Jj is for Jottings 87. Fluctuating Hearing Loss.
Fluctuating hearing loss in young children often results in speech and language delays. (For an explanation of the differences between ‘speech’ and ‘language’ see here.) Figures quoted by the Audiometry Nurses Association of Australia Inc suggest that 90% of childhood hearing loss is of the fluctuating kind. For figures for Australian 4-5 year olds having a speech problem from any cause see here. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 79. Literacy, Language and Prison.
Here are studies from three countries on the relationship between literacy, language and prison or young offender sentences:
1. USA.
Approximately 80% of prison inmates are functionally illiterate, and 47.8% of the inmates were deficient in word attack skills, according to reports. (Texas, 2000) Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 77. Blending Sounds: A Simple Game For Everyday Life.
What is Blending?
Blending is “pushing” individual sounds or syllables together to make a word. In early stages of reading the child will be blending sounds, but as they progress and begin to recognise chunks of words, they will also be blending syllables. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 68. Communication Milestones.
Here is a chart put together by a group from Queensland and the National Office of Speech Pathology Australia which you may find useful.
Here is the link if you want to print copies.
www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/milestones
Jj is for Jottings 67. Reading Comprehension – Is Your Child Barking at Print?
When your child is reading to you, are you sure they (I’m using “they” to cover both boys and girls) are actually understanding what they are reading, or are they just barking at print? i.e. Reading the words correctly but not actually decoding them, so they really have no idea what they are reading. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 62. Raising a Reader Part 2. Toddlers.
Continuing from the previous article (here), you cannot overestimate the importance of reading with a child at the toddler stage – for intellectual, social and emotional development. They take in everything: vocabulary and language structure, numbers and math concepts, colours, shapes, opposites and many other language concepts, animals, manners and all kinds of useful information about how the world works. What’s more, when you read out loud, Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 61. Raising a Reader Part 1: The Baby.
There are various things parents can do to maximise their child’s chances of becoming a reader (i.e. someone who is proficient at reading, reads for pleasure and has no difficulty in using reading for information-seeking and the school curriculum.) We can divide this topic into 4 stages: Baby, Toddler, Emergent Readers and Early Readers. Question: What stage comes before the Baby stage? Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 57. Reading to Dogs.
If you had your reading L plates on, who would you rather read to – a person or a dog? Young readers reading to dogs is an idea which originated in the USA in 1999, and is being adopted in Australia in schools and libraries. Different programs exist, but they are all variations on the theme. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 56. 3 More Techniques for Helping Your Child’s Language.
We used all these language techniques with our “children”, but it seems that they still have too much screen time.
This follows on from Jottings 55, so you will need to read that first. (See https://educatingalpacas.com/general-language-stimulation-technique-1-modelling/). I decided to combine the last three techniques into one article: Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 55. Helping Your Child’s Language – Technique 1: Modelling.
Shikha and Shanti as kittens. They have to be careful when in the paddock with the alpacas because the alpacas will sometimes chase them. Although we refer to them as “the kids”, we didn’t have to bother with language modelling for them. Besides, they’re Burmese, and I wouldn’t know which language to model!
There are several ways in which parents naturally encourage the development of children’s language in conversation, and you may be using some or all of them without being aware of it. Continue reading
