest.  To really take advantage of the language-learning opportunities, hide it really well.  That way they have to look at you or ask you for help in finding it.  Then you can start using the directional vocabulary.  "Look under the couch.  Look on top of the shelf.  It might be in between the couch and the table.  Look to your left."  


An understanding of these concepts is crucial for academic success in the classroom and in life in general.  It's never too soon to start introducing them.

After you or your child finds it, review by stating where it was hidden.  "It was inside the cupboard!"

It's up to you how much you want to embellish this little activity.  I prefer to lean towards simplicity.  But you could always add an eye patch or a treasure map.  When I played this with my son, we drew a simple map of our house and I'd draw an X in the room where I hid the treasure.  Then I taught him the phrase, "X marks the spot."  Throw in a few "Argh matey's" and "Avast me hearties" and you're GOLDEN.

And just because I think it's hilarious, here's an English to Pirate Translator.

Have fun!

Language-Enhancing Strategies

Well, it's a little late, but as promised, here is a post with suggestions on how to help your child expand his/her language.  You might read through these 4 strategies and think, "I already do those things."  Well you probably do!  And that means you're doing a good job!  Moms really are in tune with their kids and often do just what their kids need without even realizing it.  These 4 strategies are simple but work wonders.  The key, I think, is to find the right balance of language.  When implementing these, you want to speak with your child at their level, with just a little bit of added difficulty.  Say your child usually only puts two words together.  Try modeling 3-word sentences with them for a while, and see what happens.  Research shows when parents use these methods, children pick up on it and children's language skills improve.

Parallel Talk:  You narrate what your child is doing as they are doing it.
Example:  "You're blowing bubbles!  You popped it!  It went away!"

Self Talk:  You narrate what you are doing while you are doing it.
Example:  "I'm making dinner.  I'm stirring it."

Description:  You describe something the child is looking at or playing with.
Example:  "That's soft.  Soft bear.  Brown bear."

Expansion:  You expand on a phrase or word the child has said.
Example:  Child points to a car and says, "Car."  You say, "Fast car!" or "Red car."  or "Your car."

And there you have it.  Four simple but tried and true strategies on how to help improve your young child's language skills.

Here are some links to other sites on the same stuff:
http://www.talkingkids.org/2011/05/all-kinds-of-talk-using-your-language.html
http://www.playingwithwords365.com/2011/11/strategies-to-help-your-child-talk-parallel-and-self-talk/