Dear parents/guardians:
Here we are, back to school with fall on the way! I would like to take a moment to reflect on the importance of speech, hearing and communication skills.
First, think about how precious our hearing is and how the loss of it can affect our lives. We should try to protect our hearing by being aware of noise exposure and how to avoid its effects on our hearing. Some major sources of noise exposure include factory machinery and other industrial noises from our jobs (jackhammers, construction tools, etc.), shooting guns (hunting, target practice), and loud music (especially when wearing headphones/earbuds). If you are exposed to noise for any period of time, you should wear hearing protection to prevent damage. Make sure your children keep the volume of their music at a reasonable level, especially when wearing earphones. Explain to them the importance of protecting their hearing.
In thinking about speech and communication, I continue to marvel at the fact that we, as human beings, are the only creatures endowed with speech. We tend to take this magnificent ability for granted most of the time. I'd like you to consider for a moment what the act of speech involves. In order to produce one short sentence, our speech mechanism (lips, tongue, teeth, jaw, larynx/voice box and lungs) must all work together in complete harmony and in proper sequence under the precise control of our brain.
First, we have an idea. Then, that thought/idea, is processed by our brain and a message is created. Next, the brain must translate the message into tiny signals to send to each part of our speech mechanism telling them how, where and when to move in order to produce each sound of each word in our sentence. Is there any wonder why many children have speech sound difficulties or stuttering problems? It's a miracle that any of us can speak! But we can and we do and through this wonderful ability, we send and receive thousands of messages each day to loved ones, co-workers, friends, and even strangers, making our lives richer and more meaningful.
I hope that these thoughts that I have shared will help you to have a deeper appreciation and concern for protecting your amazing abilities of hearing and speech.
As we all know, kids love to play games (actually, so do I)! I just wanted to share with you a few games that I have found that are great for language, vocabulary and speech improvement. "Rhyme Time" is a card game (Walmart; Staples) good for developing sound awareness/rhyming skills.
"Blurt" (Walmart; Marshalls) is a vocabulary board game but I also find it good for strengthening auditory comprehension/listening skills. Children must listen to a definition or description then guess the vocabulary term. There are two levels of difficulty for younger and older children. This is my new favorite game.
"Memory" is a game with pairs of pictures and is played by taking turns turning over two cards to find a matching pair. You must remember where the pictures are in order to find the most matching pairs. Great for visual memory and for vocabulary skills.
"Guess Who" (Walmart; K-Mart) is a great game for developing questioning skills and for children to learn to use the process of elimination to determine the identity of their opponent's character. Remember, learning can be fun and a great way to have fun is by using games!
Fall is on the way and with it comes allergy season for many children and adults. If your child has frequent problems with his/her ears (infections, fluid, etc.) you may see an increase of these types of problems at this time of year. A child can have fluid in their ears and may not show signs of infection (fever, pain). This fluid may "sit" in the middle ears and cause the child to have some mild to moderate difficulty hearing. It is very important to watch for signs of reduced hearing, especially if your child tends to be one who has frequent ear problems. I have included some links for parent information and for children to use to improve speech and language skills. I hope you find them helpful.
Below please find general suggestions for helping your child develop good speech and language skills.
*Take the time to listen closely to their speech, correcting them on a consistent basis.
*Don't forget to have them read aloud, using their "new" speech sounds. This is one of the best activities for helping your child begin to use new speech sounds consistently.
*Try to regularly engage in new and/or exciting activities, so that your child will have fresh, new experiences to talk and write about at school. A child's language skills are directly related to their pool of experiences. When a child experiences a new event, then he/she "needs" new words (vocabulary) to understand the event and to describe and talk about the event with others. Help your child's language grow by providing them with many new experiences. This will also help to strengthen family relationships by making memories for the whole family!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or problems regarding your child's speech or language skills or their speech/language program. I am at Faith Elementary Mon., Wed, andThurs. from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm and Tues. from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Mrs. Rosanna Mundy
Speech-Language Pathologist
