Articulation Home Program Tip #1
To help your child say "B", "P", "M" and "W" sounds........
Have your child blow on whistles (or even just put their mouth on them) and blow bubbles to encourage lip closure and lip rounding:
- When working on producing these sounds, try having them blow bubbles or whistles immediately before saying the sound
ABC Pediatric Therapy Network sells inexpensive whistle kits if you would like a variety of whistles. Just stop in at 9902 Windisch Road, West Chester, Ohio 45069 or 8000 Miller Farm Lane, Centerville, Ohio 45458 to purchase a kit.
Ear Infections and Hearing Loss - by Lindsay Baker
Written by: Lindsay Baker, MS, CF-SLP
Tips To Prevent Temper Tantrums - written by Jessi Coghill
It's normal for a toddler to have temper tantrums. But you may be able to reduce the frequency, duration or intensity of your child's tantrums by following these parenting tips:
- Know your child's limits. Your child may misbehave because he or she doesn't understand or can't do what you're asking.
- Explain how to follow the rules. Instead of saying, "Stop hitting," offer suggestions for how to make play go more smoothly, such as "Why don't you two take turns?"
- Take 'no' in stride. Don't overreact when your toddler says no. Instead, calmly repeat your request.
- Pick your battles. Only say no when it's absolutely necessary.
- Offer choices, when possible. Encourage your child's independence by letting him or her pick out a pair of pajamas or a bedtime story.
- Avoid situations that may trigger frustration or tantrums. If your child always seems to have tantrums at the grocery store, hire a sitter the next time you go shopping. Also know that children are more likely to act out when they're tired, hungry, sick or in an unfamiliar setting.
- Make it fun. Distract your child or make a game out of good behavior. Your child will be more likely to do what you want if you make an activity fun.
- Stick to the schedule. Keep a daily routine as much as possible so that your child will know what to expect.
- Encourage good communication. Remind your child to use words to express his or her feelings. If your child isn't speaking yet, consider teaching him or her baby sign language.
If your child has a tantrum, remain calm and distract him or her. Ignore minor displays of anger, such as crying — but if your child hits, kicks or screams for a prolonged period, remove him or her from the situation. Hold your child or give him or her time alone to cool down.
Targeting Speech Sounds by Reading Books - by Christina Sanford
One great way to spend time with your child is to read to them, or maybe they are able to read to you! You can be a part of facilitating phonological awareness for reading, as well as reading comprehension. Reading aloud to a child strengthens the correlation of listening and talking, and it also provides a way to target certain speech sounds at home that your child may be “working on” in speech therapy! Here is a list of books organized by a specific speech sound.
Target Sound: P
If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Piggies by Audrey & Don Wood
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
Pat the Puppy by Edith Kunhardt Davis
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Henny Penny by Paul Galdone
Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss
Pinkalicious by Elizabeth Kann
Target Sound: M
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
“More, More, More” said the Baby by Vera B. William
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino
It’s Mine! by Rod Campbell
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Riley
Green Eggs and Ham By Dr. Suess
Target Sound: B
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Curious George and the Bunny by Margret Rey
It’s the Bear! by Jez Alborough
Whose Baby Am I? by John Butler
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? By Eric Carle
Target Sound: W
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? by Jane Manning
Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone or Any Version
Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
Little White Duck by Joan Paley
Target Sound: G
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen or Any Version
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Go Away Big Green Monster by Edward R. Emberley
Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman
Target Sound: F
The Foot Book By Dr. Suess
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee by Emily Bolam or any other version
The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone
Little Rabbit Foo-Foo by Michael Rosen or any other version
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
Target Sound: V
Roll Over by Merle Peek or any other version
Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats or any other version
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
Target Sound: L
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (any version)
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Sea by Pam Adams
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson
There’s an Alligator under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
Target Sound: S
Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
The Greedy Python by Eric Carle
Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Rile
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Sea by Pam Adams
Target Sound: SH
Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw
Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw
Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car by Eileen Christelow
Mrs. Wishy-Washy by Joy Cowley
Mr. Wishy-Washy by Joy Cowley
Target Sound: CH
Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg or Any Version
A Chair for Baby Bear by Kaye Umansky
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza
The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin Jr.,
Michael Sampson and Lois Ehlert
Target Sound: J
The Gingerbread Man, any version
Jack in the Beanstalk, any simple version
Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar? by
Jane Manning or any other version
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by
Eileen Christelow
Curious George and the Bunny by Margret Rey (any Curious George book!)
Target Sound: R
The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle
The Big Road Race by Jan and Stan Berenstain
The Baby Bee Bee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen or any other version
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
It’s the Bear! by Jez Alborough
Go Away Big Green Monster by Edward R. Emberley
Written by: Christina Sanford, MA, CCC-SLP
Sensory Activities for the Summer - by Hilary Lee
School is almost out and summer is about to start! Below are some fun ways to incorporate sensory activities with your children during the summer:
- Sand play - if you live near a beach (or are going to a beach), playing in the sand provides great tactile input for your child. If not, you can use a sand box, sand table, or simply fill a plastic container with sand to play outside!
