Making Language Part of Your Routine:

Here are some strategies to help parents effectively incorporate speech and language practice into their everyday routines, even when our "normal" routines have greatly changed (due to COVID-19).

Errands are language-fueled activities. If you can't go to the store, or are avoiding taking the kids with you, have them help you take inventory of items you have and make a list of what you will need.  You can target things like categories, or ask them to name anything red they see on the webpage you're on. Or, as you're scrolling, pick two or three things (apples or bananas, for example) and ask them what group they belong in. Have older kids be your shopping buddy: give them a small list of things to remind you to find as you go through the online store.

Something all kids love is to feel in charge. If you feel comfortable, let them help pay at the online checkout. When the items are delivered, they can continue working on language by unpacking and sorting items into groups (refrigerated or snacks, for example).

Car rides, walks, or even strolls around the house are also opportunities to work on language. Try playing license plate tag to target speech sounds and multisyllable words, or "I Spy" to work on categories (I spy something that is a vehicle) or speech sounds (I spy something that starts with the /k/ sound). You can even make red lights fun by seeing who can name the most fruits before the light turns green. When you get home, make a list of what you found and have the child share it with classmates the next day to keep the language learning going.

Make TV time interactive and language-infused. Sit on opposite sides of the couch and find a favorite show or try a new one. Then have each person pick a character to be and mute the TV. Now fill in the dialogue yourself based on the images. You'll be amazed by the stories kids make up.  Or play a guessing game—pausing the TV and try to guess how a character is feeling based on facial expressions and the background images.

Read. This may seem obvious, and if you only have time to do your nightly story, that's great. But I like to tell parents  to push it a little further and start a conversation while they are reading. Ask follow-up questions or change one of the lines in a familiar story and ask them if they think it really happened.  Associate something happening in the story with something that happened in your day or on a trip you've been on. Pause and ask questions even if you don't think they can answer—this strengthens language. Have older kids read a page or two of a short story and tell you what happened, or act out a favorite book and see if the other person can guess which book it is. Finally, don't pull out the book for them; make them work for it. When you ask them what book they want to read and they name it, pretend you can't remember which one it is and have them describe parts of it to help jog your memory. Or if you know they read a story in their online class or speech session, ask them to retell it to you.

Language opportunities are everywhere throughout our days, even when we are stuck at home.  Speech and language homework doesn't need to be something fancy or difficult—and with parents already overburdened, we don't want to make their day harder. But we can show them how small changes to their routine can make all the difference.  By empowering parents, we are improving relationships and increasing collaboration that will only help our kids' skills grow.

Kimberly Delude, MA, CCC-SLP, works in a public school outside of Boston.

Strategies for Teaching Children to Make Good Choices

From Sandbox Learning -see website link below

SANDBOX LEARNING

Choice is a big part of people’s lives. We decide daily what to wear, what to do, and how

to treat people. Teaching children how to make good choices is critical for independence and self-control. This article focuses on a variety of strategies for teaching choice making.

1. Allow Children to Make Choices - Often it is easier to choose for children than allow them to decide for themselves. Unfortunately, lessons learned by making good and bad choices help children become responsible, independent adults. Choice also gives children a sense of ownership in activities. Take time to offer choices, create situations for choice, and reinforce the importance of good choices in your day.

2. Limit Choices - Keep the number and types of choices within reasonable limits. For example, if you let a child pick a snack, give them two or three healthy choices. By providing only allowable choices you reduce opportunities for conflict and create a situation where they succeed at making a good choice.

3. Discuss Options – When faced with decisions, think through and discuss the options to help children understand why one choice is better than another. Discuss possible choices, consequences, and why one option is better. For example, when leaving the house look outside and discuss the weather. Is it cold? Is it raining? Which coat is the better choice? What happens if you pick the light cotton coat and it rains? By guiding children through choices you teach them how to make decisions for themselves.

4. Consider Other People – When decisions involve other people, discuss the implications of the choice for the other people. For example, if a child wants to use the swing for the duration of recess discuss: Have other people asked to use the swing? Are other children waiting for the swing? How would you feel if you didn’t have a chance to use the swing? Are there other places you can play for part of recess? This helps children realize their choices affect people other than themselves.

6. Use Past Choices as Opportunities – When a child makes a bad choice such as cutting in line, saying something hurtful, or playing rather than finishing homework, use the opportunity to discuss why the choice was bad, consequences, and better choices for the future. Ask the child what other choices they could have made and what may have happened. Additionally, use past decisions and consequences as reminders. For example, “Noah, remember how you played video games rather than clean your room yesterday and had to miss your favorite show and clean up? What do you think you should do today?”

7. Praise Good Choices – When children make good decisions let them know what they did and why it was a good choice. For example, “Jason, I like the way you moved over to make room for Ella on the bus. It was nice of you to share your seat. That was a very good choice.”

8. State When There Is No Choice – Some situations such as safety and schedules have no choices. Holding hands crossing the street, participating in fire drills, and leaving on time for school are examples of times when there is no choice. Explain why these situations do not have choices and why all people must follow certain rules and schedules. Let children know if there is an aspect of the event that is their choice. For example, “We have to leave now for the bus, but you can carry your blue or red book bag.”