It’s almost time for winter break…
Time for family get togethers, traveling, and lots of cooking. Please continue encouraging your child to socialize and greet new friends, neighbors or family. This time of year lends itself to natural sequencing activities in the kitchen, answering those “WHO, WHAT, and WHERE” questions about new decorations in the community and upcoming events.
If your child is a soft talker or seems to lose volume when speaking try the following:
· Choose a machine (microphone, karaoke machine, tape recorder or video recorder) that your child will enjoy using. Some children like talking into a tape recorder and playing their words back in higher volumes or watching themselves talk on the television. A great new way to see themselves is using skype to talk to friends or relatives with the built in camera on computers.
· Pick a quiet place so they will not be distracted while talking. Show them how to use the machine of their choice to make words that can be heard. Have them say words they know into the machine. Children enjoy songs and rhymes. Practice singing together into the machine, alternating lines, or have them fill in words as you sing. You can read stories into the machine together and have them label common words they may have seen from the story.
· Find recorded nursery rhymes or stories that you child likes to encourage them to “talk” along with the recording. If it has words they already says, they may try to say some new ones too. Computer games or “sing along” DVD’s that show favorite characters as they play may get your child to say words.
· Use toys or activities that play your child’s favorite music. When your child likes the music or videos, they are likely to repeat the words. Songs like “wheels on the bus” enourage children to say words and make sound effects. Singing is a fun way to help children be confident in saying words out loud!
· Play with sounds using empty paper towel rolls, buckets, cheap dollar store microphones or homemade megaphones to amplify your voices.
December Vocabulary:
Coats
Cookies
Lights
Tree
Candle
Gift
Dreidel
Star
Singing
Baking
