Recently we've been learning about multiple meaning words in our language sessions. It's important for kids to understand that a word that is spelled one way can have more than one meaning. They will have to determine which meaning to use based on the rest of the sentence. For instance, the word 'tie' can be used for 'Tie your shoes' or 'Wear a tie to church.' We know that if we hear the word 'shoes' next to 'tie', it probably means to take two pieces of lace and make a knot, and if we hear the words 'wear' and 'church' in the same sentence as 'tie', it probably means the piece of clothing a man wears around his neck.
To practice this, we have the kids give us 2 sentences for each multiple meaning word -- one for each different meaning. (Some words can even have 3 or 4 possible meanings!) For example, here is a list of some words that have more than one possible meaning:
And HERE is a fun Jeopardy-style game online that the kids can play to practice naming the correct multiple-meaning word.
Understanding the different meanings of words will help the students in conversation, writing, and reading.
Have fun!
It's that time of year -- schools are holding Kindergarten roundups to see how many little kindergartners they will have in the fall. If you have a child who is preparing to attend kindergarten next year, you may have a lot of questions. Kindergarten roundup is a great place to get those questions answered. What if you missed it? Contact your school and they can give you a summary of the information you missed and the names of teachers, speech and resource personnel who can answer your questions.
When it comes to speech and language, how do you know if your kindergartner is on track or struggling a bit?
Typically, by age 5 kids will be able to correctly produce all sounds EXCEPT POSSIBLY:
J, SH, L, R, S, CH, V, Z, TH, ZH
Also, they can usually follow one or two-step directions, ask questions, know common opposites, speak in sentences of 5-6 words, and make up stories and then retell them.
Here is a handout that will show you the typical development of speech sounds:
You can download a copy of the Therasimplicity Sound Development Chart HERE.
Here is another chart giving speech and language milestones for children aged 5, with information taken from the American Speech and Hearing Association's website:
The American Speech and Hearing Association's website also has lots of helpful info on what is typical for children ages 4-5 HERE.
Good luck preparing for kindergarten!
