Speech      

Mrs. Canepa

Ten Suggestions to Improve Speech and Language

1.     Talk, talk, talk….. Describe people, pictures, places and things.  Use descriptive words (tall, short, colors, textures, soft, hard, and action words, jumping, running, blowing)  For children that can write, have them keep a journal about each day and have them read it to you at night.

2.     Play “I spy”. Have your child guess what you are “spying” by description “I spy a sign that’s red with white letters and it makes cars stop”.  Make them describe items by function (what it does) as well as physical characteristics (color, shape and size)

3.     Read, read, read…..Have your child retell a story answer questions about stories and ask you questions about stories.

4.     If your child is having difficulty producing sounds practice listening to different sounds with rhyming books “the Cat in the Hat” emphasize the different sounds.

5.     Be a sound detective and find things that start with a /f/ or /k/ sound or whatever sound your child has difficulty producing.

6.     Blow bubbles, use straws, blow horns.  It improves strength and coordination of the muscles in your lips and tongue and improves articulation of sounds.

7.     Encourage your child to eat a wide variety of foods, chewy, crunchy etc… Play games while eating.  Eat spaghetti strands without using your hands.  Eat goldfish crackers and have them swim from one side of your mouth to the other using your tongue.  This helps the muscles in your tongue and lips too.

8.     Sing songs.  It improves sound identification and auditory memory

9.     Have your child “help” at the grocery store.  Make them remember two or three thing that they have to pick out and put in the cart

10. Tell your child what a great job they are doing everyday!