Home Suggestions for Speech & Language
Here are some suggestions for you and your family to help develop and keep up your communication skills year-round! This form was created specifically for students in the speech and language program, but most of the suggestions would be useful for all children.
Speech Sounds
-Try to practice for at least 5 minutes every day so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made this year. Make your sounds the best you can…start with single words and if that’s too easy, put them into sentences. -Remember the deck of cards we used in class? I’ll bet every one of you has cards at home you can use…red is for words and black is for sentences. If you want me to print out a list of words for you to practice, let me know before the last day of school.
-Go on a scavenger hunt at home, at the grocery store, or wherever you travel this summer…look for things that have your sounds in them. Write them down and see how big your list can grow before school begins again.
-Write a silly story using as many of your sounds as possible. Save the story to read to me when school starts again in the fall.
-Strengthen the muscles we need for talking by sipping smoothies through a straw. Pick out your favorite fruits this summer and make your own smoothies! Ask your parents if you can try sipping other things such as pudding, applesauce, milkshakes or soup through a straw. Licking ice cream from a cone and wrapping your lips around a Popsicle to eat it are also good (and yummy!) exercises for summer.
Vocabulary
-Play “I Spy” and “20 questions” games while you travel with your family in the car. Try to give good clues and ask good questions (don’t forget to ask about color, taste, function, parts, category, etc.)
-Read, read, read…check out some books on tape for your summer road trips-the library has some great ones. Ask your parents about any words you don’t understand and then see if you can use that word in your own sentence. Can you think of another word that means the same thing?
-www.bookadventure.org is a website similar to the Accelerated Reader program used at some schools. You can pick a book to read and take the online quizzes. There are prizes you can win by earning points. Ask your parents to sign you up.
-Pick a “boring” word such as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and see how many words you can use instead that are more exciting. Write down your list and try to get your family members to use them with you. For example, instead of saying “My ice cream is really good” you could say “My ice cream is delicious”.
Grammar
-Tell your parents each night 3 things you did that day…don’t forget to use past tense!
-Think of all the action words (verbs) you did that day and all the ones you will do tomorrow.
-Make up a story for a wordless picture book.
-Ask questions each night that start with what, where, why, when, who, and which.
-Mad Libs are a fun way to practice nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. while you’re home or traveling in the car.
Fluency
-Read a story aloud to your parents, babysitter, grandparents, or little brother or sister. Keep your words smooth and steady.
-Call your grandparents or friends on the phone with your parents’ permission and tell them about your day.
-Notice the traffic lights in town and remember to Stop, Get Ready, and Go.
-Sing songs with your family…did you know that most stuttering goes away when we sing?
-Put on a play or puppet show…give each character a different voice.
Voice
-Practice breathing with your stomach (your diaphragm). Lie down and place your hands or a book on your stomach…watch it rise and fall. Try to keep your shoulders still.
-Relax all the muscles in your face, neck, and chest while you are talking.
-Keep a journal about when it’s easy and when it’s hard to remember to take care of your voice.
-Drink plenty of water!
-Practice ‘h’ words, using plenty of air, relaxing your muscles, and starting the vowel sounds gently.
Social Language
-Set up a lemonade stand (with your parents’ permission). Greet your customers politely, ask them what they would like to buy, and thank them for coming. Make sure you look them in the eye and use a friendly face.
-Put on a puppet show. Have the puppets talk to each other and to your audience members.
-When you go out to eat, order your own food. Look at the server, use a voice he or she can hear, use a friendly voice, and remember to say please and thank you.
-At the park, greet other children with a smile. Remember to ask them questions about things they like…don’t just tell them about you.
-Look at the Sunday comics (Peanuts and Garfield are two great ones). Look at the expressions on the characters’ faces to see how they are feeling. What do you think will happen next after the last picture frame? See if you can draw your own cartoon strip.
Online Activities
The following are just some of the great websites you can find online with fun games designed to help you with what you’ve learned this year. Get your parents’ permission to try them out! (Parents, there are also some websites here for you with great information and printable activities).