- Water play - sprinklers, pools, splash pads, playing at the beach, or playing in a hose. Some parks also have water play activities
- Biking - ride a bike, scooter, tricycle, etc. - take them around the block or to a local park
- Park - getting out to the park to swing, slide and climb is not only great for providing some sensory input, it is also great for strength, coordination, and social skills.
- Hiking - take a hike through a nature preserve as a family
- Sports and other activities - soccer, tee ball, baseball, swimming, art class
Written by: Hilary Lee, MS, OTR/L
Make Sure Our Special Kids Make Progress All Year Long
Children that have developmental deficits have choices for therapy. These patients can get therapy at an outpatient facility or they can get therapy through their school during the school year.
Therapy at an outpatient facility can address any skill that is not at peer level. Outpatient therapy is usually provided in a one on one individual setting. It is billed to a health insurance company which may cause the family to incur some cost in copays and/or deductibles. Number of therapy visits may also be limited by the family’s insurance company policy. Some policies require that you prove the child is consistently attending therapy and, therefore, consistently making progress.
Therapy at a school can be provided individually or in a group. The child must demonstrate a significant developmental deficit (at least 2 standard deviations below the norm) in order to qualify for therapy at school. The good news is there is no cost to the family. Here is the question: How many sessions does the child actually get in a school year? After the snow days, school holidays, IEP meetings, continuing education, Elmo’s birthday party and school assemblies, how many actual therapy treatments does the child get?
Every therapist’s goal is that the child makes progress.
I encourage every outpatient therapist to monitor the children that have been on their caseload at one time or another. Make sure this child comes in for a recheck to be sure they are making progress whether at school or on their home program. If the child is making progress, that is great news. Communicate with the therapy provider, whether a parent on a home program or a school therapist, and commend them for the effort they have put forth to contribute to this child’s progress. If the child has not made progress, discuss with the parent an alternative plan. Maybe the child starts private therapy again. Communicate with the school therapist and the parent on making modifications to the current plan to ensure change. If the parent chooses not to initiate change at this time, agree on the next time to reconvene to review progress. Get agreement that if progress is not made in an acceptable time frame that additional therapy, such as outpatient therapy, will be restarted.
Let’s make a new year’s agreement as therapists to be sure that every child that we touch makes significant progress in this new year. We cannot “fix” each child. We cannot “care” more than the caregiver. What we can do is to be sure that share the knowledge we have. We can be persistent in making sure the parents require that their kids make progress.
That is why many of us chose to go into pediatrics. We want to make a difference in the life of a child. Let’s make sure each child makes a difference.
Handwriting Terms You May Hear Your Occupational Therapist Say
An Occupational Therapist helps your child develop age appropriate handwriting skills including pre-writing skills, pencil grasp, and handwriting letter components. As a parent, you may not understand all the terms your child’s occupational therapist is saying. Below are some explanations of different terms or references that an occupational therapist may talk about when referring to handwriting.
Dynamic Tripod grasp: A mature pencil grip that a child should develop by the age of 54 months (4.5 years) which is demonstrated by grasping pencil between thumb and pad of index finger, with the pencil resting on the first joint of the middle finger. The handwriting strokes should come from movements of the fingers and not the arm or wrist.
Static Tripod grasp: A pencil grasp similar to the dynamic grasp but is an age appropriate grasp for ages 3.5-4 years old and demonstrates with more wrist and/or arm movements during handwriting strokes.
Quadrupod grasp: A grasp that is considered mature, that can substitute for the tripod if it preferred by the child over the tripod grasp. Instead of the pencil resting on the middle finger like in the tripod, the pencil rests on the ring finger of the writing hand. The handwriting strokes should come from movements of the fingers, not the arm or wrist.
Pencil grips: A tool used to facilitate a mature and functional grasp on a pencil if a child has a hard time developing a mature grasp on their own. The grip is easily placed on the pencil for the child to hold their fingers in an appropriate position. There are various handwriting grips to facilitate a mature grip on a pencil. Some grips can be found at local stores while others can be ordered with help of an occupational therapist.
Pre-writing strokes or shapes: Refers to different types of lines that make up shapes such as horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curvy lines. These types of lines make up the letters of the alphabet. A child should master drawing a horizontal and vertical line, a circle, a cross, and a square in that sequence prior to beginning to learn how to write letters. By the age of 4 years old, a child should master drawing a square.
Handwriting Components
Memory: Remembering and writing dictated letters and numbers. Memory is essential for all independent handwriting; poor memory hurts production, speed, and accuracy.
Orientation: Facing letters and numbers in the correct direction. Beginning writers may reverse a few letters like b, d, g, q, and p.
Placement: Putting letters and numbers on the baseline or the bottom of the line. Placement of letters and numbers on the line makes writing easier to read.
Size: How big or small a child chooses to write. Children need to be able to control their movementsw so their writing isn’t too big for the current grade. Writing too big causes problems with school papers, speed, and spacing.
Start: Where each letter or number begins. Children who become messy when they print quickly are typically children with incorrect starting habits. For neatness and ease with sequence/orientation, it is best to start letters and numbers at the top versus the bottom.
