So “Here are a Few of My Favorite Things:”

Birth-1 years and up”

eebee’s Adventure Play Mat and Play House (6 months to 3 years): Every now and then a toy comes along that I get really excited about. This is one. Maybe because I had an older brother and he was always making forts out of our couch cushions and planting me inside with a bowl of popcorn! This colorful set of foam sections, attachable with Velcro strips, invites your child to make a house and climb right in. Every day he can make a new creation, lift the curtain to peek out the window, catch a glimpse in the mirror, crawl through the circular hole or have a chat with a eebee’s life size face. crawling babies enjoy exploring the vibrant, textured panels even when they are laid out flat.

Language Building Tips: Follow you child’s interest and describe the colors, textures, and features of the panels. Use action verbs to name what your child is doing such as going “in” “out” or “through.” Provide a few additional props for an older toddler such as play dishes for a picnic or tea party.

Taggie First Touch Ball (6 months and up): This newest member of the Taggies family is a soft, cuddly, grabbable soccer ball with the smooth tags that attract kids. Great for rolling, retrieving, and jamming in the mouth, this ball inspires new crawlers to take off.

Taggies First Touch Ball

Language Building Tips: Place the ball a little out of reach and talk to your child about trying to get it as they reach and lean into it. Describe the little pictures and designs on the taggies before they are popped in her mouth.

Yookidoo Swap and Go Snail (6 months and up): Press his tail and this swirling snail with the goofy grin sets off across the floor.l Babies and toddlers are mesmerized before following this leader. With two options for rotating action, either place the swirling beads or stacking toy on the snail’s back. Each is a toy in itself as babies teethe on the rings and toddlers place them on the peekaboo face of the stacking totem. 

Yookidoo Swap and Go Snail

Language Building Tips: Describe the snail’s action, “circles and balls rotating on the wheels, white x-balls and nubby pink ones sliding down the shafts” etc. Don’t be afraid to use adult words. This builds a child’s vocabulary. Talk about what your child is looking at whether it is a black and white striped ring or the three pronged green tail.

Infantino Playtime Activity Center (6 months and up): This pyramid of fun has four flat sides of entertainment,–a mirror in the cat’s face, bugs to discover under textured flaps, and a jingle fish to swat in his fishbowl and two birds to settle in their nest. It’s angled just right for tummy time or a visit from a sitting or crawling baby. Parents love the portability as you release the velcro and open up a side, fold if flat and stash it in your diaper bag. Here’s a candidate for a plane trip or visit to Grandma’s.

Infantino Playtime Activity Center

Language Building Tips: Describe the action using nouns and verbs like putting the birds in and out of the nest, swinging the fish in his fishbowl, dropping toys down the center, peeking in the mirror or looking at the bugs. Talk about textures while comparing slippery, round and smooth, give names to the sounds of jingle and crinkle and point out colors and patterns.

Yookidoo Discovery Playhouse

Discovery Playhouse by Yookidoo (12 months and up): This kid’s hut made Parents and Parenting Magazine’s list of top toys for the year. Sturdy, yet easily collapsible, it provides fun inside and out. With kid-sized openings for coming and going, and shape sorting, spinning and ball play on the exterior, kids are entertained on all sides.

Language Building Tips: As with any fort, leave the imagination and creativity up to your child and his buddies. You can set some extra props outside the hut for their use: dishes, flashlight, pretend tools or food to be available for your child to expand his play. Remember to let him be the leader of his play.

Activity Stacker by Infantino

Activity Stacker by Infantino (6 months and up): Babies sit down for a munch on a variety of textured rings, each with a little different flavor of color, texture, pattern, and sound. Favorites are the ring with a little chick sliding along, a fish that rattles beads, and the shiny, crinkle, multi-pedaled flower. Each ring is easy to slip onto the base, which provides fun in its own right as a soft mallet to bang for a squeak.

Language Building Tips: Babies in the oral stage usually choose one ring at a time to explore in their mouth so you have the opportunity to describe all its features. Talk about chicks and fish, giving a few more details about them–where they live, what they do. Any new words you use to describe what she is doing, build her vocabulary.

