June 2010

Summer can be a very busy time for many families, but it can also be a wonderful time to help your child strengthen his or her ability to communicate! 
                                                       
It is important to help your child maintain or even increase their communication abilities throughout the year, but it can be especially challenging in the summertime.  Routines change, they may not be seeing their Speech-Language Pathologist as regularly as they were during the school year, and they most likely are not sitting in a classroom all day!

The more practice your child has communicating in a variety of situations, the more confident they will become.  Some ideas for summertime communication opportunities include:
           

• Farmer’s Markets:  Talk about the different fruits, vegetables and other items you see.  Try a new fruit or vegetable, talk to the farmers about their wares.
• Attend sporting events:  Help your child order a drink or snack from a vendor; they can count the money (and change), read the menus, keep score, join in the “crowd chants” and generally take in the environment.
• Visit the local library:  Many of the local libraries have summer reading events for children of all ages.  Check out books and read them together.  Just because they are children does NOT mean you have to stick to the children’s section – visit the non-fiction book aisle for books with lots of great photographs and information!
• Cook with your kids! It doesn’t have to be fancy, but kids love to help!  Talk to them about what you want to prepare, read the recipe (or help them read it) to determine what is needed (have them help you gather supplies), and have them help with preparation and serving! 
• On car trips:  Play “I Spy,” taking turns among all the passengers in the vehicle; look for license plates from every state, or find cars of specific colors.  Map skills can also be practiced while traveling, discussing where you are and how much further can make the trip go faster!

           
I’ve also included calendars for June, July and August to help you with additional ideas for communication opportunities! 

Have a wonderful summer!  Talk to your children!

Beth Jones-Morgan, MS, CF-SLP, IBCLC
Speech-Language Pathologist
Brent Woodall Foundation for Exceptional Children
beth@woodallkids.org

{Click here for June Calendar} {Click here for July Calendar}

{Click here for August Calendar}