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Promoting Phonological Awareness through Books with Rhyming Text
As a pediatric SLP and mom of two busy, curious toddlers - I’m always on the hunt for ways to make learning both meaningful and fun. One of my favorite tools? Rhyming books! In this post, I’ll share why rhyming stories do more than just entertain - they help build critical early language skills like phonological awareness, which lays the foundation for reading success. Check out this list of some of our family’s favorite rhyming reads that get my kids giggling and learning. Whether you’re a fellow parent, a teacher, or a caregiver, you’ll walk away with simple, playful ways to support early literacy - one rhyme at a time.
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Using Storytime to Grow Your Child’s Language Skills with 3 Easy Tips
Picture this: You have a baby, and along with a lot of other things, people give you books. Then that baby grows, and at some point along the way, storytime with that toddler likely becomes a part of your daily or bedtime routine. As a parent and pediatric SLP who has worked with a lot of littles over the past 10 years, here’s one big thing I’ve learned: It is our instinct as parents to ask our kids questions. I’ll say it again: So now picture this You are reading a book to your toddler, and you end up sounding like this: Does this sound like you? If so –…
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Using Thrifted Books to Encourage Speech & Language (FEBRUARY)
Check out our favorite thrifted book finds from February, why we love them, and how you can use to encourage speech and language skills at home!
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4 Tips for Using Books to Teach your Toddler Fall Vocabulary
Happy fall, friends! There truly are so many wonderful things about this season. Sweater weather, football, coffee, pumpkin patches…you name it. Every year in my speech room, we do a lot of fall themed activities, books, and games (think: apples, leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, harvest, Thanksgiving, etc.) What’s not to love? This fall, I’ve been really looking forward to doing all the fun fall things with our 17-month-old, who is so much more cognizant of the world around him than he was last fall. We are planning a trip (or multiple trips) to the pumpkin patch, decking our front porch with mums, going on leaf hunts, planning themed Halloween costumes…you get…
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3 Easy Language Activities for your Toddler using Washi Tape
Here’s the deal – as a mom and an SLP, it feels like a big responsibility to make sure I’m including creative language activities in our typical day at home. Specifically my 16 month old (and especially as that 16 month old is adjusting to lots of change with a new baby sister around). As a parent, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need high end or specific toys to work on language. Sometimes, I have to remind parents of littles I work with that the takeaway is NOT to go out and buy the toys we use in therapy to have at home…
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5 Daily Routines to Support your 1-year-old’s Language Skills
I’ll just say it: speech therapy can be overwhelming. If it was a surprise when your child was referred for an evaluation or a surprise when therapy was actually recommended during that evaluation, it can be even more overwhelming. All of a sudden, you have not only committed to another weekly (or multiple times/week) obligation, but you are also most likely expected to participate, and responsible for implementing strategies/helping your little one practice at home. No pressure! Like many SLPs, I believe that part of being a speech therapist is not just working with the child, but also working with the parent (e.g., the patient’s parent). This can mean helping…
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5 Ways to Help You
Welcome to Just Another Speech Mom! I’m glad you’re here. This is designed to be a safe place that exists to help empower parents to improve their child’s speech and language skills. As a pediatric speech language pathologist, I have worked with so many kids a variety of ages who have been diagnosed with a speech or language delay. As a mom of littles, I naturally look for ways to encourage my kids’ speech and language skills at home and want to share what I’m doing with you! My passion is to help kids improve their communication abilities and to work with families to get everybody on the same page.…
