I am Lauren Port Vliet (AKA Ms. Port Vliet), the speech therapist at Cherry Hill School and the Building Connections program in New Bridge Center.
Homework Language-building activities and phonemic awareness activities can be incorporated into daily routines. This is the best way to help children generalize what they learn in therapy to their everyday life. Tracking Homework I will track homework at parents’ request. Speech Homework Examples of homework assignments are as follows:
Speech/Articulation- Play a game activity and focus on saying the “th” sound accurately. Speech Fluency/Stuttering- Play a game activity and focus on using the following word initiation techniques: sliding, easy onsets, and light contacts. Grammar/Syntax- When talking about something that just happened or something that happened at some time in the past, encourage your child to inflect past tense verbs (i.e. walked, hugged, planted, ran, ate, flew). Semantic Language/Vocabulary- While reading, rephrase what the author wrote to expand vocabulary as well as build semantic language skills. For example, if a story says- Tommy ran to first base. You can reinforce synonyms by saying, “Tommy dashed to first base.” Make sure to reinforce the new vocabulary word at different times during your day to day life with the child (i.e. “Can you dash into the toy shed and get the basketball?” when playing outside). Higher level thinking skills- Cause/effect relationships- in your daily activities using the words “because” and “so.” For example- Tara is sad because the party was canceled or The party was canceled so Tara is sad. Then to reinforce the cause/effect concepts, ask “What happened?” and “Why did it happen?” Examples- Effect: I opened the door. Cause: I heard someone knocking on the door. Effect: I used an umbrella. Cause: It was raining outside. Effect: I did poorly on my quiz. Cause: I didn’t study for my quiz. Making Predictions- Make thoughtful predictions during your daily activities (e.g. ask, “What do you think will happen next?”). Examples- Predict what will happen on your TV program when it returns from a commercial break. Predict how your friend will feel if you cancel a play-date/invite him on a play-date. Predict what will happen after you take your seat in the movie theater. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I will either respond via email or schedule a time for us to discuss the matter. I look forward to a fun and productive year! Sincerely, Lauren Port Vliet (Ms. Port Vliet)