Autumn is a rich time of year to experience the outdoors and grow a child’s brain for listening and language. One of my favorite fall activities is creating 🍁 Leaf Rubbings that get kids listening and engaged!
Read moreGrowing Language - One Egg Carton at a Time - ASHA Leader Live
https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.GL.28092023.12/full/
Using young children’s natural curiosity about science and nature can help them grow their listening and language skills. This open-ended activity can be tailored to the child’s needs, listening and language levels, and goals, and can be effective for toddlers through middle schoolers. Following the child’s lead, we explore the outdoors together. I use lots of words to describe what we are doing, seeing, and feeling. We notice sounds—kids playing, birds singing, a lawnmower, a bouncing ball, construction noises—and I encourage the child to share their observations. I use an egg carton for collecting and sorting flowers, buds, leaves, and plants.
Read moreAutumn and Auditory Association Activity For Kids that Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
One activity to target Auditory Associations is by hiding objects in containers with clear tops. Through hearing alone, the child listens to the therapist/parent/teacher's associations of a hidden object.
Read moreThinking With Language - Duck! Rabbit! Read-Aloud
Do you know the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal? (Ages 3-7) The simple story follows two kids as they debate whether they see a picture of a duck or a rabbit and then leave it up to the listener to decide.
Duck! Rabbit! is a "thinking with language" activity and so much fun! In LSL therapy, I introduce opinions and how to be persuasive. The parent and child must back up their final decision with at least three supporting details.
Recently, I was a guest reader and chose Duck! Rabbit! to read aloud.
The kids and their teacher loved it!
Tips for Building Listening and Language with Floor Puzzles
Do you use floor puzzles 🧩 in your auditory verbal sessions or lessons for children that are deaf and hard of hearing?
Well-chosen puzzles are fun, challenging, and provide a catalyst for listening and language. Choose a puzzle that offers a rich vocabulary and corresponds to a theme Work together and narrate what you are thinking.
Talk about:
🧩 the similarities between the pieces. Kids learn how things can fit into categories.
🧩 the differences while noting details in a complex picture.
🧩 Memory. I wonder where the train puzzle piece is that completes the scene? Do you remember....?
🧩 Puzzle-solving strategies that build confidence. Kids love the sense of accomplishment.