I hope you all have enjoyed your winter holidays and break. The first half of our school year is over (hard to believe it went so fast!) and now we are ready to start our second semester.
Make this a time to focus on your child's speech and language skills, as well as the learning that takes place in the classroom. Try to listen to your child and see his/her strengths and also where your child may still struggle. One of the hard jobs of being a parent is looking at your child more in depth so you can find the best ways to make him/her grow and develop.
If you hear a sound that they are saying incorrectly, gently point it out throughout the day and show them the correct way to produce the sound. If you hear grammatical errors, model the corrected version (I heard you say, "him my friend"...we say "he is my friend"). If your child struggles with knowing what things are called, help him/her to learn the new vocabulary. Point out colors, numbers, letters, words, etc. throughout his/her day. Read lots of books and ask lots of questions. Help your child increase his/her ability to reason and process information.
One of the big areas of development we are working on at school is helping kids learn to regulate their behavior and feelings. Point out what your child is doing well or correctly, and if your child is having behavioral difficulties, point out what you need for them to do - not to stop what they are doing (At school we say, "If you want a toy from your friend it looks like this..." and we try not to say "Stop grabbing toys").
All of these things are definitely more work for mom and dad but truly help your child grow into the best version of him/her self that they can be. Remember, if you have questions about how to do any of the things listed above, get in touch with me or his/her teacher so we can help guide you in the right direction.
Let's have a great 2018!!!!
Make this a time to focus on your child's speech and language skills, as well as the learning that takes place in the classroom. Try to listen to your child and see his/her strengths and also where your child may still struggle. One of the hard jobs of being a parent is looking at your child more in depth so you can find the best ways to make him/her grow and develop.
If you hear a sound that they are saying incorrectly, gently point it out throughout the day and show them the correct way to produce the sound. If you hear grammatical errors, model the corrected version (I heard you say, "him my friend"...we say "he is my friend"). If your child struggles with knowing what things are called, help him/her to learn the new vocabulary. Point out colors, numbers, letters, words, etc. throughout his/her day. Read lots of books and ask lots of questions. Help your child increase his/her ability to reason and process information.
One of the big areas of development we are working on at school is helping kids learn to regulate their behavior and feelings. Point out what your child is doing well or correctly, and if your child is having behavioral difficulties, point out what you need for them to do - not to stop what they are doing (At school we say, "If you want a toy from your friend it looks like this..." and we try not to say "Stop grabbing toys").
All of these things are definitely more work for mom and dad but truly help your child grow into the best version of him/her self that they can be. Remember, if you have questions about how to do any of the things listed above, get in touch with me or his/her teacher so we can help guide you in the right direction.
Let's have a great 2018!!!!