We don't want you to teach colour, shape and size yet!

As you know we have just launched our new parent hub so we can  offer our advice and support to more parents.  We've done that because I believe all parents want the best for their child but if they don't know what that is, how can they?

As school has just started, I've heard so many conversations about what child can do. The clear favourites are counting, colours and shapes because that's what parents think they need to be teaching their little ones. However, teachers can do that when they're ready. They need to child to be at the right level to do that but there's important things that are needed first, language and  communication wise.

What teachers need little Johnie to be able to know, is the right vocabulary for his everyday needs, to be able to answer simple what, where questions and to be able to listen.

We use the Blank levels to explain the right order. We need to be able to answer blank level 1 questions before blank level 2

Blank level 1

  ·         Matching  e.g. Find one like this

·         Identifying a Source of noise e.g. what can you hear? 

·         Naming objects e.g. what is it?

·         Naming people e.g. who is that?

·         Naming actions e.g. what are you doing? 

·         Imitation e.g. Say this 

Blank  Level 2 

  ·         Describe scene e.g. what’s happened? (still in view)

·         Remembering information e.g. Who/what/where?

·         Finishing sentence e.g. Finish this ….

·         Identify and describe characteristics of objects e.g. what size is it? What shape? What colour? How many? How does it taste/smell/feel? Where is it?

·         Identifying object functions e.g. Show me the one we use for …

·         Identifying differences e.g. how are these different?

·         Naming object from category  e.g. Tell me something that's a type of

It makes the teacher's life a little easier if they can answer these questions. Oh yes, plus be able to go to the toilet by themselves and certainly be out of nappies!! Let me know what you think.

Consultant Speech and Language Therapist

The power of snack time.

During some of our Smart Talker pre-school groups we like to include a snack time. During which, children are encouraged to sit around a table together to enjoy a drink and healthy snack. This isn’t just so we can have a rest and parents can have a good chat with their friends. It is actually a fantastic and powerful opportunity to encourage communication.

This situation provides children with the following opportunities:

·        having a good reason to communicate i.e. the motivation of food or drink

·        making a choice of snack and drink which is really important

·         Increasing their confidence

So what should we be doing?

·        Working on language and communication skills is most effective when done in real, everyday situations. We need to make sure we are giving a child a reason to communicate, an opportunity and a means. (The means can be pointing first, then answering a forced alternative e.g. ‘do you want water or juice?’, ‘... banana or raisins’ etc. Put the one you think he/she wants last to begin with so he can copy easily at first.  

·        When you are offering them a choice of snack or drink, get down on their level; make sure you have their attention by saying their name first, or tapping them on the arm.

·        Try and only give them a little bit at a time so they have to ask for more. The word ‘more’ is a good word to build from 1 to 2 words; e.g. ‘more juice’, ‘more banana’ etc. Be careful to look out for non-verbal cues as some children may not feel confident to ask for more, or have the language skills or vocabulary to do it. For example, a child may look in your direction holding out their cup, I would respond positively to this communicative attempt and model the language to the child i.e.       ‘ you would like more juice, X would like more juice’; repeating key words i.e. juice will really help your child  learn new vocabulary.

·        A further point, although it is lovely for us to hear children expressing their P’s and Q’s, this can be very confusing and hard for some children. If a child is saying single words it means that they are at an early stage of language acquisition. If, therefore, you ask them to say 'Please' or 'Ta' before you hand over the required toy, piece of food, drink or whatever, they will be very confused. If you want to encourage a child to put 2 words together, ‘more + biscuit' is more functional, they won't be able to say 'more+biscuit+please' until much later because this is actually 3 words together. (please read Libby Hill’s blog for more information on please and thank you, http://www.smarttalkersblog.com/2011/12/please-dont-teach-your-child-to-say.html)

·        Snack time provides an opportunity for children to request something in the best way they can, and push them to do a little more in a safe and motivating way. Therefore, working on their expressive language skills.

·        Children will also benefit from the social aspects of eating together, such as turn taking. If you take time to watch and listen, you will often see children sharing their snacks, or talking together.

One of the biggest causes of language delay today is that we don't expect enough of our children and we give them what they want without making them work for it. We take away the opportunities and reasons to communicate so their means of communicating doesn't need to progress.

 Take a step back and see every day activities as opportunities for communication...

So don't just provide food and drink, use snack or mealtime to help your child's language skills!

