Have a great summer!

Dear Parents, 

Now that the school year is coming to a close, it is important to consider the countinuing speech needs of your child. I encourage you to continue working with your child in their speech notebook through the summer months. Reviewing previous speech homework pages and encouraging "good speech" every day is very important. Your child has made a lot of progress in speech this year, and I appreciate your support and cooperation. I hope you and your family have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Eldridge

Here are some activities that you can use to help your child this summer:

1. Magazines - A scrapbook is fun to make - reinforcing categories - farm animals, fruit, summer activities, sports, etc.

2. Children enjoy reading or telling about pictures in books. Older chidren enjoy reading to younger children. Visit the library - attend story time- builds speech and social skills

3. Counting and telling colors and names of cars, animals, etc. will include practicing numerous sounds to improve articulation and intelligibility. 

4. Sing along to DVDs, television or the radio in the car provides a good model of speech.

5. Puppet Shows (paper bag puppets) - Many stories and characters can be created with puppets. A box makes a good stage. Let your child talk about them.

6. Play games such as: Simple Simon, Go Fish, Memory, I Spy, I am going on a picnic and I am bringing..., etc..

7. Walk and talk - Take a walk around the neighborhood and talk about what is going on - dogs running, children playing, sounds you hear, etc.

8. What animal am I? Take turns thinking of an amimal and acting out its actions (monkey eating a banana).

9. TV Talk - Have your child tell you what happened during their favorite show. This is good for memory and telling events in sequence. 

10. Memories - Have your child draw pictures of places you visit. Write down what your child has to say, put together into a story book that can be enjoyed over and over. 

11. Find this - While in the car you can play an alphabet or color game - Look for things that begin with letter A, then B, etc. or something blue or green (or animals or items in another             category).

12. Blow bubbles - helps build vocabulary and stengthens muscles of the mouth

13. Make some cookies - targets following directions, sequencing and vocabulary 

14. Make lemonade - works on ability to follow directions, sequencing and wakes up the mouth for speech

15. Read to your child and ask who, what, where, when and why questions about the story.