Stacking Quartet by Haba (6 months to 3 years): An entertaining gang of a clown, mouse, and fuzzy

Stacking Quartet

chicken provide teething delight to a baby, especially the tall jester hat on the clown, play peek-a-boo as they nest together inside one another, fitting into their house, and serve as puppets for creative play for preschoolers. Haba’s characters are deliciously charming to both kids and adults.

Language Building Tips: Put an animal on your hand and start a conversation with another. Model a fun chat back and forth, making up a story about the characters, as if reading a book.

Preschool:

Dino Lego Valley

Dino Valley by Lego (3-6 years): Combine the creative, High quality brand of Lefo with a kid’s fascination with dinosaurs and you have a winner. 52 pieces easily slip together to form the valley of adventure as cavemen and dinosaurs co-exist. The tree, vine and drawbridge provide escapes and hiding places while a canoe, fishing pole and fish set the stage for storytelling. Visit the Lego website under Duplo for other great sets not typically seen at toy stores. I also like the “In and Around the Town” series like the farm and constructions sets.

Tips for Building Language: Take a dinosaur or caveman and start the dialogue with your child, alternating as he picks a figure to converse with you. You are building conversationally skills while your child is using his imagination and making up the story. Let him guide the story and follow his lead.

Step2 50’s Diner (2-7 years): This retro diner takes a kid’s kitchen one step further, providing attached seating and a pass through opening to place and get your order. Children can role-play, tkae a turn as chef

50's Diner

or customer. Take a seat in the booth, order your lunch and watch the chef prepare it on the grill, stove or in the oven. Pass the time listening to the jukebox until the “order is ready” button sounds. With a coffee pot, ice cream scoops and plenty of pretend food, this diner feed the imagination in any child. It will lead to many happy days!

Tips for Building Language: Stand back and watch your child build a story as she uses her imagination. After a while, point out different features or directions for play but only suggest, don’t lead. Add some new props such as a timer, measuring cups or dish towels to expand play.

Little People Airport

Fisher Price Little People Airport (2 to 5 Years): This toy was a favorite when I taught preschool several years ago and had just the same intrigue when I gave it to 2 year-old Will this week for an early Christmas gift. Combining air and land vehicles, what could be more fun for a boy? Several open-ended venues invite a child to use his imagination and make up variations on his play scheme–a picnic area, luggage claim, taxi, airplane and helicopter, gates to enter, air traffic control and plenty of highway to get to and from the airport.

Tips for Building Language: Bring play-doh to the airport and form food, carry ons, tickets etc that relate to the theme. Let your child’s imagination take off. See my article on using play-doh to extend play.

Circo Kid’s Frog Play Tent from Target (3 and up): Enter through the frog’s wide mouth, step across his orange tongue and you can zip yourself in to this hideaway. Easy to assemble, this fort is most like a tent with four collapsible tubes to support the frog. It breaks down to fit into a compact carrying bag. Big enough to hold some friends, it measures 35″ high and 71″ in diameter. The price is right at around $20.

Animal Scramble by Wild Planet (3 to 5 years): Want to run off some of that youthful energy? This preschool versions of Hyper Dash(an equally great game for older kids) keeps your children moving,

Animal Scramble

listening and following directions. With 5 levels of play ahnd 4 options to play alone, with a group, go on a treasure hunt or use your memory, this scramble will deep everyone’s interest. Listen for the giraffe to call out a clue using colors, numbers and animal sounds like “Which animal is green?” and tag it with the giraffe. This smart giraffe keeps track of your time so every dash turn into a race.

Games for ages 4 and up:

Pengoloo by Blue Orange (4 and up): Waddle on down to the South Pole and start gathering these adorable penguins for a hot game of Pengoloo.Kids love the element of surprise as they roll the two-colored dice and peek under two penguins per turn to reveal their brightly colored eggs. Get a match and declare they’re yours, placing them in order, 1-6, on your patch of ice. Keep it simple for a 4 year-old or step up the strategy and “steal” a penguin from your opponent’s iceberg to make your match. Blue Orange’s signature bright, bold graphics and tactiley pleasing wooden pieces attract kids and adults immediately. A full iceberg declares a winner who has reinforced color and number concepts and built visual memory skills.

