Here are some suggestions for parents and guardians of students with articulation goals:
Correcting articulation errors is changing a habit. We are retraining our articulators (the muscles of our tongue) to do something in a new way. This requires constant practice and reminders. The work that we do in the speech room is only part of the equation, I need your help at home too! Here are some things you can do to help:
Students with articulation goals have been working on lots of classroom materials. Research shows that generalizing articulation skills is dependent on using those skills in a natural environment. By bringing curricular materials into the speech room, we are starting that process early. Many students have also been working on their PBL presentations or classroom presentations. We go through their speech, highlight their target sounds, and practice the speech with perfect articulation.
As always, don't hesitate to call or e-mail me anytime if you'd like resources to use at home.
Ms. Dettmer
Correcting articulation errors is changing a habit. We are retraining our articulators (the muscles of our tongue) to do something in a new way. This requires constant practice and reminders. The work that we do in the speech room is only part of the equation, I need your help at home too! Here are some things you can do to help:
- Read aloud with your student at home and remind them to use their good sounds. Setting aside just 15 minutes to read aloud (from any book they want!) is a huge step in the right direction.
- During conversation with your student, ask them to repeat themselves using their "good sounds" if you hear an error. The more often you can remind them to use their good sounds, the easier it will be for them to use the skills independently.
- If your student is still working on mastering his or her speech sounds at the word or sentence level, you can practice words in isolation and then put your words into sentences. You could even use vocabulary words from your students' classes!
Students with articulation goals have been working on lots of classroom materials. Research shows that generalizing articulation skills is dependent on using those skills in a natural environment. By bringing curricular materials into the speech room, we are starting that process early. Many students have also been working on their PBL presentations or classroom presentations. We go through their speech, highlight their target sounds, and practice the speech with perfect articulation.
As always, don't hesitate to call or e-mail me anytime if you'd like resources to use at home.
Ms. Dettmer