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/brainboosters/
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/rdg.jsp
http://www.funbrain.com/
http://funschool.kaboose.com/
http://gamequarium.org/dir/Readquarium/Vocabulary/Categorizing/
http://www.readkiddoread.com/home (Find some great book suggestions here for summer reading!)
http://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx?src=H (This website has lots of great speech related handouts for parents written in parent-friendly language)
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/
http://www.stuttersfa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/speechlanguage/Onlineactivities.html
Speech Sounds
-Try to practice for at least 5 minutes every day so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made this year. Make your sounds the best you can…start with single words and if that’s too easy, put them into sentences. -Remember the deck of cards we used in class? I’ll bet every one of you has cards at home you can use…red is for words and black is for sentences. If you want me to print out a list of words for you to practice, let me know before the last day of school.
-Go on a scavenger hunt at home, at the grocery store, or wherever you travel this summer…look for things that have your sounds in them. Write them down and see how big your list can grow before school begins again.
-Write a silly story using as many of your sounds as possible. Save the story to read to me when school starts again in the fall.
-Strengthen the muscles we need for talking by sipping smoothies through a straw. Pick out your favorite fruits this summer and make your own smoothies! Ask your parents if you can try sipping other things such as pudding, applesauce, milkshakes or soup through a straw. Licking ice cream from a cone and wrapping your lips around a Popsicle to eat it are also good (and yummy!) exercises for summer.
Vocabulary
-Play “I Spy” and “20 questions” games while you travel with your family in the car. Try to give good clues and ask good questions (don’t forget to ask about color, taste, function, parts, category, etc.)
-Read, read, read…check out some books on tape for your summer road trips-the library has some great ones. Ask your parents about any words you don’t understand and then see if you can use that word in your own sentence. Can you think of another word that means the same thing?
-www.bookadventure.org is a website similar to the Accelerated Reader program used at some schools. You can pick a book to read and take the online quizzes. There are prizes you can win by earning points. Ask your parents to sign you up.
-Pick a “boring” word such as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and see how many words you can use instead that are more exciting. Write down your list and try to get your family members to use them with you. For example, instead of saying “My ice cream is really good” you could say “My ice cream is delicious”.
Grammar
-Tell your parents each night 3 things you did that day…don’t forget to use past tense!
-Think of all the action words (verbs) you did that day and all the ones you will do tomorrow.
-Make up a story for a wordless picture book.
-Ask questions each night that start with what, where, why, when, who, and which.
-Mad Libs are a fun way to practice nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. while you’re home or traveling in the car.
Fluency
-Read a story aloud to your parents, babysitter, grandparents, or little brother or sister. Keep your words smooth and steady.
-Call your grandparents or friends on the phone with your parents’ permission and tell them about your day.
-Notice the traffic lights in town and remember to Stop, Get Ready, and Go.
-Sing songs with your family…did you know that most stuttering goes away when we sing?
-Put on a play or puppet show…give each character a different voice.
Voice
-Practice breathing with your stomach (your diaphragm). Lie down and place your hands or a book on your stomach…watch it rise and fall. Try to keep your shoulders still.
-Relax all the muscles in your face, neck, and chest while you are talking.
-Keep a journal about when it’s easy and when it’s hard to remember to take care of your voice.
-Drink plenty of water!
-Practice ‘h’ words, using plenty of air, relaxing your muscles, and starting the vowel sounds gently.
Social Language
-Set up a lemonade stand (with your parents’ permission). Greet your customers politely, ask them what they would like to buy, and thank them for coming. Make sure you look them in the eye and use a friendly face.
-Put on a puppet show. Have the puppets talk to each other and to your audience members.
-When you go out to eat, order your own food. Look at the server, use a voice he or she can hear, use a friendly voice, and remember to say please and thank you.
-At the park, greet other children with a smile. Remember to ask them questions about things they like…don’t just tell them about you.
-Look at the Sunday comics (Peanuts and Garfield are two great ones). Look at the expressions on the characters’ faces to see how they are feeling. What do you think will happen next after the last picture frame? See if you can draw your own cartoon strip.
Online Activities
The following are just some of the great websites you can find online with fun games designed to help you with what you’ve learned this year. Get your parents’ permission to try them out! (Parents, there are also some websites here for you with great information and printable activities).
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/brainboosters/
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/rdg.jsp
http://www.funbrain.com/
http://funschool.kaboose.com/
http://gamequarium.org/dir/Readquarium/Vocabulary/Categorizing/
http://www.readkiddoread.com/home (Find some great book suggestions here for summer reading!)
http://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx?src=H (This website has lots of great speech related handouts for parents written in parent-friendly language)
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/
http://www.stuttersfa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/speechlanguage/Onlineactivities.html