Phonological Awareness Skills Phonological awareness (PA) skills involve knowledge of sounds and syllables and the sound structure of words. PA skills are essential to good reading, and are the best predictor of spelling success in elementary...
Developing Vocabulary Skills An excellent way to start building your child’s vocabulary is by having her relate past experiences and discussing them with her. Research has shown that caregivers can build children’s narrative (storytelling and...
As school is back in full swing, many of us are thinking about how to set up our young children for success. Even if our children are in preschool and haven’t started their elementary years yet, it’s never too soon to begin working on print...
When children are just learning to read—and especially if they are struggling—a great strategy is to use a picture walk before you actually start to read the book. In the picture walk strategy (taught to me by one of my son Mark’s tutors), you...
It is never too early to start reading—we can begin the day the baby is born. Books should have bright, colorful pictures and not too much print on one page. Get sturdy books that babies can chew, handle, touch, and even throw. Children need to...
As caregivers, one of our deepest desires is for our children to have friends. Where do we begin? To build social skills, we can expose our preschoolers to as many new and different people as possible. Preschoolers enjoy guests such as neighbors...
An excellent way to start building your child’s vocabulary is by having her relate past experiences and discussing them with her. Research has shown that caregivers can build children’s narrative (storytelling and sequencing) skills by asking the...
GOING TO PRESCHOOL Many parents wonder if preschool is advisable and worth the inconvenience or expense. I highly recommend preschool for young children! It’s great if kids can even go for a few hours a day. I recommend that they go five days a...
Through the haze of my fatigue when Mark was a baby, I learned how to watch him carefully and respond immediately when he initiated communication—verbally or nonverbally. For example, he’d wake up in his basket and start waving his arms. I’d go...
Every parent looks forward to our babies’ first words. We can’t wait for them to talk! Mark played his cards right, and his first word was “mama” when he was 12 months old. We know that most babies say their first word around one year (12 months)...
So when Mark was little, he loved kinetic sand–it was so good for his sensory skills! Today as a practicing speech-language pathologist, I find that kinetic sand is very highly motivating for the kids on my caseload. “Is Miss Cewest...
As a first time mother, I remember being absolutely overwhelmed with how truly hard and time-consuming it was to take care of a baby! Though I have never loved anyone more than my precious son Mark, being a new mom was a major challenge for me...
