Listed below are various resources that you can access to practice speech and language at home!

Speech & Language

Tips & Tricks for practicing at home!

Practice. If your child has trouble saying a certain sound "f" for example encourage him or her to just make that sound all by itself. Once that comes more easily you can incorporate it into syllables like "fi-fi-fi" or "fa-fa-fa" before moving onto actual words that use it. Repetition is your friend—and it's an opportunity for "gamification." Give tokens for completing a set number of exercises.

Focus on what the child can do instead of overemphasizing what he or she can't do. While it's important to pay attention to improvements in speech remember to praise other small victories like picking up toys being polite or using the bathroom. And don't be tempted to allow bad behavior simply because the child has a speech problem.
Keep background noise and distractions to a minimum during learning sessions and at other times too. Studies show that too much TV can actually delay language development because parents tend not to talk as much to their children as they otherwise would. Children learn to speak best when they are actually spoken to.
Listen! Ask questions and be attentive and patient with the replies. Interrupting and expecting the child to "just spit it out" will create anxiety which can make the problem worse. Let him or her work it out without pressure. On the other hand don't be too focused or the child may become uncomfortable. Try to keep the conversation natural and don't add pressure by demanding perfection.
Use straws. Drinking liquids through them or blowing air out of them will help your child develop the muscular strength in the mouth that's important for clear speech. Make it into a game—get a ping-pong ball and see if he or she can blow it through a goal you set up or keep the ball at the end of the straw by sucking up air through it.
Read. Reading a favorite book to your child and then having them read it back to you can provide excellent reinforcement. Even if the child is too young to be able to read words having them explain what they see in the book and remembering the context from hearing it can strengthen speech and confidence.

You can make a difference!!

The activities you do at home and the positive reinforcement you provide can help your child make huge strides toward speaking clearly an important skill he or she will need to succeed in the future.
Aside from getting ongoing professional help one of the biggest things you can do for your child is to talk clearly to him or her on a regular basis. Kids imitate their parents and your own behavior models theirs. Carry on a conversation and be patient.
Your child wants to communicate and be understood. With some professional guidance and attention you can help make that happen.

This video shows a great example of how you can practice building language skills while doing an everyday activity - washing hands! Depending on your child's goal for language, you can work on a variety of skills including following directions, using appropriate grammatical sentences, sequencing steps of an activity, expanding vocabulary, and even answering questions! These types of activities allow your child to become exposed to the language that you use as a great model without creating a new activity to work on increasing expressive and receptive language skills.

This video is a great resource to watch to see how you can work on articulation skills at home - no matter the sound! Playing a game is great way to engage your child in working on their speech sounds while having fun! Many repetitions of a sound or word are a great way to practice using the right sound consistently. Start with the sound in isolation and if they have that down, you can move onto words, phrases, sentences, reading, and then in spontaneous conversation. The most helpful tip to support your child's articulation is to give them visual and verbal models - show them how to say the sound or word with the correct pronunciation and movement of your mouth and give them positive reinforcement while practicing. Altering production of a sound takes a lot of time and practice, so practice each sound as much as possible when it comes up in words that are used in day to day activities!

This video is about how to elicit the R sound at home! There are tips and tricks that work for different for each kid! R is the hardest sound to make in the English language because there are 32 different variations of using R in different word contexts. R is a sound that takes consistent practice to become used to placing the tongue, lips, jaw and mouth in the correct spot to produce a great sounding R. Remind your child that this is hard and they are not the only one that may have a difficult time producing this sound!

This video is about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and how to use your child's device at home to support their communication needs across contexts! It is so important for students with an AAC device to receive consistent support and use of their device no matter where they are. Always make their device accessible to them so that they are able to reach for it and use it as needed throughout the day.

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