An invitation to do less this season

As far back as I remember, Christmas time always evoked mixed feelings. Being Jewish, my family celebrated Hanukkah, which sometimes coincided with Christmas and other times did not.
 
My school hosted a number of Christmas related events and I envied the many families who celebrated what I believed to be a glamorous and universal holiday. Hence the mixed feelings. It all looked so great but I just wasn’t a part of it.  ANY OF IT.
 
Whichever holiday they are celebrating, toys and games are important to children. But… do you remember all the gifts you received over the holidays? Me neither. 
 
As adults we hardly remember the toys we so desperately wanted or received as gifts. What we remember most are the memories created from hanging out and laughing with family.
 
This year don’t lose sight of those things that build lasting memories. Choose to do less. Spend more time together playing and sharing stories. Invite your children to join you baking and decorating.  Create new family traditions your children can look forward to year after year.
 
Involving children in activities promotes language and social development. These are the interactions that will provide the basis for future reminiscence and story-telling.
 
For those of you still working on your gift list, I recommend you lean towards items that will provide your child with opportunities to use their language skills and learn through discovery.

Consider age appropriate novels, magazine subscriptions and cookbooks to promote a love for reading.  Consider toys that encourage turn-taking, guessing and word-finding to promote language development.
 
Here are some SLP endorsed gift options for all ages. Each item supports literacy, pretend play, guessing, turn-taking or vocabulary expansion.

1 – 3 years

     

Dot Magazine
An illustrated ad-free magazine for preschoolers. It is full of fun stories and activities. Use it to build pre-literacy skills and teach kids that reading is fun.


Munchkin Fishin’ Bath Toy 
The magnetic rod makes it easy to catch sea creatures. Use it to introduce “who” questions “Who did you catch?” and “where” questions “Where is the fish?” Use this toy to promote pretend play.


Fisher-Price Little People Caring for Animals Farm
Every kid should have a farm!! This toy encourages pretend play and conversations between the farmer and the animals. Animals are perfect prompts for teaching toddlers how to make different sounds and appreciate the connection between sounds and their meanings.

I Spy Eagle Eye Game
Young kids love searching for images. This helps develop vocabulary, particularly concepts to describe where they found each picture.

3 – 6 years


The Gruffalo
One of my all-time favourite children’s books. If The Gruffalo is not on your book shelf, order it now. One of the best books to help your child understand the unwritten text by encouraging them to consider what each character is thinking.

Dot to Dot Count to 25
Help your toddler guess what the image will be. Kids get super excited to eventually see the image for themselves. These dots follow each other in a logical manner.

 

Hape Dynamo Kid’s Wooden Domino Set
Model concepts (in-front/behind, first/last, close/far, fast-slow) and verbs (build, turn, push, fall, watch, repeat).


Cate and Levi Puppets
Handcrafted in Canada. Hand puppets stimulate pretend play and turn-taking. Puppets also encourage interaction, through scripts, which is the breeding ground for language development.

6 – 9 years

 

 

 

Wee Hee Hee
Who doesn’t love to giggle? These illustrated jokes strengthen metalanguage skills by using “wordplay”, a humorous use of words with more than one meaning.

 

 

 

National Geographic – 5,000 Awesome Facts About Everything
Kids can’t resist this book with fascinating fun facts. If you want to inspire your child to read more, just leave this bad boy lying around the house.

Scattergories
This game is so much fun and requires that kids search their own vocabulary to create lists of words within various categories. Guaranteed to keep you laughing.

Klutz Make Your Own Movie Kit
For the child with lots of Lego! This kit inspires creativity. This is stop-motion animation made easy. Among other skills, children explore their language abilities as they learn how to write scripts.

Maybe you don’t have any children on your gift list, but you’re looking for a way to give back. One way to connect with the true spirit of the holidays and make a big difference in the lives of children is by supporting The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau.

They are a non-profit organization with one goal, to ensure every child has a smile on their face Christmas Day. They collect and ship gifts to Community Agencies across metro Vancouver. Simply choose an item and give the gift of play.

Expand Language with Water Play!

Summer is here! It’s hot!  But, that’s okay for preschoolers because they LOVE playing with water. Sprinklers, water balloons, water blasters, water parks, kiddie pools and the beach. I remember when my kids were little we set up the sprinkler under our trampoline for cool bouncing on hot summer days.

However you enjoy water together there will be opportunities to explore, engage in turn-taking, expand vocabulary and talk about concepts related to water.

It is my personal belief that so long as your child is safe and not causing any damage, let them play with water however they want. What is particularly nice about water play during summer is that it takes place outside! This means no mess and minimal clean up.

One of my favourite water games to play with preschoolers is Sink or Float. You can use it to provide your child with new information and help them think about the world and how things work. This game is also well suited to play with multiple children as it is easy to take turns.

To play you need a large bin filled with water, some random small toys and objects, and a bowl to put your objects in. I like to gather both indoor and outdoor objects. Walk around the yard hand-in-hand choosing small items such as leaves, moss, grass, sticks and flowers. Next, take one object at a time and ask your child to guess if it will  Sink or Float  in the water. Then place the object on the water’s surface and watch what happens together.

