Phonological Awareness and Reading
Phonological awareness consists of skills that typically develop gradually and sequentially through the late preschool period. They are developed with direct training and exposure. Phonological awareness is a key component of learning to read. What is phonological awareness? Phonological awareness is the awareness of sounds in a language. It includes an awareness of rhyming and… Read more »
Rainy Day Fun
Rainy days with a toddler can sometimes be challenging. You might find yourself not being as active as you are during sunnier months because the go-to favorite of the park is not possible in the rain. Here are a few ideas of developmentally appropriate activities for toddlers in the community and at home to help… Read more »
Get Ready to Read Screening Tool
The Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool takes about 10 minutes to administer and was designed to provide early childhood professionals and parents with a “snapshot” of where a child is on the path to developing important early literacy skills. The Screening Tool is NOT a formal assessment or a way to identify disabilities. However,… Read more »
Supporting Literacy Development from Birth to Age 5
Children typically begin to read around age 5 or 6 years old. However, literacy skills do not begin then. Language and literacy skills begin at birth as a child learns to communicate in their new environment. Early communication skills, or language skills, create the foundation for later literacy skills. A child cannot learn to read… Read more »
Social Communication Development in Toddlers
If you have ever been confused or concerned by your child’s communication and social skills, know that you’re not alone. Many parents wonder whether their child is adequately communicating and socializing with peers and adults. Communication and social interaction skills are closely connected and delays in both areas often go hand-in-hand (Gabrielsen et al., 2015)…. Read more »
The Complexity Approach: How Teaching Children a Few “Tricky” Sounds Makes the Rest of Their Speech Clearer
The Traditional Approach Chances are, you’re already familiar with the traditional approach for teaching sounds. The traditional method teaches children the specific sounds they have difficulty pronouncing, one by one. Remember Elmer Fudd from Looney Tunes (“Shhh. Be vewy vewy quiet, I’m hunting wabbits”)? A traditional approach would teach Elmer how to pronounce “r.” This… Read more »
Simplifying Speech- What Does the Research Say?
We have all heard children use phrases such as “my turn slide,” “doggie go,” or “look car,” but we wouldn’t think that was unusual. As we know, children of early language development use simplified speech to communicate. If we heard an adult say those same phrases what would we think? Some would react positively thinking… Read more »
Books! Books! Books!
Research suggests that storybook reading facilitates language development and plays an important role in preparing children for success in school. In addition to enhancing early language development and literacy skills, shared book reading, between you and your child, can provide positive social interaction. Reading with your child should start from birth. At this time, you… Read more »
Attention: Critical Foundation to Build Communication Skills
One of the foundational skills needed for communication development is attention. Attention can be broken down into different categories. The three broad categories that Patten and Watson (2011) categorized attention into are the following: Orienting attention: physically adjusting to a stimulus. Ex: gaze shift or head turn. Sustaining attention: maintaining attention to a stimulus. Shifting… Read more »
Connect With Your Child Through Joint Book Reading
Reading with your child is a great way to spend quality time while also improving his or her speech, language, and literacy skills. Every time you read a book, even one you’ve read dozens of times, you can explore new concepts and experiences. Benefits of joint book reading When you read to your child, you… Read more »
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