Tell us a joke.........

The communication Trust has teamed up with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) to launch Voice Box 2013 – a national joke-telling competition designed to raise awareness of the fun and importance of communication.

RCSLT are inviting mainstream primary and special schools in England to work on their own, or with their speech and language therapists, to hold a joke-telling competition between 2nd September and 4th October 2013. You then send RCSLT the winning joke from your school by Monday 7th October and a judging panel will shortlist the 10 best jokes they receive.

RCSLT will invite the shortlisted joke tellers and their parent or guardian to the Houses of Parliament on Monday 28th October for a national final, hosted by The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons.

For more information please click here.

Physical development: Tips for parents by parents

  

It is with a touch of sadness that we have come to the end of Chuckle Talkers 2. This has been a project with our Smart Talkers pre-School Communication groups in conjunction with Chuckle productions with the fantastic Sara Christie and some lovely families from Silkmore Children's Centre in Stafford. We started in June to look at communication and how to incorporate communication opportunities into everyday activities. The course since September  has looked at how to develop children's physical development and address other issues which the parents had requested. The parents report that have leaned so much which in turn has a knock on effect on their children. They feel that they have improved knowledge about how to help their  children’s communication and physical development which has given them more ideas to help at home. They also say it has made them feel more confident to talk to other professionals.

They have put together their own tips for other parents, which I can share with you:

1. Through play encourage all types of child development

2. Give your child opportunity

3. Encourage independence skills e.g. walking, dressing

4. Give children time to practice their skills

5. Encourage gross motor skills in conjunction with fine motor e.g. catching a ball before they write

6. Encourage co-ordination skills by dancing, swimming and other physical activities

7. Core stability must be strong (tums, bums, back and shoulders). Improve with games such as bridges, big arm movements with ribbons, mark making on easels, row row the boat and other action games

8. Encourage fine motor control by threading activities, drawing, sticking, cutting, ripping, different textures e.g. rice, pasta,play dough

9. Spatial and motor planning are important for development to encourage by jigsaws, inset puzzles, sticker work, throwing, catching balls, shape sorter

10. Be aware of the amount of fat, salt and sugar in foods especially ready meals and drinks!

It's been a privilege to work with them and a delight to see how far they've come. We'd love to do a third course but with all the cut-backs this is probably un-likely. They would love the outcome of the project to be  a book for other parents to share what they have learned.  

So keep your fingers crossed or find us a wealthy sponsor!

You can read more about Chuckle at http://chuckleproductions.com and Smart Talkers at www.smarttalkers.org.uk

Libby and Nicky

Is your child's environment communication friendly?

The Hello campaign aims to increase our awareness and understanding of communication and how to best develop it. A child's environment can be crucial. See www.hello.org.uk for further information. The following is their guidance on what to consider to optimise the environment.

Elements to consider:

• Space, light and layout

Is there good light, with a comfortable temperature and not too many visual distractions

• Noise levels

Are noise levels conducive to learning – what can be done to minimise necessary noise?

• Use of visual support, this may include

1. A colour coded map of school or setting , colour-coded directions, photographs of staff members,photographs/ symbols used to support routines, e.g. washing hands, getting ready for PE
2. Visual timetables used for daily / weekly activities
3. Objects, pictures and symbols used to teach vocabulary, to make stories more active and support engagement in other lessons
4. Displays are used throughout school or setting to support learning

• Adults who can prioritise communication, this may include adults who

1. Have knowledge of language development.
2. Understand the language levels of the children and the language demands in the environment.
3. Can adapt their language so it is not a barrier to learning or communication.
4. Give children strategies to say when they don’t understand

• Routines

1. Are children aware of rules and expectations?
2.  Do they know daily routines; could these be supported visually?
3. Are children given opportunities within lessons to say when they don’t understand?
4. Are they explicitly taught how to listen, how to work together in groups? 
5. Are there opportunities for children to interact and use language in different situations, with different people at an appropriate level?

Small Talk Speech & Language Therapy are able to offer audits of the environment, for more information please contact info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk