Hyde Park Elementary

Dear Parents,

As you already know, communication involves more than just articulation. At school, children need to be able to understand language to follow classroom directions, effectively express themselves to others using age appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, and be able to ask and answer a variety of questions in order to be successful learners. 

In addition to the Speech Packets that have been sent home, the information and printable document below includes recommendations for parents to implement at home to help increase Speech and Language skills:

Printable Link >> Speech & Language Reinforcement Activities 

-When reading with your child, ask comprehension questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and how at the end of the story. You can also ask questions while reading to monitor comprehension; such as, "What is happening in the story?"

-Make predictions when reading and discuss the key parts of the story (characters, setting, problem, solution, etc.) 

- Read to your child. Following the story, have your child retell the story or books in their  own words.  If they need prompting, ask questions such as, "What happened first in the story?"

-Practice following multi-step directions in sequential order. When given your child multi-step directives, have them repeat them to you.  

-If your child is having difficulty utilizing correct grammar when speaking, model correct grammar after they tell you information. 

-Help your child understand the relationship between words. Have them name as many animals, foods, or toys as they can. Have them tell you how items are the same or different. 

-Talk about new words as they come up in stories and conversation. Discuss the words and their meaning. Help you child build sentences with the new vocabulary!  

-Games such as Headbanz and Apples to Apples Jr. help practice word retrieval and help build descriptive language. 

-Games like Guess Who? and 20 Questions work on asking questions and auditory memory skills. 

-Discuss hypothetical or real problems children may encounter. Have your child generate solutions. If they have difficulty generating solutions, help guide them with simple wh questions.