Sequence: Order and stroke direction of the letter or number parts. If children do not form parts in the right sequence, speed and neatness are affected.
Control: Neatness and proportion of letters and numbers. Problems with control are almost always caused by poor habits. If the child has an awkward pencil grip, sequence, or start, control will be affected.
Spacing: Amount of space between letters in words, and between words in sentences. Problems with spacing may be made worse by poorly designed worksheets that do not give enough room for writing. Often children are taught to use one finger width as a guide between words and two finger width between sentences.
Written by: Lindsay Davidson, MOT, OTR/L
Handwriting Standards for Precursive and Cursive - by Lindsay Davidson
Below are skills for assessing your child’s performance according to age appropriate and grade level standards for cursive handwriting. Depending on your child’s specific school and curriculum, the information below may vary; however these standards are national and have been determined by a group of educators and occupational therapists.
3rd Grade
Pre-Cursive
- Demonstrate strokes needed for cursive such as strokes that change directions and form loops
- Trial tracing straight, curved, and wavy lines
- Trace neat loops (ascending and descending)
Cursive
- From memory
- Form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly
- Place letters on baseline
- Write letters in grade appropriate size according to various styles of paper
- Formation
- Demonstrate correct baseline and high connections, keeping letter legibility
- Connect baseline ending to baseline start (t to e)
- Connect baseline ending to midline start (t to a)
- Connect high ending to midline and baseline start (o to u; w to h or b to r)
- Use appropriate spacing between connecting letters with only connections touching
- Cross and dot appropriate letters after completing connected letters
- Demonstrate correct connections from capital letters
- Sentence Skills
- Write from left to right with starting with a capital letter
- Begin with a capital letter leaving a clearly defined space between words
- Use ending punctuation
- Write paragraphs with 5-6 sentences with indentation at beginning
- Write friendly letters with correct format with date, greeting, body, closing, and signature
4th Grade
Cursive Skills
- All skills listed under 3rd grade
- Additional Sentence Skills
- Use comma and quotation marks correctly to indicate speech
- Use commas to separate items in series and to set off clauses and phrases
- Write titles of written works, capitalizing the first, last, and important words
- Follow standard format for business letters
- Heading with return address and date at left margin
- Inside address at left margin
- Write salutation at left margin
- Body of paragraph
- Closing
- Signature at left margin
- Leave line space after heading, inside address, salutation, body and closing
Handwriting Standards - by Lindsay Davidson
Below are key points for quickly assessing your child’s handwriting compared to grade level standards.
Kindergarten Readiness
- Identify and draw basic shapes: cross, circle square, triangle
- Identify capital and lowercase letters as well as basic numbers (at least 1-10)
- Draw a person or stick figure with 10 parts
- Mature pencil grip
- Appropriate writing posture with good stabilization of the opposite hand on paper
Kindergarten Printing Skills
- Start letters and numbers at the top (except lowercase d, e)
- Demonstrate correct sequencing and formation of letters
- Orient letters and numbers correctly with few reversals
- Write letters and numbers on the line with the appropriate size
- Form each letter in name, moving left to right, beginning with a capital letter
- Write 2-5 letter word, moving left to right, with defined space between letters and words, using ending punctuation appropriately
First Grade Skills
- Mature pencil grip
- Stabilize paper with non-writing hand
- Start letters and numbers at the top (except lowercase d, e)
- Orient letters and numbers on the line with the appropriate size
- Begin each name with a capital
- Write 2-7 letter words, writing left to right with appropriate spacing
- Write 2-5 word sentences with a capital letter and appropriate punctuation, correct spacing
- Combine sentences to express ideas or opinions
Second Grade Skills
- Skills listed under kindergarten and first grade
- Write 2-10 letter words with appropriate spacing and letter formation
- Capitalize proper nouns
- 2-8 word sentences, returning to the left margin of subsequent lines as needed
- Using apostrophe and abbreviations with periods
- Combine sentences to express ideas for 3-5 sentence paragraphs
- Follow standard format for friendly letter including proper location for date, greeting, body of paragraph, closing, name/signature
Third Grade Skills/Pre-Cursive
- Draw neat loops ascending and descending
- Draw strokes that change directions
- Use commas or quotation marks correctly
- Use commas to separate items in a series or to set off phrases
- Using appropriate spacing and punctuation
- Write 5-6 sentence paragraphs with indent at the beginning of the paragraph to express ideas or opinions
Developing Scissor Skills - Part 3 of 3
Cutting Tips
- Have child begin cutting using automatic opening scissors
- Start out by having child cut a thick line then fade gradually to thinner line
- Smaller scissors help a child develop the grasp
- If your child is left handed use left handed scissors
- Use a smaller sheet of paper so that it is easier to hold
*** Make sure to teach scissor safety before giving your child scissors***
Activities
- Cut playdoh using either playdoh scissors or child safe scissors
- Cut straws, yarn, and strips of paper
- Cut out magazines and advertisements
- Have child cut out extra coupons
- Draw a shape with glue let dry and have child cut out shape