We can show you how if you come to one of our sessions www.smarttalkers.org.uk

Georgina White

We all know that interacting with children is important, but are we RESPONDING to our child’s interactions?

How do children learn new words and use them correctly? Yes, you got it, from us, the adults; and their peers. But, children can watch and listen to adults on the television and on DVD’s etc. is that just as good? The answer is NO! Children need the response of others to help guide their learning of language and communication.

I was really interested to read the following link the other day:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924091802.htm

Detailing a new study by researchers at the University of Washington, Temple University, and the University of Delaware, appears in the journal Child Development; and they have questioned why learning from video has proven to be more difficult for children to learn words. They have found that it's the responsiveness of the interactions that's key: ‘When we respond to children in timely and meaningful ways, they learn -- even when that response comes from a screen.’ i.e. skype.

This also supports my previous blog regarding the fact that mobile phones can be a barrier to successful and effective communication.

http://www.smarttalkersblog.com/2013/09/mobile-phones-are-huge-barrier-to.html

It is so important to let children know that their attempts at communication are valued and important! To do that, all you need to do is listen attentively, and respond to what they said. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go into elaborate detail of what paint and brush they used to paint their picture in nursery, nor should you just give an uninterested response of ‘that’s nice dear’ etc. Get down on their level, give them plenty of eye contact, use facial expressions and gestures, intonate your voice etc. None of which is rocket science but, it will have wonderful effects on your child’s self-esteem.

As Libby Hill has mentioned previously, Hanen have a great term called 'owling' and we all need to do more of this:

• Observe
• Wait
• Listen

So, take a step back and see every day activities as an opportunity to listen to your child and respond to their communication attempts. You are your child’s ‘model’ of communication!

Georgina White

Mobile phones are a huge barrier to communication development!

I just wanted to take the opportunity to respond to another report in a newspaper:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2420526/Parents-ignore-mobiles-talking-children-know-views-important.html

Head teachers have accurately said that parents shouldn't check their phones when their children are talking to them, as this can make sure they feel important and valued.

Why is this so important?

Communication is a two way interaction between people, children need to have the opportunity to interact with people that will listen to them; and respond to their questions and comments about the world around them. This will help them to learn how to communicate and use language skills that are appropriate and expected by others i.e. turn taking, listening attentively etc.; and also why we communicate i.e. for our needs and wants to be met.

Realistically can this be done if mum or dad or, our child’s carers spend a large proportion of this valuable time texting, responding to emails, accessing social media etc. Previously, a large impact on a child’s speech, language and communication was the effect of ‘wallpaper television’ i.e. the television being on constantly in the background, impacting on effective interaction and communication between children and adults. Today, I think another challenge is the mobile phone, as this can be taken anywhere.

What affect can mobile phones have on effective communication?

·        Reduces the time spent talking to each other, face to face

·        Reduces vocabulary expanding opportunities

·        Reduces effective modelling of social interaction skills i.e. listening attentively to the speaker, turn taking, ending conversations appropriately etc.

·        Reduces opportunities for parent-child interaction, affecting the quality and quantity of that interaction

·        Prevents good eye contact

·        You may not be aware of non-verbal communication i.e. pointing, body language, gestures; your child may be using to support his/her communication

Fortunately, I have not come across many parents in my pre-school language groups who regularly access their phones rather than join in with the session. However, I do know that many of my colleagues have. So if you work with parents and their children, think about talking to them about the use of mobile phones and the impact it can have on their children’s speech, language and communication skills.

Georgina White

Why the Children's Centres need Smart Talkers Pre-School Communication groups

I've been looking at the facts and figures to inform my presentation for the next round of the tender process and I wanted to share these with you:

Why is there a need for early intervention?

• Good communication impacts positively on learning and vice versa
• A child’s language skills at aged 5 years predict educational success and outcomes aged 30 (Feinstein & Duckworth, 2006)
• At 22 months a child’s development can predict outcomes aged 26 (Feinstein & Allen, 2011)
• By 4 years the difference in the number of words different groups hear is 19million (Hart & Risley 1995, Roulestone et al 2011)

How big is the problem?

• 1 in 6 3 year olds has a recognised speech, language or communication difficulty while ‘many, many more have delays which are not officially recognised’ (Jean Gross, Jan 2011)
• At least 40,000 children start school each year without the necessary levels of spoken language ability (Professor Jannet Wright, 2009)
• 50% of children from some socio-economic areas  (75% in Stoke) according to the Bercow report (2008)

  There are 2 types of problem:

• Specific speech, language and communication difficulties affect 7% of school children (Locke, 2003). These are problems which cannot be prevented by good parenting
• That leaves up to 43% of children who have S, L a C problems because of parenting

Why is this?

