Speech Bay, Tauranga (2025)

04/07/2022

This is absolutely not my idea.
I stole this idea from my kids daycare and was so impressed. Not even my photo, i stole that from them too.
This is a perfect activity for little hands that love to post! The colour matching aspect is so good and a great opportunity to add some colour concepts. The language opportunities are absolutely not limited to colours either. Think "in, through, fall, your turn, same". For emerging language kids just a weird sound effect every time they post something through is perfect! Some sweet cause and effect 👍

Also I'm sure I'm not the only grown adult who's toilet rolls never seem to make it to the bin. Now they never have to! The walls of my house will be filled with little posting tubes. Very normal behavior.

04/07/2022

Fiction (mostly).

Although studies show that on average bilingual kids develop language slightly slower than monolingual kids, they are not outside of the normal rate of language development. Their language quickly catches up (and often surparses) their monolingual peers.

If your child is bilingual and having difficulties with speech or language, you do not need to sacrifice your culture and home language with your child. Your speech therapist will do therapy in their most proficient language, and you can continue to speak whatever language is most comfortable for you. The way to create and support a language rich environment is the same in every language 😊👍

09/05/2022

This has absolutely nothing to do with Speech Therapy, but i wanted to share incase someone needs it.

A few months ago, when we were trapped about 1.5km from the car and the toddler refused move any further, my husband became a nobel peace prize winner when he said "Let's pull him with the dog lead". What would have been another hour of us trying to negotiate with a terrorist was instead 15mins of everyone having a great time!

We've all been there. Hobbling along at a snails pace somehow carrying a bike, a toddler and pushing a stroller or some variation. Or you've seen it and said "lol. That's why I don't go on bike rides".

Hopefully this tip helps! As well as things like, always bring the front pack/child carrier, stay near your house and anticipate that at some point in your walk you will become a real life donkey, carrying your entirely family and a bike, all the way home.

16/03/2022

1. Keep expectations low, keep yourself calm.
2. Give a 5minute warning and a 1minute warning
3. Let them know what is happening next. "We are leaving" is not enough. 👍"We are going home to play with duplo".
4. Tell them when it's time to leave but make it seem like they are in control. 👍"Time to go now, can you do one last big jump off the steps"
5. Follow through!! If they still don't leave after this say "It's time to go, I'm going to help you leave" or something to that effect and physically pick them up and remove them.

If they leave themselves with no fuss give all the praise! 👍"You left the playground all by yourself! Well done."
If they leave in the football hold kicking and screaming, know that you have done everything you can to prepare them and be respectful through a difficult transition. Continue to follow through and be consistent every time👍

16/03/2022

Another one of those quotes I had to tell myself every day during the 'terrible twos'. Two year olds are designed to explore and experiment. From an adults point of view it seems more like they are designed to destroy everything and try to kill themselves. It can get very tiring always saying no, redirecting them, showing them the boundaries. If everything they try is always met with a boundary then they are going to get frustrated and have lots of meltdowns. It's terrible. It's two.

Before you say no. Ask yourself. Why not? If that answer cannot be easily solved with a vacuum cleaner, a dishwasher, a little extra time and attention, some pillows for a soft landing a raincoat and some gumboots or a shower then why not?

Take a deep breath in hold it for a count of four, then let them explore.

16/03/2022

It's loud.
It feels unlike any of the toys in the toy box.
Mum and dad are always playing with it!

If you haven't got one of those kitchen helpers that every 'good parent' has on instagram, then giving your baby or toddler a bunch of random things from the kitchen when you cook is going to be your jam (ha).

16/03/2022

- 1 year
Tries to copy our speech sounds. Mostly the sounds made with the lips (b, p, m)
Says a few words; mama, dada, an animal sound or two.
Understand simple instructions such as "come here", "wave bye bye", "clap hands".

- 18 months
Uses atleast 10 words. Generally 1 word requests or naming familiar items; baba (bottle), woof (dog).
Recognise names of people, will look at or travel to the person you name.
Follow simple directions such as "don't touch that" (will probably touch it anyway).

- 2 years
Start to put two words together "no bottle", "want car"
-Use atleast 50 words. Some describing words and adjectives will start to appear "big, yuck, run, jump"
-Most likely will still be only using the sounds we make at the front of the mouth (p, m, b, t, d)

22/02/2022

Keep sensory play mess to a minimum by putting the whole child in the bucket!

This activity is absolutely not limited to flour!
These 'play idea' posts are way more likely to work if it is flowing on from something your child is showing an interest in so make it yours.
e.g.
You are baking cookies and your kid is absolutely loving the feel of throwing the flour everywhere -> chuck them in a bucket of flour!

You are raking the leaves and your child is absolutely loving kicking your nice leaf piles -> chuck them in a bucket of leaves!

etc etc etc!

18/02/2022

Why do I love baking?
Because COOKIES.

Fortunately there are many other benefits too. One of the best is sequencing.

Life is all about sequencing events. From putting on your shoes, to making a cocktail you have sequenced a bunch of small actions to create one event.

To follow a recipe is to follow a sequence of actions. If you do it in the wrong order your cookies will lead to food disappointment (the worst).

The jump from single words to sentences is all about sequencing. A child must sequence the words they know together correctly to make a sentence, otherwise no one will know what they are saying.
When saying even their first words, they must sequence their tongue and lips and mouth in the correct order to make sure their word makes sense.

