Small Business Saturday Spotlight and Guest Post by ToddlerTalking
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Our sweet niece, Katharine Grace, lovingly tells people emmy and elle are, "working on their words." She says this because we have told her we are doing everything we can to encourage the girls to talk more and express their feelings. We encourage her to call and talk to the girls a lot because emmy and elle are KG's number one fans.
Preemies and multiples are predisposed to having speech delays. emmy and elle fit in both of these categories so we are trying as many early intervention techniques and options as possible to help them express themselves using oral language. My sister and I were both full-term singletons and we needed speech in elementary school to help us with articulation. I always enjoyed going to speech lessons so I did not hesitate to find a speech therapist when emmy and elle's pediatrician suggested we have a speech consult. We now have a speech therapist come to our home once-a-week to work with the girls on their language development and when they turn three we will start to focus more on articulation. (The pictures above are with our amazing speech therapist, Miss Susan. The girls adore spending time with Miss Susan each Monday morning. She brings awesome activities and toys for them to explore and shows me how to use what we have in our home to encourage the girls to talk more.)
While I was researching about toddler speech I came across a fairly new instagram page, @toddlers.talking. I was so excited to see their location was in Charlotte, North Carolina. They also offer services via phone and email nationwide. We absolutely love our current speech therapist but I was looking forward to combing over the ToddlerTalking website and blog for more ideas of how to increase emmy and elle's language development.
I reached out the ladies behind the vision of ToddlerTalking, Lindsey and Rebecca, and I was ecstatic when they agreed to do a guest spot on overwhelmed.
Lindsey and Rebecca are both moms to toddlers and preschoolers. They provide parent and caregiver education on their blog and website: www.toddlertalking.com. They also provide in home and email consultations to answer parents’ questions and concerns about their child’s speech and language development. You can contact them at toddlertalkingtt@gmail.com or 704-682-0195. They also provide one on one direct therapy through ACT Speech Therapy, PLLC, a pediatric home health speech therapy company. ACT Speech Therapy, PLLC can be reached at actspeech@gmail.com or 704-252-3125.
Lindsey and Rebecca created the following list of tips below to help you work with your toddler on speech and language development. I found the list extremely helpful and I am going to elaborate on a few of the tips over the next couple weeks to help you implement these ideas and strategies at home.
Five Tips for working with your toddler on speech and language:
To improve expressive language (or what your child says to you and others):
1. Talk to your child as if they are an adult. Narrating everything you are doing is how a child learns language. For example, in the kitchen while cooking dinner: “Mommy is getting out a big pot for the noodles. I am going to cook noodles for our spaghetti. I am pouring the noodles into the pot and when they’re soft, we can eat them.” Explaining various tasks to children allows them to identify items receptively, learn new vocabulary and how to use the new words and teaches them sequencing (that certain tasks have a certain order).
2. Get on their level and let them see your face. This allows a child to see your facial expressions and your lips/tongue moving. Watching you speak allows them to hear AND see how your mouth is moving which helps them develop more sounds and syllables.
3. Read books while having your child watch you. We know this isn’t always possible (bedtime reading in a chair) but it can also allow them to see your mouth moving. While reading, point out other pictures in the book that are interesting, ask your child “wh” questions (Who is that? What are they doing? Where is he?, etc) and ask your child to point to items in the book (Show me the red chair, point to the dog, etc).
4. Sing songs. Research has shown that singing stimulates the same area in the brain where language is located. Singing any song can be beneficial but singing nursery rhymes and other children’s song is great too and can teach so many concepts (5 little monkeys, itsy bitsy spider, Mary had a little lamb). Using a sing-song voice while saying everyday phrases is beneficial as well (For example: To the tune of Frere Jacques—We’re getting dressed, we’re getting dressed, put on a shirt, put on a shirt, etc)
5. Play with toys differently. Don’t just put the puzzle pieces back in the puzzle. If you’re working with a farm puzzle, you can talk to your child about what sounds each animal makes, what color each animal is, and do various actions with the puzzle pieces (the pig is jumping, the cow is running, etc). You can also use sabotage and try to put the wrong puzzle piece in the wrong spot so the child must tell you where to put it. For a higher-level task, try asking the child to group the puzzle piece animals by size or color (Put all the brown animals together, etc).
Lindsey and Rebecca of Toddler Talking
Small Business Saturday Spotlight and ToddlerTalking Giveaway Offer!!!
Five fast facts about ToddlerTalking
1. We are both moms and speech therapists. We have a combined 15 years of experience in the field of speech therapy. Lindsey has two children (ages one and four) and Rebecca has one child (age two).
2. ToddlerTalking offers in home and email consulting for parents who need an extra boost to know how to work with their child on communication skills.
3. Lindsey and Rebecca love working with families and parents to improve their child’s communication skills.
4. Lindsey and Rebecca are both NC natives.
5. Lindsey and Rebecca both love finding new and creative ways to get children speaking-whether it is with a new, creative toy or items already in a child’s home.
Offer:
ToddlerTalking is offering free entry into our online communication course for two people. To be entered, the individuals must like our Facebook page ToddlersTalking and our Instagram @toddlers.talking. The winners will be randomly selected and contacted.
PS from Jess- I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the ToddlerTalking website and blog. They created some awesome gift guides for the holidays which focus on toys which will help enhance speech and language development. Lindsey and Rebecca are going to be focusing on their blog more in 2018 too so check back often for updates and subscribe to receive their newsletters because they share the best ideas and tips to help you help your toddler talk!