• During first 8 months of a baby’s life,  there is an 8 fold increase in synaptic density, while the developing neurons in the brain are actively ‘seeking’ their appropriate connections (Perry, 2002)
• Extra connection brain cells grow or die depending on the response they get
• 75% of brain growth between birth and 2 (Hodas, 2006)

So?

Communication difficulties affect:

• Behaviour
• Social development 
•  Emotional development
• Learning (spoken language is the foundation)
•  i.e. everything!

"The ability to communicate is central to all that we do, to who we are, how we learn and how we relate to others“ (Ross, Leeds Metropolitan University, 2007)

Why look at before school?

Studies inc. Frank Field report (2010), Graham Allen (2011)  and the Ticknell  review of the EYFS 2011 conclude that early intervention:

• Improves outcome
• Helps identify communication difficulties vs. delay
• Is effective and cost efficient (ICAN)
• May maximise language acquisition
• May minimise secondary issues

 We work with the children on a framework:

We also work with parents

• Low key demonstration: powerful and non-threatening
• Reasons, means and opportunities to communicate (e.g. change nappies 5 times daily so 5 opportunities here alone!)
• Break it down into logical aims with appropriate activities which the children enjoy
• Available to discuss anything they’re worried about
• Consult with them over delivery and planning
• Can sign-post to other services inc NHS SLT

So, if you are reading this Commissioners, you know what to do.....

  www.smarttalkers.org.uk

Do you get sick of hearing "They grow up so fast!" ??

....... Well they do and yet we take so much for granted and rarely take time to really appreciate what amazing things happen as a baby grows. I know harp on about the fabulous achievement from helpless reactor at birth with no words to interactive communicator with approx 900 words just 36 months later but there's so much more that goes on in addition to this. 


The website Growingupmilkinfo.com portrays this succinctly and superbly. Take a look........

"Despite progress, still too many gaps in support for 10% of children with communication difficulties"

I CAN, the children’s communication charity, this week expressed concern that there are still many gaps in the support available for more than a million children across the UK with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), despite recent advances.

Responding to the report of the outgoing Communication Champion for Children, Jean Gross CBE, the charity welcomed evidence of improved awareness amongst parents, policy makers and professionals about children’s communication. Her report, Two Years On: Final Report of the Communication Champion for Children also highlights good practice for children with SLCN. However, it makes it clear that this is the exception rather than the rule: joint commissioning of integrated approaches across health and education, is still not happening in 70% of local areas.

I CAN backs the report’s 30 major recommendations. In particular, it supports Jean Gross’s proposal for the Health and Social Care Bill to be amended to make joint commissioning of children’s community health services compulsory to improve services for children with SLCN. The charity also called for better support for school-aged children with communication difficulties. Without continued focus and investment, there remains a long way to go before every child with SLCN receives integrated support, particularly once they get to primary and secondary school. Virginia Beardshaw, I CAN CEO said: "This report, coming at the end of the 2011 National Year of Communication, tells us what works best for children with communication needs and how far we’ve come, both on the ground and at government level in recognising the importance of this issue.

Despite this progress, children and young people are still not getting the help they need when they need it. I’m deeply saddened that joint commissioning, which is the cornerstone of good services, is still a ‘minority sport’ across the NHS and local government. And we know from the families who contact I CAN every day, parents face real barriers to finding information and practical help which meets their children’s needs. 

Speech, language and communication skills are essential for children to start school ready to read, learn, form friendships and grow into thriving adults. Without early intervention SLCN impacts on all aspects of a child’s development - unsupported, around one-third of young people with SLCN will go on to develop mental health problems.

Jean’s report shows the benefits for children’s communication when communities, parents, health, education and social care professionals combine efforts to identify and support those who are struggling. Integrated, area-wide approaches and focus on workforce development is illustrated by I CAN’s work with early years staff, settings and local authorities. But we need to expand this approach from the 30% of local areas identified in Jean’s report and plug the gaps in support for school –aged children. 

Much has been achieved since the 2008 review by John Bercow of children’s speech language and communication. We need a continued focus on this issue to ensure that our gains are not lost and that the 1 million plus children and young people with speech, language and communication needs can go on to fulfil their potential."