Animal Soup by Briarpatch (5 and up): Kids beg to play Animal Soup again and again. Every player gets a flip book with variations on their cartoon-style animal. Each picture varies with the addition of a scarf, tiara, jeweled necklace, lei, or varied hats. It’s a race to be the first one to match your picture to the figures on the game board so the winner can collect an animal disc out of the soup bowl. Kids love this game, not realizing that while they’re madly looking for their animal match, they are building their visual discrimination, memory, and fine motor skills.

Clothespins! by Briarpatch (5 and up): This game of strategy requires the player to collect items of clothing by pattern—polka dots, stripes or wiggly lines, or by type—pants, tops or shorts. Finish three laundry lines with three matching articles of clothing and you win. But don’t let the bird steal your laundry! It’s a kid’s version of Gin Rummy!

Chocolate Fix by ThinkFun Inc (8 and up): This gold award winner from Parents Choice is a feast of fun! Take turns filling your customer’s orders at the chocolate shoppe. Flip to the page of visual clues on where to put your 9 tempting treats in three flavors and three shapes. Let’s see, the pink square chocolate is next to the dark circle chocolate. In the grid of nine positions, the chocolatier has to solve all the clues to place the pieces in just the right spot. With several levels of play, kids and adults are entertained. An added language building value is that kids love to role-play as the chocolatier and the customer!

Pirates Undercover by (5 and up): Pirates Undercover is a puzzle lover’s delight! Kids from 5 and up are challenged to use the 4 puzzle pieces to hide the pirate ships, rowboats, islands, and treasure and only reveal what is pictured on each page of the challenge book. The book provides 48 pages of images that must be left uncovered to master that challenge–from “starter” to “expert” to “master.” Parents want games they can play as a family and this is one of them. It can even be played alone, as a challenging puzzle requiring strategy and logic.

Why not take advantage of the buzz around Halloween and introduce some new books around the theme that can capture your child’s interest and build his language through rhyme, vocabulary and clever plots to spark conversation.

Bats at the Library, written and illustrated by Brian Lies, flies us through the library’s open window, carelessly left open one night, to the delight of a brood of fun-loving, book-loving bats.   During an “inky evening” that is “cool, calm and clear”, the bored bats declare a Bat Night at the Library. Forming wall shadows from the overhead projector, duplicating themselves on the copier, playing house in a pop-up book, swimming in the water fountain, and producing their own story time, these bats know how to love a library. Clever illustrations show the bats dreamily lost in the world of storybooks, imagining themselves in favorites from the past. Finally, as the sun peeks out, the nocturnal capers must come to a halt.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

•    Emphasize the rhyming words at the end of sentences and then repeat the two words—“All this sameness leaves us blue and makes us ache for something new.”  Blue-new. Talk about rhyming words, brainstorming more words that rhyme with “new” or add a rhyming line to the page that relates to the story and picture.

•    Point out that the author and illustrator is the same person. Our children are both author and illustrator for their writing work too. Find out a little about him. He loves libraries and visits them whenever her travels to new cities. What are things that your child really likes and would like to write about?
•    Repeat the rich vocabulary the author uses in describing his bats’ capers—“We’ve feasted, fluttered, swooped and soared and yet…we’re still a little bored.”  Who feasts? Who flutters? Who swoops? Who soars? The pilgrims,  a hummingbird, a pelican or an eagle. Brainstorm to think of as many things as you can that move like those verbs. In their story-telling and writing process in school, children are constantly asked to brainstorm ideas. Use that word as you have fun.

Queen of Halloween written and illustrated by Mary Engelbreit, is a simple but poignant story of a fairy venturing out on Halloween night with her friend, the pirate at her side. A perfect book to read to the younger set to prepare them for Halloween, this book deals with the excitement and trepidation of a night walking along dark sidewalks, ringing the neighbor’s doorbells and meeting others in costume who can be frightening. Lots of relevant lessons like “Don’t be scared, it’s just pretend,” “grownups come along trick or treating” and “try to be brave” are illustrated through the story.  Engelbreit’s vintage inspired drawings give a warmth to a first outing among goblins and ghosts.