Kids go crazy for this!  They love guessing and witnessing the results.

When playing Sink or Floatget down on your child’s level so you are eye-to-eye. Give them opportunities to comment on what they have observed. Ask questions and wait for their answers. Stimulate your child’s language by modelling these water-related conceptual words:

“wet – dry,  light – heavy,  under – on top,  deep – shallow,  slow – fast”

To help your child understand a new vocabulary word use it at least a few times during play, and then use it again later in other contexts outside of water play.

When  Sink or Float  gets old there are many other ways to play with water together in the summer. Water the garden, run through the sprinkler, use water and a sponge to “clean” things outside, or pretend to be Karate Kid using water and a paintbrush to “paint” the fence. Whatever activity you choose, remember to follow your child’s interest, model water-related vocabulary, give them opportunities to take turns and respond to their words.

There is no right or wrong way to play with water. Be prepared to get wet, have fun and connect.

The Unknown Risks of Pacifiers

Using a pacifier can be an easy and effective way to help your baby fall asleep. However, pacifier usage does have its drawbacks. Among the most significant, is the increased risk of developing ear infections.

Ear infections are twice as common in children who use pacifiers.

Sucking on a pacifier can increase the movement of nasopharyngeal secretions into the middle ear. As a result, when a child has a cold, pathogens are more likely to enter the middle ear.

A child’s first middle ear infection results in damage to the mucosa of his middle ear, predisposing him to further infections. And with multiple ear infections, if there has been damage to the eardrum, bones of the ear, or the hearing nerve, there is a small risk of permanent hearing loss.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common middle ear infection in young children. It is much more common in children from 6 -12 months than in children from 0 – 6 months.   It is the leading cause of doctor’s visits by childrenand is also the most common reason children receive antibiotics or undergo surgery.

Ear infections can take up to a month or longer to heal. With fluid in the ears making it difficult for your child to hear sounds, it is inevitable that she will miss out on some of the speech models and stimulation that support typical speech and language development.

Children who suffer repeat ear infections commonly experience an accompanying delay in development of speech and language skills. 

Signs your child might have an ear infection:

  • Pulling at the ears
  • Not responding to sounds
  • More crying than usual
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Fever

Some other risk factors for AOM include: a child’s age, recent illnesses, allergies, genetics, and a history of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Pacifier use is one of the few AOM risk factors that parents can control!

A further consideration when deciding on pacifier use is your child’s age. A child as young as 6 months engages in sound play, and by 12 months he is using words, with his vocabulary growing up to 50 words by the time he is 18 months old.  (See my blog on speech-language milestones.) So from 6 months onward it is preferable to limit anything that might inhibit your child from engaging in sound play, taking turns in interactions, or attempting to produce words out loud.

Maintaining a “pacifier free mouth” for your child during this period of extensive expressive language development is simply a good idea. 

If your child of 2 years or older is already using a pacifier and you would like to get rid of it, here are a few ideas shared by some creative moms.

  1. The Pacifier Fairy: Explain to your child that the Pacifier Fairy needs pacifiers for the new babies. Help her gather all her pacifiers in one bag and leave it beside her bed one night. Explain that the fairy will leave a special gift to thank her for her help.
  2. Exchange the pacifiers at the Toy Store: If there is a toy your child especially desires, explain that the toy store will exchange pacifiers for toys. This will require you speaking to the customer service representative at the store and arranging the exchange in advance.
  3. The Broken Pacifier: Make a small incision in the tops so they no longer work. Explain that the pacifiers are broken and take them away.

Sucking on a pacifier helps a child relax their nervous system and so is often used for comforting.

Tips to help ease the transition:

  1. The earlier you take away a pacifier, the easier it will be. Ideally get rid of it in the second 6 months.
  2. Go cold turkey if you can. Or start by using it only at bedtime.
  3. Offer a special snuggly toy as a replacement.
  4. Introduce other sensory integration activities during the day: blowing bubbles in water through a straw, kneading dough, a slow firm back rub.

Regardless of how you get rid of the pacifiers, be prepared for three challenging days ahead. Remember that many generations of children have endured this rite of passage, and your child shall too. The undeniable long-term gains you are securing for your child are worth it.

For further reading:
Rovers, M.M., Numans, M.E., Langenbach, E., et al, (2008). Is pacifier use a risk for otitis media? A dynamic cohort study. Family Practice, Volume 25, Issue 4, 233–236

Nelson, A.M. (2012). A comprehensive review of evidence and current recommendations related to pacifier usage. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 27, 690-699

The One Question I Am Asked Most Often

The one question I am asked most often is from parents wanting to know if their child has the level of speech and language abilities that are expected at his age. First-time parents especially, may not have previously witnessed a child moving through the stages of development. In such cases, it is not unusual to feel some uncertainty.

January, a time of year brimming with reflection and planning, is the perfect time to check if your child is developing as expected. Following up on any concerns you have now affords you plenty of time to pursue an evaluation and recommendations before the start of the next school year.

