Language

Speech and Langauge Milestone Printables

by Mindi Stavish on April 8, 2013

Life has gotten incredibly hectic these past few weeks, with no slowing down. I am currently writing three blog posts a week for Everyday Family, so am trying to work out a good schedule to post around here. I hope to get a new speech and language post up next week on Childhood Voice Disorders, but in the meantime here is one of my favorite posts from the past.

Speech and language printables heading

Around the age of 12 months (sometimes earlier and sometimes later) your child will say his or her first word.  It’s an exciting milestone and one you will never forget.  As your child continues to pick up more and more words each month, it is fun to keep track of their language development.  Do you often say to yourself, “I really need to write down stuff that my kid says so I can remember it for later!”?  Well I have the answer for you!  Keep organized and on top of your child’s language development from 12 months to 4 years of age with this easy language tracking tool.

Maybe your more concerned about your child’s speech sounds. If so, check out my speech sound development  printable.  Did you know that …

As a general guideline your child should be evaluated by a Speech-Language Pathologist if by …
Age 1 your child’s speech is NOT intelligible 25% of the time
Age 2 your child’s speech is NOT intelligible 50% of the time
Age 3 your child’s speech is NOT intelligible 75% of the time
Age 4 your child’s speech is NOT intelligible 100% of the time

If you are concerned about your child’s speech or language development it may be time to have him or her evaluate by a Speech-Language Pathologist.  Visit my post on How to Locate a Speech-Language Pathologist for more information.

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Language Activities to Avoid Grocery Store Tantrums

I don’t know about you but the chore I despise the most each week is grocery shopping.  Unfortunately the town I live in still doesn’t have grocery delivery service, and I’m not sure it will ever happen.   For as long as I can remember, I was always an unhappy grocery store shopper as a child.  I’m sure I drove my mom crazy as I moped in the store complaining, “I’m bored.   Are we almost done?”.  Now that I have two young children I dislike grocery shopping even more.  Today on Facebook I asked other’s what got them through the grocery store with their kids. Four out of the twelve answers I received were “Leave them at home.”.  In a perfect world this is a wonderful solution to the problem, but rarely an option.

Instead, why not try to include your child in grocery store shopping.  With a little additional planning before heading to the store, you can survive the store without wanting to leave your cart full of groceries in the middle of the store, because your precious spawn is driving you crazy. Additionally, you can work on building their language and problem solving skills.

Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt

Toddlers and Preschoolers:

Prior to going to the store, help your child find pictures of food items in the grocery store fliers or take pictures of the items you normally buy.  Then help your child cut out and paste the pictures into a list.   You may want to place the lists into top loading plastic sheet protectors and have your child mark off items with a dry erase marker so you can use the lists over and over again.  To make your child feel extra important, purchase a clipboard and attach a crayon, pencil, or dry erase marker to it with a string so they can check off items as they find them.  While you are helping your child create the list talk about various language concepts.

Language Concepts to Explore: food categories (fruit, dairy, meats etc), shapes, colors, size, number concepts (dozen, single, loaf), container names (box, bag, glass jar)

School Age Children:

Prior to shopping, have your child create their own shopping list based on one of their favorite meals.  This is a great way to work on written and verbal language.  As an extension to this activity, you may want to set a specific budget for them and have them plan a meal based on their budget.   This is a great way to get them excited about dinner time and grocery shopping!

Language Concepts to Explore: more specific food categories (international, vegetarian, dairy, organic etc), food labels, package sizes (example 8 oz vs 12 oz)

Free Printable!

My kids favorite part of the grocery store is the produce section, because they love exploring all the colors and shapes. I have included a free printable for you to use while shopping with toddlers and preschoolers.

Printable Grocery Shopping List for Kids

Of course not every trip to the store is going to be happiness with rainbows and butterflies.  There will be some tears, a tantrum or two, and  a child who will not stay in the the stupid car grocery cart even though they insisted that you push the oversized beast that just won’t steer right. As parents, we know that this stage will soon pass, and we will be met with yet another challenge. In the meantime, I hope these activities help ease the pain of grocery store woes.

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What Every Parent Should Know About Delayed First Words

February 5, 2013 Language

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Stephanie of It’s a Grande Life, as she was looking for some suggestions on ways to help her son with his communication. Here is her question: At my son Benjamin’s 18 month old check up, I expressed my concerns about Benjamin’s lack of vocabulary to his [...]

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3 Easy Toddler Activities for Language Learning

November 26, 2012 Language

Now that the weather is colder, any parent knows that the only way to survive long days in the house with toddlers is keep them busy and engaged. Here are some quick and easy activities to keep your kids happy and learning. 3 Easy Toddler Activities for Language Learning 1. Tear it Up! Materials: colorful [...]

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Holiday Gift Guide: Language Learning Toys (Infants to Teens)

November 23, 2012 Language

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? The time when your kids get piles upon piles of gifts that require a never ending supply of batteries. Believe it or not, the most entertaining and educational toys are typically ones that don’t require batteries. Gasp! If your a parent who is out of gift [...]

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