For our preverbal kids sequencing tasks are a huge focus of therapy since it is a fundamental part of communication.

18/02/2022

There's a reason you hardly ever see kids at the supermarket. Everyone's leaving them at home 😂
It doesn't have to be so scary, if you get them involved it can almost end up... fun. So many language opportunities!

👍I cant find the broccoli can you help me find it? It's green and looks like a tree.
👍 How many apples shall we get this week, lets count together.
👍 I need 2 carrots. Thankyou!
👍 We need the BIG milk this week.

Extend those sentences with lots of describing words. Give heaps of praise "You are so good at helping!" to balance out any 'corrections' you are making (running away, trying to put random things in the trolley etc)

When it all falls apart find the free kids fruit! Have realistic expectations and stay calm. Most kids won't last longer than 20minutes and that is normal.

11/02/2022

Let's talk about cause and effect.

Cause: I press this button/bang this drum.
Effect: It makes a sound.

When we look at the absolute fundamental skills that are needed to communicate, cause and effect is the very first. It is no coincidence that 'mum' is similar in every language while "ma" is also one of the very first sounds a baby will make. It's the 'effect' part of producing that sound that teaches the baby what that word means.

Cause: I made the sound 'ma' or 'mama'
Effect: My mum came to me/smiled/replied back.

This pattern continues for every other word, sentence, sound, sign they make and is how they learn language.

Exposing children to their own music instruments (rattles, bells, xylophones etc) when they are pre-verbal strengthens their ability to see how cause effect reactions occur!

08/02/2022

The majority of children understand a lot more language than they can communicate. When this gap between understanding and expression gets too high kids (and us) can become very frustrated.
When this little Duda was about 18months he would meltdown multiple times per day because he knew what he wanted to do, but had no idea that he could just ask for help to do it. His verbal language was a little late and by this age he only had about 10 words so we were teaching him some basic sign language already. We realised that 'plane' and 'monkey' while adorable weren't exactly going to help him communicate with us when he was frustrated. In came the sign for "Help"!
Up went the cuteness, down went the frustrations (for both of us!)

Motor planning for big muscles come way way before motor planning for the muscles used in talking. So it can be pretty amazing seeing how much language our kids actually know and can produce before they develop the coordination in the mouth required to communicate them.

04/02/2022

www.speechbay.co.nz/slt

Navigating speech therapy in New Zealand is difficult. There is a new page on my website that gives a run down on the types of Speech Therapists, how to refer and which ones are free. Have a nosey!

03/02/2022

Books are more than just the words on the page!

Create an invitation to communicate!

*Turn the page and wait*
Child: "Its a seagull"
Adult: "It is! The seagull is flying in the sky. I can see a boat too"
*wait again*

If your expectant waiting results in a comment, reward the comment with more conversation!

It can feel a bit like awkward silence but the goal is to wait so long they just turn the page themselves 👍

25/01/2022

Self-awareness is a key part of a persons social-emotional development.

Social - emotional skills include development of trust, emotional security, self regulation and the beginning of relationships with adults and children.

That's a whole lot of words.

Basically:
Put your baby in front of the mirror while you need to go toilet.
Put your baby on top of a mirror during tummy time.
Take your baby or toddler to the mirror during a meltdown to distract.
Make funny faces in the mirror to build the relationship.
Work on emotional recognition by practicing grumpy/sad/scared faces in the mirror.
Show your toddler their outfit and tell them they look great!
Look at the mirror in the morning and say "I look great, I am a great parent"

24/01/2022

Because you're not allowed to lock your baby/toddler in a room alone while you go outside and clean your car the easiest way to keep an eye on them is to give them a little brush or cloth and let them feel like they are helping.

Instead of a chore it becomes a fun, messy play experience.

A great way to increase sentence length is to use one carrier phrase for the whole activity. "I can wash the...."
I can wash the wheels.
I can wash the hub caps.
I can wash the door.

The single phrase shows the child how you can use one set of words to communicate a lot. Changing the word at the end each time exposes them to some new car related vocab.

After lots of modelling just say the carrier phrase "I can wash the..." and see what words they use to fill in the gap.

24/01/2022

This is when babies brains are growing and developing faster than they ever will. So make the most of it and keep them close to where the language happens.
👍 This a perfect opportunity for engagement with them to sing songs, chat, react to their sounds.
👍 Add language when you put them in. "One leg in, the other leg in!". "Tuck in those little arms!" Etc
👍 My favorite, you can talk to yourself and no one thinks you are crazy. Instead you are filling up their brains with language.

19/01/2022

If you want them to continue a particular behavior, then give lots if attention for it!

Bring lots of attention to the positive things your child does, even if it's expected. If it's a behavior you'd like to see more of, give them attention.
E.g.
👍 "You have been playing by yourself so well! You are amazing!"
👍 "You asked for help! I love it when you ask for help. Ofcourse I'll help you."

The other side of this means ignoring behavior you don't like. This is the hard part. Arguing, telling them off, battling to get them into a time out is all attention. If they aren't getting enough of the positive attention they will soon learn; the only way to get any attention is if i do something Im not meant to do.

Speech Bay

04/07/2022

04/07/2022

09/05/2022

16/03/2022

16/03/2022

16/03/2022

16/03/2022

22/02/2022

18/02/2022

18/02/2022

11/02/2022

08/02/2022

04/02/2022

03/02/2022

25/01/2022

24/01/2022

24/01/2022

19/01/2022

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