Hello students and families!
Below you will find our contact information,
as well as some ideas to work on at home.
Please feel free to reach out to us!
*******************************************
Therapists
Alicia Boniewicz, Speech Therapist
Kennedy Early Childhood Center
[email protected]
Alyssa Wisnosky, OT
Kennedy Early Childhood Center, Elementary Center, Educational Center, High School
[email protected]
Dave Baker, Speech Therapist
Elementary Center
[email protected]
Kaitlyn Zaloga, Speech Therapist Contractor
Kennedy Early Childhood Center, Elementary Center, Educational Center
[email protected]
Leann Everett, PT Contractor
Kennedy Early Childhood Center, Elementary Center, Educational Center, High School
[email protected]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speech Therapy Resources
Below are links and ideas to access resources and activities for review and maintenance of speech and language skills. We hope you have fun with these! Feel free to contact your child's speech therapist with questions and concerns.
Receptive and Expressive Language
Language Resources from "Free Language Stuff":
Language worksheets and activities in more than 20 areas
www.freelanguagestuff.com
Language Resources
http://www.speechlanguage-resources.com/
Mommy Speech Therapy and Home Speech Home:
Tips and techniques to help your child with articulation (as well as each area in speech & language)
www.mommyspeechtherapy.com
https://www.home-speech-home.com/
Scavenger Hunt (follow directions, answer WH questions, inferences, categories)
https://d1wsaxfu7b8rcr.cloudfront.net/fd1b2d37-7419-4a66-b06b-99f4596490a9/SuperDuperNoPrepBasicConceptsScavengerHunt.pdf
Stuttering
The Stuttering Foundation and Stuttering Therapy Resources:
Tips for helping your child with stuttering
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/7-tips-talking-your-child-0
https://www.stutteringtherapyresources.com/
Articulation
Fun online games to practice speech sounds:
https://www.quia.com/pages/havemorefun.html
https://www.quia.com/pages/speechersclass.html
Free Speech Therapy worksheets:
https://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?page_id=55
Articulation: Workbooks and videos for speech sounds
Fostering Speech and Language Development:
1. Say/read nursery rhymes so your child can hear the rhythm and flow of language.
2. Sing simple songs together to encourage vocal use, teach concepts, and expand vocabulary. (i.e. Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)
3. Use body language in everyday communication to support multi-modal communication. (i.e. shrug your shoulders, shake your head)
4. Name and describe objects you and your child are looking at together. You can ask your child to help you come up with descriptive words (i.e. What color is it? How does it feel? Soft or hard? [Giving them a choice of words reinforces vocabulary and decreases the language demand.])
5. Model correct pronunciation and grammar. You don’t need to always correct them; just repeat what they say with the corrections. Our children are like sponges – they soak up what they hear repeatedly!
6. Expand on your child’s sentences to be more descriptive/clear/grammatical. This validates his/her efforts and provides a model, which supports and encourages language growth.
7. Talk during play. The more language models your child hears, the more he/she will want to talk and will know about language.
8. Ask open –ended questions instead of yes/no questions. This encourages your child to produce language rather than answering yes or no. If he/she has difficulty, you can provide two choices. (i.e. what do you want to eat? Spaghetti or pizza?)
9. Focus on the positive! Children’s attitudes often reflect their parents’ attitudes!
10. Listen to your child! – Give them your full attention to show that they are an equal communication partner.
11. Look at books/read together. This supports language development in so many ways! You don’t need to read the pages word for word, but talk about the pictures, make connections to your child’s life (i.e. in the book the boy has a red ball; say to your child “Oh look, there is a red ball like yours! What do you do with your ball? What does he do with his?”
• If your child is working on a specific sound, you can look for that sound/letter throughout the book and practice saying words with that sound.
______________________________________________________________________
Occupational Therapy Materials
Below you will find a variety of occupational therapy websites to help maintain your child’s skills. Please do not hesitate to contact the appropriate therapist via email with any questions or concerns and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/
https://www.toolstogrowot.com/free-therapy-resources/sort/date-new
https://dltk-kids.com/
http://therapystreetforkids.com/
https://www.education.com/games/typing/
https://www.education.com/resources/other-handwriting-practice/
https://www.woojr.com/category/printables/printable-crafts/
Physical Therapy Materials
Below are some websites geared towards strength, range of motion, and coordination. Please contact me if you have any questions and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHd2s_saYsQ (dance video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfkYzUwYFk (dance video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xELgfiXSw-s (stretching)
**Spell out your first name, middle name, or last name and complete the activity listed for each letter. You can get creative and spell anything you want!**
A- Jump up and down 10 times
B- Spin around in a circle 5 times
C- Hop on 1 foot 5 times (choose a different foot each time)
D- Walk like a bear for a count of 10
E- Run as fast as you can to the nearest door and back
F- Do 5 frog jumps
G- Tip toe for 10 seconds
H- Catch/throw a ball 5 times
I- Choose your favorite yoga pose and hold for 10 seconds
J- Balance on your left foot for 5 seconds
K- Balance on your right foot for 5 seconds
L- March for a count of 15 (high knees)
M- Crab walk for a count of 10
N- Walk sideways for 10 steps, alternating the leading foot
O- Hold a plank for a count of 5
P- Kick a ball back and forth 8 times
Q- Gallop like a horse for a count of 12
R- Bounce pass a ball back and forth 6 times
S- Reach for the sky for a count of 10
T- Walk backwards 10 steps
U- Skip around the room for a count of 10
V- Fast walk to the nearest door and back
W- Log roll for a count of 10
X- Walk like a wheelbarrow
Y- Hold a bridge position for a count of 5
Z- 5 arm circles on each arm
If it’s possible-I’d love to see a video or pictures of you each spelling out your first name!
-
Hopscotch: Get out your chalk or get creative with colored paper/cardboard-whatever you have to make your hopscotch pattern. *Don’t forget to focus on hopping from 1 foot to 2 feet.*
-
Jumprope: Pick a stationary object and FOCUS. Try to see how many times you can jump through the jump rope with BOTH feet in 30 seconds.
-
Kickball: Grab a sibling or parent and kick a ball back and forth. See how many times you can get it to each other without missing.
-
Play catch: Remember to use your hands and not your body to catch the ball, stuffed animal, pillow, pair of socks, etc.
-
Underhand toss: Practice tossing a rolled up pair of socks or small ball to another person, into a laundry basket, box, or another container. Remember to step with the opposite foot!
-
Standing on one foot: Stand as long as you can without losing your balance or hopping. Find a target and FOCUS. See if you can count to 20 or sing a song (Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Happy Birthday, ABCs, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, etc.) before putting your foot down. Try both feet!
-
Hop on one foot: Now you can hop but again, FOCUS on an object so you aren’t hopping all over the place. See if you can hop 15x on each foot without losing your balance.
-
Tightrope walking: Imagine a tightrope, draw a line, or lay some ribbon down and try to walk heel to toe without falling off the tightrope!
-
Obstacle course: Make your own obstacle course to include jumping over something, weaving in between objects, commando crawling under something, and running to the finish line.
-
Jumping Jacks: (Starfish jumps) Count how many you can do!