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August, 2005
Speech and Language Tip of the Month…
Mealtime:
Mealtime can be an excellent opportunity for bonding
and language expansion with your child. Here are
some suggestions for mealtime language-learning:
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Yes/No Questions:
Offering your child choices (Example: "Do you
want milk/juice?", "Do you want a fork/spoon?")
when possible, allows you to set up situations
for yes/no questions to be answered. It also
allows your child to feel a sense of
responsibility for the choices being made.
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"More":
Guiding your child to make a request for more
food/drink is a very useful activity that will
carry-over into requesting objects in everyday
situations. (Example: Do you want more milk?")
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Labeling:
A plate of food is a terrific "labeling
canvas". You can label the food for your child
(Example: "It's a banana."), have your child
point to the food you label (Example: "Touch
the banana.") or have your child label the food
you point to (Example: "What's this?" when
pointing to the banana).
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Describing:
There are many ways to describe the food on your
plate. Help your child learn describing words
by talking about the way the food looks, feels,
smells and tastes. (Example: "The chicken feels
hot", "The banana is yellow", "The syrup feels
sticky", "The fruit tastes sweet.")
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Articulation:
You can also address articulation goals by
focusing on foods that have your child's target
sounds in them.
Of
course these activities can be done at home while
sitting at the table for any meal of the day, but
there are many other opportunities to develop these
speech and language skills. You can talk about food
while playing with pretend food, reading books about
food, playing with food puzzles, grocery shopping or
when you are in a restaurant. Have fun and bon
appétit!
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