I would agree that we are making progress in both the identification and acknowledgment but we are not moving forwards with what happens next. Small Talk Independent SLT has been inundated with referrals in 2012 already. Unfortunately most of these parents are at the end of their tether having being massively let down  by the system in place. These are not referrals of minor difficulties such as lisps or the like but serious language problems which are having a major impact on the child's life, relationships and progress. We need to keep up the momentum!!


www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

What is your favourite nursery rhyme?

What is your favourite? Why do you like it? We would love to know!


Some that we sing:

• Old MacDonald. You can add to this by having pictures of animals so that younger ones can choose what to sing next
• If you're happy and you know it: get the child to choose, if they don't you could always sing about what they are doing e.g. Wriggle your legs, give a smile, 
• Incy wincy Spider, add the actions
• Twinkle Twinkle: by far the favourite of the Bony Hay Teeny Talker group!
• The Scarecrow song; they love the adult lying on the floor too
• Baa baa black sheep: some of the language is bit obscure e.g. dame, master etc but it doesn't matter
• Humpty Dumpty: sad but they like it
• Hickory Dickory: all four verses to make full use 
• Wind the bobbin up: simple but effective
• Wheels on the bus; have pictures of the options so the can choose what's next
• Sleeping bunnies: I'm always surprised how they love this given that it's so simple.
• 5 little monkeys: add sign or actions
• 6 fat sausages: add sign or actions
• Head, shoulders, knee and toes: do it really slowly so they can access it
• 5 Little ducks:  add sign or actions

I have a bag of props and a little book of pictures so that children can choose what they want to sing. You can make it into a spoken language activity too by hiding 1 prop in a bag, talking about it then asking what song you could sing about it.

www.smarttalkers.org.uk

How can I help my Toddler Talk?

Surprising research tells us that in some areas of the UK, over half of the children going into school don’t have the communication skills they need to learn, make friends and succeed. There are many theories why this is the case. One thing is for sure, toddlers need help to learn to talk. Much of this help comes from a close, trusted adult who responds to their attempts to communicate and who provides a stimulating environment for them to learn in. Our Smart Talkers Pre-School communication groups are designed to help by using games, puppets, stories and songs to work on the essential pre-requisites for healthy communication. We offer advice for activities to do at home and how the child's everyday activities can be excellent opportunities for language development. But what if there isn't a group near you? Check out this excellent publication from ICAN priced at £12.99

Revised and bolder than before, Toddler Talk is a beautifully illustrated activity pack to promote communication development of toddlers from 18 months to 3 years old that now comes in a paperback and hardback edition.

Toddler Talk includes 35 inspiring activities on durable cards for parents and other adults to play with the toddler to develop the toddler's communication skills. The activities have been developed by practitioners with specialist experience in developing communication with under threes. The activities are focused on the following five areas:

1. Attention and Listening
2. Understanding what is said
3. Learning and using new words
4. Building sentences
5. Talking socially

Toddlers need the space and time to process sounds and to learn what they mean. Eventually, words build into sentences, into mini-conversations and this means that children will be able to get the best of their new learning environments.ISBN: (978-1-908173-02-7)

Also available, Babbling Babies activity pack.

Please don't teach your child to say please and thank you....

 

....  until their language level is ready!

There is no-one who likes children to say 'please and  thank you' more than me. My own children are very polite and know that they are unlikely to get what they want without these important social niceties BUT I do not advocate parents of children with delayed language or early language to expect their child to use them until much later. 'Please' and 'thank you' are NOT communicatively functional. It will not help a child to express himself if he is struggling to use single words or put 2 together, to make him say 'please' and 'thank you'.


If a child is saying single words it means that they are at an early stage of language acquisition. If, therefore, you ask them to say 'Please' or 'Ta' before you hand over the required toy, piece of food, drink or whatever, they will be very confused. Much better to name the item or say something related and relevant to the moment, so they can learn the appropriate vocabulary.


If I am trying to encourage a child to put 2 words together such as 'more + biscuit', they won't be able to say 'more+biscuit+please' until much later because this is actually 3 words together. I am not aiming for 'biscuit please' because that is not as functional. It's much better to encourage them to say 'more biscuit'. This shows also the child the idea of combining words. 'More' is an excellent pivot word because you can have more of anything e.g. 'more cuddles, 'more ticking', 'more jumping', 'more juice', 'more bubbles'.... anything.


