Episodes
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Season 5, Episode 6
Children need to hear lots of language in the first 2-3 years of their life. I talk about ways that you can purposefully choose how you use language so that it has the most benefit for your child.
https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Million-Words-Building-Childs/dp/0525954872
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This is an expansion on the past episode I did as a general play skill review; I delve deeper into the stages of pretend play and why a child may not be engaging in skills as would be expected.
The 5 Stages of Pretend Play in Early Childhood - Empowered Parents'Pretend play' is important to kids’ development - Sanford Health News
This was an interesting newer article about behaviors within pretend play:
A New Theory of the Progression of Pretend Play Development | Psychology Today
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Missing episodes?
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Just a little reminder for you about the end goal, the skill, the celebration not reflecting the process that got a person to that skill.
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Ms Rachel has become every child's favorite YouTube star! Her videos are educational and animated and fun for our kids. However, watching Ms Rachel or any other educational video may not give you the "results" you are looking for in building language. I talk about why in this episode.
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You ask your child to do something. You get a resounding "no"! You push. they push back. Now you're in a power struggle. What can you do? I offer 5 ways to interrupt the dreaded power struggle.
How to End Power Struggles with Toddlers - Kars4Kids ParentingHow to Avoid Power Struggles with Children (verywellfamily.com)
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Cooking with your Toddler (meal prep, food assembly, putting a plate together) teaches many different language concepts, independence, and can also help a picky eater with their sensitivity to new foods.
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In this episode, I describe targeting skills in a child's "Zone of Proximal Development" to ensure that a child is being challenged, but just enough.
Have a great August-see you after Labor Day!
How Vygotsky Defined the Zone of Proximal Development (verywellmind.com)
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I've worked mostly with kiddos under 3 throughout my career, but in recent years I've seen kids up 6 and 7 years old- and I have great news! Even if your child is not using words at 3, that does not mean in all cases that they won't use words.
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Just like kiddos who get stuck using the sign for "more" to ask for anything, I have kiddos who get stuck using "help me" for all of their needs. I discuss how to move past using a single phrase as a catch-all.
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I love talking about helping our visual learners with speech! Language is primarily an auditory channel skill for most learners, but visual learners may need you to break down language in a way that supports their learning style. I cover ways to support this learning style and give a boost to your visual learner's understanding.
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I offer ways to "mix up" language teaching to help get a child out of a single-word rut.
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Hi everyone! I hope you had a great holiday. This episode talks about one of my favorite types of books- those with busy backgrounds that can help children use more complex vocabulary as they read! I talk about one brand of books in particular, but there are lots of books out there with complex backgrounds. You and your child can spend a long time together noticing the different characters in the book, talking about what they are doing, and solving problems you see in the books.
Wimmelbook Publishing – We open seemingly endless worlds
Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go: Scarry, Richard: 8601420760561: Amazon.com: Books
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This is a topic that I teased out from an earlier episode, and something I bring up with parents when their child is tantruming because they've been asked to use a word and do not want to. "Why do you want me to use a word, when pointing and grunting has worked pretty well for me so far?".
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I'm passing on the newest research about language development in infants! How many books per day do you think you need to read to your child to help them develop their expressive and receptive language skills?
bit.ly/daily-book
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This is a short one! I cover a recent research study that looks at whether children's cognitive skills are affected by playing video games.
https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/1864-1105/a000364
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Ah, Time Out. It's supposed to be a great technique for helping kids understand rules without having to resort to more strict forms of punishment- but how do we do it? How long should it be, how to we make it helpful, and how do we keep those kids in their spot? I combed the internet for the experts on this technique, ways to carry them out, and what to do if the techniques don't seem to work.
How to Do an Effective Time-Out | Psychology Today6 Successful Time-Out Tactics (parents.com)
What to do when time-outs don't work (ages 3 to 4) | BabyCenter (This is a great resource if you've tried the techniques and they just don't seem to work)
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I'm no behavior expert, but I've seen kids and parents who struggle with hitting and biting behaviors throughout my years as an in-home speech therapist. I did a lot of research to find out the main reasons why children hit and bite, and what the experts suggest you do- as well as one big thing a parent or caregiver should NOT do- in helping reduce or eliminate these behaviors.
Toddler Biting: How To Stop a Toddler From Biting – Cleveland ClinicUnderstanding and Responding to Children Who Bite | NAEYC
Anger, Irritability and Aggression in Kids > Fact Sheets > Yale Medicine
Toddler aggression: When to worry and how to stop your toddler from hitting | BabyCenter
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When children seem to "lash out" or have more tantrums than expected, I typically try to look at the rules that are being set and if there are differences in how parents and caregivers are implementing and reinforcing the rules in the home. Looking at how rules and boundaries are being communicated and follow through in goals occurs in a child's different environments can sometimes explain why there is confusion in a young child.
Why Does Consistency Matter in Parenting? (verywellfamily.com)
Why Consistent Parenting Is So Important, and So Hard | Psychology Today
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I recently completed the most basic PROMPT training to learn a touch-based system to help children access speech sounds more easily and across words. I explain reasons why this might be helpful to use and also touch on another system that has been used as well to help with speech sounds (DTTC).
What Is the PROMPT Method? (therapyworks.com)
Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) – Child Apraxia Treatment
Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children-.or visit my YouTube Channel Tiffany Thompson - YouTube
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Everything old is new again! Back in the 70s/80s, there was a debate about which was the best way to teach reading to young children. Is it better to teach sight words, or is it better to teach decoding skills through phonics drills? That debate has been picked up anew in the last decade. I go over the types of learning each entail, and what is the "best way" to help kids learn better reading skills.
Whole Word vs Phonics - Reading Wars! - Understanding the Differences between these 2 Approaches - Learning Reading HubPhonics vs. Whole Language | Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. (institute4learning.com)
Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children-.or visit my YouTube Channel Tiffany Thompson - YouTube
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