Communication Development
Strategies to support your child's communication development within their everyday routines and play.
On the Blog...
Teaching Opportunities
YOU ARE YOUR CHILD'S BEST TEACHER. Read that again. Your child feels safest with you, most comfortable with you, they trust you more than anyone and they believe everything you...
What to say when they don't know how to refer to themselves
Do you all know that I promote talking in the first person - so saying “I’m hungry” instead of “Mum is hungry”. But even with the best modelling, kids...
Have Fun with Rhyming Words
If you've followed for a while then you know we sing ALL THE TIME. We sing kids songs and nursery rhymes all day and now August loves to sing to...
Fill them up with language: Describing Food
Is your little one using all of these words to describe their food? Would you say they'd understand all of these words? If the answer is 'no' then it's time...
Supporting Behaviour: What to say
It’s so simple - but changing up the way you pose questions to your little one can reduce frustration for the both of you. I posted about this in my...
Fix up their phrase
You really don't have to 'correct' your child to teach them the correct way to speak. MODELLING and REPETITION are incredibly powerful, and you can make a big impact by...
Have fun with sounds
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the SOUND a letter makes is so much more important to know than it’s name! Yes - the name is also...
Teach manners through modelling, not parroting
When you prompt your little one to “say please” or “say sorry”, they’re learning that they have to copy what you say to get what they want, but it’s unlikely...
Language Development Tip: Reading on Repeat
You don’t always need new books. Sure - it’s nice to have new stories to read but I already know that your little one likes their favourite books on repeat....
Speech errors kids make: Gliding
The /r/ and /l/ sounds are often quite hard to say for little ones. That’s why they often replace them for a /y/ or a /w/ sound instead. We’ve all...
Where did I come from? Photos from Language Development
Most kids LOVE to look at pictures of themselves when they were younger. I know the mums who went to SPACE class with me thought I was a little nuts...
Supporting Behaviour: What to say
Kids learn more though positive experiences. Praise is important - the more you can praise your child for doing the right thing, the more likely they are to do that...
Tempt them to communicate: Do the unexpected
If you were looking for permission to be really silly - here it is. Doing the unexpected is a wonderful way to spark your child's interest, get their attention and...
Use their special interest
Many of your little ones may have already developed a special interest. A special interest is just something that they love and are drawn to. For August - it's bins!...
Speech errors kids make: Final consonant deletion
When a Speech and Language Therapist talks about 'speech', they mean the sounds that words are made up of (not the words themselves). A child with speech difficulties may say...
Language Everywhere: 🐝🐝🐝
Language is everywhere and there's an infinite amount of new words that your little one has the potential of learning. Remember - language isn't inside your child waiting to come...
Clap out the syllables in longer words
ALL CHILDREN drop syllables from longer words at some point in their development. Its called 'weak syllable deletion' - and it just means that they drop the weaker, less pronounced...
Early signs your child is on the Autism Spectrum
Autism Spectrum Disorder is just that; a spectrum. Its not a straight line from 'not autistic' to 'very autistic', it's a vibrant colour palette of characteristics that a person with...
Fun ways to teach body parts
My heart hurt as I wrote 'hokey tokey' for my fellow kiwis. It's 'hokey cokey' in the UK (where I'm from) and I've learned it's 'hokey pokey' in the USA....
How speech sounds develop: The last lot
Some sounds are harder to say than others. If you haven't already, check out my first 2 posts on the 'early eight' and 'next nine' speech sounds that typically develop...
