Strategies to help your child

 The following strategies can be used at home or in school to help your child with their communication and listening skills.

Speech & Language Strategies:

Strategies to Support Spoken Language

Strategies to Support the Understanding of Language

Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

Individual Strategies for Listening and Attention

Whole Class Strategies for Listening and Attention

Strategies to Support Spoken Language

· Encourage the child to expand his/her utterances by repeating what s/he said with additional information,

  e.g. child: car go       adult: car goes on the road

· If the child produces a grammatically inaccurate sentence, respond by using (modelling) the correct    grammar within the reply. Do not draw attention to the child’s mistakes or ask the child to repeat the correct version.

· Give feedback when the child has communicated information successfully.

If the child’s language confuses you, give feedback indicating how s/he can help you to understand, e.g. ‘Tell me who you are talking about.’

· If the child has difficulty organising what s/he wants to say, provide a structure.

      e.g. ‘First tell me where you went at the weekend.’

              ‘Now tell me who you went with.’

· Ask specific questions to limit the amount of information s/he has to give, e.g. “Tell me 2 things about.....”

· Encourage the child to increase their expressions by asking open-ended questions and making comments about what the child says,

      e.g. ‘What’s happening?’

             ‘Tell me about this.’

· Give feedback when comments are off topic e.g. “We’re talking about X now.”

· Allow extra time for the child to think and formulate a response.

· Allow the child opportunity to give directions to others

e.g. offering snacks at snack time

playing ‘Simon Says’ games.

· Provide opportunities for paired working with a supportive peer.

· Write key words on the board and encourage the child to use these to structure his/her spoken and written sentences.

· Encourage the child to plan what s/he is going to say using a structure, e.g. ‘first…, then…, at the end…’ or ‘who, where, when, what happened’.

 Strategies to Support the Understanding of Language

·    Speak slowly and clearly and use lots of repetition.

·    Use the child’s name before specific instructions to help gain their attention.

· Break instructions down into smaller parts

e.g. Find a book…. write the date…… draw a picture.

· Give instructions in the order in which you want the child to carry them out.

· If necessary repeat instructions again to the child. Try repeating and if the child has still not understood, rephrase the sentence or break it down.

· Use visual cues when appropriate

e.g. natural gestures, objects, symbols, pictures, written words.

· Demonstrate and show any new concepts and language that will be used in class

e.g. “this is big (with gesture) and this is little (with gesture).”

· Relate language to the activity the child or whole class are engaged in.

· Relate new information to the child’s own experiences where possible.

· Emphasise key words

e.g. “hang your coat up after you close the door”.

· It is important to check that the child is understanding the vocabulary used

e.g. “This is a giraffe – who can tell me what a giraffe is?”

· Do not use ambiguous language, jokes or sarcasm. These may be misunderstood and taken literally.

· Provide the child with strategies to ask for clarification if s/he has not understood

e.g. “Would you like me to say that again?”

o “If you want more help you can say to the teacher – can you help me?”

· Explain things even if they appear obvious, e.g. “I’m going to read a story, it is important to look at me and the book when I’m reading. It is important to think about what I am saying.”

· Explain to the child individually what is going to happen next so they know what to expect.

· Give plenty of time for the child to respond. They may need extra time to process the information and formulate their response.

· Where a task has a number of steps, break these down and present them one step at a time.

· Check that the child has understood by asking the child to repeat information back to you in their own words.

· Write key points/vocabulary on the board and leave them there.

 Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

Children with language difficulties are likely to need lots of support to learn and remember new words. They will benefit from lots of practice and repetition to understand new words and later use them. Effective vocabulary teaching will support the child to understand and fully participate in topic based sessions.

· Name things for the child as you come across them, during play for example- then repeat it!

· When introducing new words, use a multi-sensory approach. Support understanding with pictures or objects and the written word. Allow students to learn in a tactile way also, if possible, e.g. feeling the shape, materials, sequence of movement.