Tips for Building Language and Literacy:
•    Use this book as a social story about a first Halloween experience. Walk your child through what happens and prepare them for the fun and fears of Halloween. This would be a good book for children with special needs to help them understand the trick or treating experience before they venture out.
•    Talk about feelings. Why is Ann Estelle scared? What should she do? When do you get scared?
•    Predict the story’s outcomes. Pause at appropriate places and enjoy predicting with your child. You model a prediction first and make this an enjoyable activity. “I think Ann Estelle is going to go back to her dad and not stay at the dark house’s door. What do you think?” Always praise any predictions. “Great prediction, let’s see what happens.” There is no right answer, the important thing is to be thinking ahead and proposing new endings to situations. This helps kids eventually create options in their own stories that they write.
•    Punch out the Ann Estelle puppet at the end and re-enact the story. Let your child be the storyteller. She can add on new episodes.

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon is the endearing story of a baby bat, separated from her mother after an owl attack, landing in a nest of birds. As their friendship grew, each tried to be like the other—Stellaluna, eating bugs from mama bird and the baby birds trying to hang by their feet. Finally, discovered by her bat friends, Stellaluna learned of her differences—her ability to see and fly in the darkness, eat a mango or hang by her feet. Anxious to share these abilities with her friends, she soon discovers that being so different is okay because really they are so much alike!

Tips for Building Language and Literacy:
•    Talk about what makes different animals unique. See how many characteristics you and your child can list
•    Chose two animals and make a list of what is the “same” and “different.” Make a drawing of each to illustrate your list.
•    Think of friends and what makes each one special—Quinn is a fast runner, Brooke is good at drawing, Ryan is fun or Will is patient. Talk      about how each friend has special qualities to appreciate.

Other favorites:

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw

Enjoy sharing books with your child around the themes they are discussing at school or experiencing at home–holidays and timely events. Children learn more language when we are talking about what they are experiencing.

I know this sounds simple but my pick is Play-Doh. Yes, that squishable brightly colored molding clay begins as a blob of undiscovered fun and can end as a sandwich for your tea party, a chair for your play figure to sit in, letters to mail or a favorite animal to roam the forest. The next playtime with your preschooler try these tips to build language and have fun:

1. Pick a theme. Choose a theme associated with your child’s recent activity–a trip to the zoo, baking cookies, playing in the yard, going for a swim or visiting the playground. Or pick a theme based on your child’s interest such as pirates, castles, or dinosaurs. This is just a starting point. You are acting as the producer of his play by offering some fun components for him to use in creating his story and dialogue. Your child will take over as the director, beginning at the zoo and maybe ending up at the park for a snack. Put out the Play-Doh and start modeling with your hands as well as your language. Take out some large props as a background for your theme–Diego’s Talking Rescue Center, the Fisher Price Little People Sweet Sounds House or the Weebles Weebalot Castle. These provide the backdrop for your child’s story telling.
2. Add the little people. Now you are ready for conversation with people or animals that you can animate. You pick up a figure and start the chat with an open ended question like, “I wonder where we should go today?” or “What should we take to the beach?” Encourage your child to pick a person too and move your people for face to face conversations, planning your next play move.
3. Provide the Play-Doh. Show your child that anything is possible with a lump of dough. The animals at the zoo need food? No problem. Roll out some carrots, apples or hay out of the dough. Provide some starter thoughts on what to make and then sit back and let your child lead the imaginative play. Language is more greatly enhanced when a parent is involved in play but not directing the action.
4. Offer the tools. Make sure you have plenty of scissors, forks, knives, rollers or cookie cutters to start his imagination going and adding to his play scheme. Don’t go for pre-packaged sets that provide all the supplies. Instead, offer the tools to create his own food, animals, furniture or toys. While playing with a small oven, I have seen kids fashion a square of Play-Doh, flatten it and hang it up on the towel rack to dry hands after baking!
   