Typical speech and language development follows a predictable progression however, children develop at different rates. For example, although not all same aged children will be able to understand and answer the same types of questions, they will all learn to answer basic “yes/no” and “where” questions before the more complex “how” and “why” questions.

Below is a summary of COMMUNICATION MILESTONES. Consider these to be average ages at which most typically developing, monolingual, English-speaking children will acquire these skills. The ages are provided as a general guideline.

Scroll down the checklist to your child’s age. Descriptions of pre-linguistic skills, listening skills, verbal abilities, pragmatic skills, and literacy development have been included for the applicable stages.

From 0-6 months
☐   Responds to voice and sound.
☐   Turns his head toward source of sound.
☐   Watches the speaker’s face.
☐   Establishes eye contact.
☐   Babbles to gain attention.

From 7-18 months
☐   Stops an activity when her name is called.
☐   Listens with interest to new words.
☐   Answers questions when presented with two choices.
☐   Responds to “no”.
☐   Tries to communicate with actions and gestures.
☐   Copies the simple actions of others.
☐   Expressive vocabulary grows to 50 words.

From 19-24 months
☐   Beginning to understand simple one-step oral directions.
☐   Understands 300 words or more.
☐   Understands in, on, another.
☐   Answers “yes/no”, “where”, and “what’s this” questions.
☐   Strangers will understand 25% – 50% of what he says.
☐   Using intonation (raised pitch) to ask questions.
☐   Has an expressive vocabulary of 50-200 words.
☐   Starting to combine two or three words together.
☐   Asks limited “wh” questions.
☐   Begins to use pronouns.
☐   Using turn-taking verbally.
☐   Waves bye-bye.
☐   Recognizes some books by their cover.
☐   Will attend to a toy or a book for up to two minutes.

From 2-3 years
☐   Answers simple “wh” questions logically.
☐   Beginning to understand some time concepts: wait, later.
☐   Understands size differences.
☐   Strangers will understand 50% – 75% of what she says.
☐   Frequently omits consonants in the middle or at the ends of words.
☐   May exhibit initial word repetitions (normal stuttering).
☐   Expressive vocabulary grows to 1,000 words.
☐   Maintains topic over several conversational turns.
☐   Makes conversational repairs if her listener doesn’t understand.
☐   Using pronouns my, me, mine, you, your, yours, he, she, and  we.
☐   Using plurals.
☐   Requests permission.
☐   Begins to use language playfully (jokes).
☐   Begins to describe colors and size.
☐   Holds a book correctly.

From 3-4 years
☐   Follows simple two-step oral directions.
☐   Answers more complex “how” and “why” questions.
☐   Understands beside, between.
☐   Identifies colors.
☐   Strangers will understand 80% of what he says.
☐   May frequently talk to self.
☐   Uses words to express feelings.
☐   Using pronouns they, us, hers, his, them, and her.
☐   Begins to pay attention to print.
☐   Participates in rhyming games.
☐   Able to make some letter-sound matches.

From 4-5 years
☐   Follows simple three-step oral directions.
☐   Answers “when” and “how many” questions.
☐   Understands comparative and superlative adjectives, such as bigger, biggest.
☐   Understands time concepts, such as week days, yesterday, today, tomorrow, next week.
☐   Understands concepts of position, such as first, middle, last.
☐   Strangers will understand 75% – 90% of what she says.
☐   Beginning to use language to resolve disputes with peers.
☐   Understands the purpose of print.
☐   Understands story sequence.
☐   Can answer questions about simple short stories.

From 5-6 years
☐   Follows instructions given to a group.
☐   Understands opposite concepts.
☐   Understands left / right
☐   Strangers will understand 90% – 100% of what he says.
☐   Asks the meanings of words.
☐   Asks questions to obtain information.
☐   Uses yesterday and tomorrow.
☐   Understands that spoken words are made up of sounds.
☐   Begins to write letters and some familiar words.
☐   Begins to recognize some written words by sight.
☐   Reads a few simple books from memory.
☐   Able to print own name.

Use care when reviewing the above speech-language milestones, and applying them to your child. Remember that normal development varies quite a bit, and it is hard to tell when your child will get to each stage.

You know your child. And it is normal to compare your child to other children. If you suspect that her speech-language development is behind for her age, then there is no harm in consulting with a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Sometimes just a short conversation can clear up any worries. Trust your instincts.

Here are some clear indications that a child would benefit from a speech and language evaluation. If any of the following apply to your situation, then I recommend contacting a Speech-Language Pathologist.

1. If your 12 month old does not respond to his name.
2. If your 30 month old has not begun combining two words together.
3. If adults regularly have trouble understanding your 3 year old.
4. If your 4 year old does not answer simple “wh” questions.
5. If your 3 – 4 year old grabs toys from other children instead of making verbal requests.
6. If your 4 year old repeats sounds or parts of words.
7. If your 5 year old has trouble following directions.
8. If your 5 year old can not make a rhyme.
9. If your 6 year old is not making all of her speech sounds clearly.
10. If your child’s teacher has expressed concerns about his speech or language skills.