This question comes up all the time during Parent Teacher Conferences: "Shouldn't my child be able to say that sound?"
Not necessarily. This speech sound chart from TalkingChild.com is a great reference. Speech sounds are acquired like any other developmental milestone. Some happen sooner. Others happen later. I strongly recommend that you check out the full link here.
Today our awesome OT Shanon and her assistant Hillary put together a Large Group lesson to work on cutting skills. The children had great fun making and tossing confetti. I asked them to send me a copy. This is great information for home activities. Have fun!
Concepts: Opposites, Who questions, Materials: Laminated C, pictures, warm and cold water. We're talking about hot and cold! Who likes hot chocolate or cold chocolate milk? What is cold? Ice cream, popsicles, snow, wintertime. What is hot? Soup, fire, summertime. We'll have pictures on the iPad to look over during large group. We'll feel warm water and cold water.
Stay tuned: Next week we're covering hot and cold cereal. Yum!
Start with pointing out who is wearing what color, review ASL for colors, then transition song.
Review letter recognition and tracing as per prior instructions.
Let's talk about opposites. Three year old won't understand the definition, but they will understand a myriad of examples. We're going to revisit the opposites book Quiet Loud. Then we're going to compare humming to blowing whistles, talking soft to talking loud, and we are going to review our voice level chart.
We use a modified version of this voice level chart in both preschool classes. Our teachers have eliminated the Strong Speaker and retained the #3 for Outside voices. We refer to the #2 Table Talk as our Small Group/Large Group voice since we use that term for sections of our daily routine.
Since children learn best with multi-modal presentation, we'll fit in some fast/slow marching and high/low jumping.
The Moog Center for the Deaf has put out their January Language Calendar! This is a great resource to enrich language with your child. To download and print, click here.
Transition Song: Colors of the Rainbow by Signing Time
Concepts: Colors, Who-questions
Materials: Laminated C
We're talking about the letter C. The Letter C can make two sounds: k-k-k cookie, or s-s-s as in cereal. Sometimes a word can have both k-k-k and s-s-s like the word circle.
(NOTE TO PARENTS: When making the k-k-k sound touch the space on your neck at the top of your throat where it meets the back of your jaw. This is our tactile cue in the classroom for the /k/ sound. When making the /s/ sound, use your fingers to make a snake and have it slither away from you. This is our visual cue for /s/ in the classroom. When saying words with these sounds, it is very helpful to use the tactile/visual cues as you make the sound in the word. That way the children have multiple ways to learn the appropriate sound. Remember to model the sound. Don't correct your child and say "No, that's not right. Do it again." Just model.)
What other words start with the /k/ or the /s/ sound? Carrie starts with the /k/ sound! (For some reason, the kids think that is pretty cool.) There is also Carrot, Cough, Corn, Car, Cat, Coat. Celery, City, Circus. Wow, Circus has both sounds, too!
We're learning to sign colors as well as say them. We are talking about WHO is wearing what color. Who is wearing red? Orange? Yellow, green, purple, blue? (Then we go over the colors not in the Rainbow song): Pink, black, white, and gray. Gray is a big one that most parents don't think to teach their children. It is a good one to bring up and find in your clothes and while going about your day. "Today the clouds are really gray."
We're also singing the Color Song by the Learning Station.
