Today’s Parent Tip of the Week is brought to
you by Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center.
Proper speech development is critical for children, as it is the basis for communication, socialization and much more. There are many ways that parents can help their children improve their speech at home.
In early elementary grades (K-2)
• Talk with your child frequently.
• Read a variety of books; read often and talk with your child about the story.
• Help your child focus on sound patterns of words such as those found in rhyming games.
• Have your child retell stories and talk about events of the day.
• Talk with your child during daily activities; give directions for your child to follow (e.g., making cookies).
• Talk about how things are alike and different.
• Give your child reasons and opportunities to write.
In later elementary grades (3-5)
• Continue to encourage reading; find reading material that is of interest to your child.
• Encourage your child to form opinions about what he or she hears or reads and relate what is read to experiences.
• Help your child make connections between what is read and heard at school, at home, and in other daily activities.
• Talk aloud as you help your child understand and solve problems encountered in reading material.
• Help your child recognize spelling patterns, such as beginnings and endings of words (e.g., pre- or -ment).
• Encourage your child to write letters, keep a diary, or write stories.
Look Who’s Talking Play Group
Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center (CHSC) invites parents and their young children for some indoor fun. Look Who’s Talking is a communication playgroup for caregivers and their toddlers (15 months-3 years). A CHSC certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) will provide tips and tricks that focus on language enrichment strategies to use at home during your daily routine, how to model developmentally appropriate speech sounds, identifying social skills needed for playtime with peers, and pre-literacy skills to prepare for preschool.
Look Who’s Talking is not speech therapy, but does use evidence-based research principles to build vocabulary and communication skills during your child’s critical period of development. A parent from the group said, “Look Who’s Talking has been incredibly helpful and I feel like my daughter’s language is really increasing!”
For more information or to schedule a playgroup, call Lauren Masuga at 216-325-7530.
