Smarter Speech

Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy practice around Mountain View and Los Gatos, CA run by an experienced speech-language pathologist. In-home+ Online!

Specializing in family-centric therapy for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school kids.

08/16/2022

"Hickory Dickory Dock" and Grammatical Accuracy for preschoolers? How? Check out our new blog post!

Children start to learn grammar rules very early : including when they are toddlers, when they are preschoolers, and when they are in kindergarten. So, we can use rhymes to train a child's inner "grammar meter" - distinguishing between correct and not-so-correct sentences. Some of the grammar forms....

08/12/2022

How can you use rhymes to help preschoolers get ready to read? Check out our new blog post for ideas!

Rhymes are excellent ways to lay the foundation for a child's reading : starting from preschool! This is because rhymes can be used for "phonological awareness" activities, or activities that help develop important skills like decoding, blending, and segmenting. Two of the easiest phonological aware...

08/04/2022

Looking for resources to get your child ready for preschool / kindergarten? Check out our blog posts on preschool language and our preschool worksheets on TpT! https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/rhymes-with-preschool-language-wh-questions-and-baa-baa-black-sheep

Children start learning foundations for reading comprehension extremely early -- even before they can read! Preschoolers may not be able to write yet, but they are able to answer simple "wh" questions -- who questions, what questions, where questions, and even some where and why questions. They migh...

02/28/2022

How do you make a toddler follow directions? This daunting task has some helpful solutions. Check out our blog to find out more!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/following-directions-without-realizing-it

Receptive Language is the ability to process, understand, and store language. And, it is an important foundation for how much a child is able to understand in the classroom, as well as how a child formulates his / her own sentences. Working on following directions is a great way to boost language in...

02/24/2022

How can language skills help math achievement? Check out the post below on how both are linked -

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/where-language-and-math-meet-in-pre-k-k

There is a gray area, especially in early language development, where language, math concepts, and cognition meet - and we formally call this area "quantitative language." Basically, when looking at preschoolers and kindergartners, it is important to teach them basic quantitative concepts, such as "...

02/21/2022

Have fun with fun-ctions! They are very important for toddler and preschool language development

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/fun-ctions

One of the concepts that is often assessed in preschool / kindergarten language is whether or not a child can identify the functions of various objects. This is an important cognitive concept. And, it's also a great way to look at the sentence structure of "That's for..." or "A _____ is used for.......

02/17/2022

-ing sentences are the first sentences that toddlers / preschoolers learn! Help your little one say more sentences by focusing on them. Check out our post below!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/talking-ing

One of the most important verb forms in early language development is the -ing verb. It's one of the first "grammar forms" that toddlers learn, after which they typically transition to two - word utterances (according to child psychologist Roger Brown). It is also a part of the first simple grammati...

02/14/2022

Did you know that reading fairy tales can encourage language development? Check out our blog to find out how!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/fairy-tales-and-fables-for-language-development

One really easy way to incorporate a lot of receptive and expressive language into a child's daily routine is to introduce reading fairy tales and fables. Traditional Grimms' fairy tales (the PG versions), as well as Aesop's Fables, are good places to start. However, just reading the stories is not....

02/10/2022

What are some grammar markers that are important as a child approaches elementary school? We have a series of posts that talk about it. Here's the first one : plurals

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/grammar-rules-part-1

A child's grammar, especially starting from first grade, is a great indicator of language development. Of course, it is completely normal for kids to make grammar errors once in a while. However,several grammar errors - especially if there are patterns in the errors, which do not seem to improve ove...

02/07/2022

Complex sentences are an important part of expressive language development as a child gets older. How do we do work on this? Check out our blog for ideas!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/unusual-sentences-for-language-development

As a child enters mid -elementary, it is a sign of healthy language development that types of sentences start to vary. We have simple sentences - with regular subjects and verbs. We have complex sentences with conjunctions. But there are some other sentences that are less easy to think of, which sti...

02/03/2022

It's no secret that vocabulary is a crucial part of language development. How do you boost it? Check out our blog post below!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/three-easy-everyday-tips-to-boost-vocabulary

It's no secret that vocabulary size and language develoment are correlated. Boosting vocabulary helps receptive language- because a child understands more. And it also boosts expressive language - because a child can speak, and write, in a more complex way, especially as they progress through elemen...

01/31/2022

In elementary school, before reading comprehension comes speaking comprehension! Learn how to practice below!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/complicated-comprehension-receptive-language-in-4th-5th-grade

As a child goes through elementary school, following directions, and keeping track of essential information gets harder. This is because directions come with many steps and intricacies, especially in subjects like science. And then all subjects start to have multiple choice questions - where it is i...

01/27/2022

Toddlers and preschoolers ask tons of questions. What can you ask back?

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/a-very-important-question-to-ask-your-toddler-preschooler-everyday

One of the very important skills that a toddler / preschooler can have is being able to recap what just happened. "We did homework" or "we went to the playground" or "we drew a flower" are very simple sentences, and they happen pretty frequently in our schedule driven days. But - a really great skil...

01/24/2022

Description is such an important foundational language skill! Learn how to practice at home!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/describe-describe

One of the greatest ways to boost language - at all ages - is to describe things around us. This description boosts vocabulary - especially adjectives and adverbs. It boosts creativity, because we have to pinpoint exactly what we want to say. It even develops pre-writing skills - because so much of....

01/20/2022

Why is compromise an important social language skill, and how can you help teach it? Check out suggestions on our blog!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/compromise-kids

A great way to increase a child's ease in social situations and, and to improve behavior, is to teach the idea of compromise early on. For a child, a compromise can be defined as something that - makes both people happy but also requires both people to be FLEXIBLE - and not get exactly what they wan...

01/17/2022

What are some language skills important for children in early elementary school (aged 4-7)? Check out our blog post to learn more!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/language-skills-for-children-from-k-2

What language skills should a child from age 4-7 know? Well, this is actually a pretty complex question, and not something that can be answered in one blog post. A child's language development should be looked at through a holistic lens : taking into account how the child interacts with others, how....

01/13/2022

What social language skills are important for children in late elementary school? Check out our post on the Smarter Speech blog!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/social-language-skills-for-grades-3-5

It's totally normally for kids in mid - late elementary school to go through a kind of "awkward phase." They're trying to figure out the rules for social interaction as they get older - and there really isn't a manual that specifically lists out the intricacies of socializing with peers, or socializ...

01/10/2022

What's the easiest way to help your child with speech sounds at home? Check out our blog post!

https://www.smarterspeechslp.com/post/the-easiest-way-to-help-your-child-with-speech-sounds-at-home

If a child is working on a sound, or it has not quite emerged yet, then there is a very simple tip that parents / caregivers can incorporate into daily routines to help them . The strategy is called "AUDITORY BOMARDMENT." And essentially - all the parent / caregiver has to do is read a list of targe...

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http://www.smarterspeechslp.com/

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