I don't even teach the signs for 'please' and 'thank you' until a much later, more sophisticated level. I have worked with too many children with special needs  in the past who constantly tap their hand to their mouth to ask for something.. anything.. with a generic sign for 'please'. Much, much better to teach the vocabulary (signed or spoken) for the item they might want.


Giving the good example is very important and is sufficient at this stage of development. I would welcome your comments though!

 

Testing Time for Toddlers

Toddlers in England will be assessed to find out whether they can use basic words, respond to familiar sounds, communicate their needs and play with friends.

A Government overhaul of pre-school education  announced recently will propose giving all parents a written summary of their children’s abilities in key areas between the age of two and three. Ministers claim the test will identify early developmental problems and diagnose special needs at a young age. It comes amid fears that too many children are currently starting school at the age of four or five without the skills needed to make a success of compulsory education. Almost half lack basic social and language skills, figures show.

But Richard House, senior lecturer in psychotherapy at Roehampton University, said the move risked branding children as "failures" at a young age.

"Children are so diverse that to even begin constructing some generalised view of how they should be developing at a certain age is fraught with danger," he said.

A review of Labour’s compulsory “nappy curriculum” published earlier this year found that the existing system of pre-school education in England promoted a tick-box culture that stifled children’s early development.

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the charity Action for Children, said the so-called Early Years Foundation Stage – introduced in 2008 – was “cumbersome, repetitive and unnecessarily bureucractic”.

She recommended dramatically cutting back in the number of targets youngsters are supposed to meet by their fifth birthday and making a clearer identification of problems at a much earlier stage.

Outlining a revised early years strategy today, the Government is set to accept many of her key recommendations.

The updated framework, which is being put out to consultation, will slash the number of targets all children are supposed to hit by the age of five – from the existing 69 to just 17.

It will also set out plans for a compulsory assessment of all children aged between two and three covering personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language.

Ministers insist the exact nature of the checks should be down to individual nurseries and childminders.

But a draft framework suggests that assessments should focus on whether children are beginning to independently care for themselves, including “pulling off their socks or shoes or getting a tissue when necessary”.

Children should understand “'who', 'what' [and] 'where' in simple questions”, listen with interest when adults read stories and be aware that some actions can hurt or harm others, it says.

Staff should also check that children can play nicely with friends and be aware that “some actions can hurt or harm others”.

Ministers will say that the development checks should sit alongside health visitor checks which are carried out at the age of two.

Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat Children’s Minister, said: "The importance of the early years – as a foundation for life and for future attainment and success – cannot be over estimated. That’s why it’s vital we have the right framework to support high quality early years education.”

The Teeny Talker and Small Talker sessions by Smart Talkers Pre-school Communication Groups are designed especially to help develop children's language and communication skills. they work on everything the child needs using games, puppets, stories and songs. the groups were especially designed to help address the current needs of children. I welcome the introduction of earlier identification because we have shown that early help can mean that children start school with adequate language levels and the ability to attend and listen.

Related articles

• Learning check for nursery tots (mirror.co.uk)
• Two-year-olds 'to be given compulsory education checks' (telegraph.co.uk)

Baby Signing Expert

We are delighted to be associated with a brand new site all about signing. Read my thoughts about its positive contribution to the parent-child interaction . Baby Signing Expert is a not-for-profit site providing free resources and information about baby signing for parents, professionals and care settings in the UK. Baby signing is an increasingly popular activity that you can do with your baby. Its not hard to see why – the proven benefits of being able to communicate with your baby as their speech develops range from better bonding to accelerated language acquisition. Baby Signing Expert is a collaboration between Speech and Language Therapists, British Sign Language and Makaton qualified signing teachers, ICAN trained professionals as well as input from Early Years BSL author Cath Smith.  Supporting your child’s communication development, we’ve got the experience and professional knowledge to gently guide you to success. Our Goals 1. To provide clear guidelines to enable parents to choose a quality baby signing class 2. To promote best practice, consistency and high standards within the baby signing industry 3. To point carers to classes that can offer an inclusive service, if they or their children are Deaf/ hard of hearing or have delay in speech/ language/communication 4. To provide an accurate, informative and ethical point of reference for parents, child care settings and children’s services. 5. To promote British Sign Language and Deaf Awareness Please 'like' on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/BabySigningExpert info@babysigningexpert.org.uk http://www.babysigningexpert.org.uk

Related articles

• Teaching Your Baby Sign Language (nateo10.wordpress.com)
• http://www.articlesbase.com/childhood-education-articles/should-i-sign-with-my-baby-or-not-4104728.html