· Talk about the words using a consistent definition e.g. saying its category, attributes, associations and talking about the sound structure of the word. 

· Be realistic about the amount of new words a child is likely to learn in one lesson. Children are more likely to learn words if they are relevant and provided in context.

· Explain to the child why they are being taught the vocabulary, try to link to real life e.g. food vocabulary can be linked to shopping.

· Teach vocabulary in topics to help the child link words together, and teach the category labels e.g. food, transport, body parts. 

· To begin with, choose topics which are motivating and which relate to the child’s everyday experience.

· Introduce key words before talking about a new topic in detail.

· Write key words on the board, with their definition and the picture. Point to the words on the board as you use them.

· Link words to other words that the child knows (word association). For example, when introducing ‘habitats’, talk about where the child or a pet lives.

· Teach new words across a variety of contexts.

· Reinforce vocabulary in a range of different activities giving the child as much experience of the new words as possible e.g. cooking activities, art activities, games, written work etc. 

· Make displays for the classroom to reinforce vocabulary e.g. diagram of plants/habitats etc. with the words written underneath pictures.

· Don’t assume the child has acquired and is able to use a new word just because they have heard it- always check understanding of new words the next time you come across them, especially more complex vocabulary.

· Revise vocabulary regularly until words are fully understood by the child and they are beginning to use them spontaneously.

· Keep a log of words – make a vocabulary book with words, definitions and pictures so the child can refer back to words if he/she forgets.

· Encourage children to recognise when they have not understood a word and to ask for explanation of the word

‘Do you understand the word?

‘I am not sure you understand that word, I will explain it to you again.’

  ‘Remember to ask, ‘what does it mean?’

· Encourage older children to use strategies to find out the meaning of a word e.g. asking for help, looking it up in the dictionary.

  Individual Strategies for Listening and Attention

· Gain the child’s attention by using their name before giving information/instructions

· Ensure the child is sitting still and looking at you before giving key information

· Check listening and understanding by asking the child to repeat instructions back to you

· Ensure the child is not mid-task when you give a new instruction

· Where possible:

Plan brief periods of any one activity

Vary activities using interesting material

Be flexible and willing to change an activity

Break up chunks of teacher talking

· Let the child know how long you are expecting them to attend for and praise any success

· Encourage the use of self-help strategies to aid listening and comprehension. These may include:

Request for repetition and clarification

Self repetition

Counting key words on fingers

· Give specific feedback to the child about their listening skills, e.g. ‘Thank you for looking at me’, ‘Well done for waiting your turn’

· Use motivating rewards for good listening, e.g. a listening reward chart where the child is given a stamp/sticker/smiley face for good listening

· If appropriate, negotiate breaks with the child, e.g. giving 5 minutes free time once they have achieved a certain amount

Whole Class Strategies for Listening and Attention

· Discuss “good listening” with the whole class, initially on a regular basis. Some children need to learn how to how to listen i.e.:

good sitting

looking at the person who is speaking

good waiting and turn taking

thinking about the words and what they mean

keeping your body still

Use individual symbols or a poster (e.g. a picture of ‘eyes’ for “good  

looking, whole body listening poster) to reinforce these ideas.

· Use visual supports as much as possible,

 e.g. pictures, symbols, objects, demonstrations, mime, gesture.

· Consider the room layout: minimise distractions and position the child at the front and near the teacher   during carpet time.

· Keep your information and instructions short and clear.

· Use set phrases e.g. “Everybody looking at me” or actions to gain attention, e.g. clapping patterns.

· Give specific positive feedback to individual children, e.g. “Well done for putting your hand up, Sarah”, “I know you’re listening because you’re looking at me. Well done”.

· ‘Signpost’ important information to prompt the children to refocus.

e.g. ‘Listen very carefully. This is what we’re going to do next’

· Introduce a ‘noiseometer’ to indicate what level of background noise is acceptable for the current activity, e.g. Traffic light system: red for silence, amber for whispering and green for discussion. 

Ensure children are listening and looking before giving important information.