5. Give movable props. Provide a little wheelbarrow, shovel and bucket or oven to cook your delicacies. Slides, swings or vehicles can move your creations or provide an opportunity to change the action. Roll out a ball of Play-Doh for the park–sending it down the slide or pushing it in a swing. Use the shovel to dig and create crabs, fish, worms or whatever to transport in your bucket. Good props are open-ended so your child can use them in many ways, changing their stories and expanding language skills.
6. Expand the story. After following your child’s lead in play, occasionally introduce a new prop or idea to expand their story. Don’t take over. They are still the leader of play, but you have raised the language level when you move the theme to a new topic. While playing with a train set, you might offer a play house to be the ticket office and mold some tickets to be sold.
7. Introduce some themed props. While I find it easiest to gather props from different toy sets to create new stories, I do have some favorite sets based on themes that children love. Play-Doh’s “picnic bucket” and “beach bucket,” have cutouts, rollers, and props centered around food and the beach. The Play-Doh “Fun with Food-Meal Makin’ Kitchen Playset” has all the tools to cook up a tasty treat. Kids love to open and shut the oven, baking their creations and serving them up. After a trip to the beach, grab Play-Doh’s “Sand Sensations,” the brightly colored textured dough that feels like wet sand. Kids love to make castles and re-create their water experiences.

So be the producer of your child’s play, setting out some great props, Play-Doh and a creative child and watch the action begin!

Don’t we all want to hear about our child’s day–that she was included on the playground, had someone to sit with at lunch, understood what was going on in class, and most importantly had a “good” day? Recently I heard a mom’s conversation with her kindergartner after his first day of school. Her line of questioning went something like this, “Did you have fun today? Who did you play with at recess?” “Nobody?” “Wasn’t Jimmy there?” “How about gym class?” And so on, while her little one relayed his side of the story which sounded like he was a loner all day. In reality he was happy and enjoyed his first day and mom was a wreck because of his answers.

As a speech language pathologist, I have had to start and keep conversations going with kids from 1-18 (both ages have their challenges!) for over 30 years. So I want to offer some tips for getting your preschool and elementary-aged child to open up about school when she comes home:

1. Ask open-ended questions. Surely, “How was school today?” does not bring about the most conversation. For many young children it is too vague and they need a more specific question to help them remember their day. Avoid questions that can be answered in one word–especially “yes” or “no.” Rather try some open-ended questions like, “Tell me about the game you played at recess today” or “That’s a beautiful picture of the farm. Tell me about it.” or “I wonder what you had for lunch today.”
2. Use their artwork or take-home papers to start conversations. A research study by Marvin and Privratsky (1999) showed that when 4 year old children brought home objects from preschool including their art projects, the children referred to recent school activities significantly more than when they did not. Take advantage of these masterpieces, asking open ended questions of your little artist and don’t forget to listen. . Showing interest in their work can increase their self-esteem as well as link school and home. Recently a mom picked up her kindergartner’s two papers. One had a few identifiable drawings of sea creatures and the other was scribbly lines. She started describing the recognizable crab and fish and then pointed to the other drawings, pausing to let her son fill in. He proudly identified the drawings in question and went on to talk about how he made them. When asked about the scribbles he said, “Oh that just says I love you!”
3. Know their school schedule so you can start talking about library day, gym or art class. “What kind of books did the librarian show you today?” or “What did you find at the library?” “Tell me about the books that you chose.” Take the time to sit down and read the books with her, affirming her choice, and encouraging reading.
4. Know the themes they are learning--apples and farms, communities, the seashore, China or the rain forest. Have fun exploring the topics on the internet together, learning new facts to expand on her knowledge and discussing the themes.
5. Model sharing about your day. “I had a great day today. I talked to grandma and grandpa about…” or “I met a new friend and we had coffee at the beach.” It is important to share your interests, friends, challenges and joys with your kids so they see that communication modeled for them. There is nothing quite so rewarding as when my grown sons say to me, “How was your day today, Mom?”
6. Take time at the dinner table to talk about a good and bad thing that happened that day. Knowing that the family gathered at dinner is a safe place to share joys and disappointments, is comforting. Recently a mom of a 1 year-old told me that at her daughter’s first year check-up, one of the many questions the pediatrician asked her was, “Do you eat dinner as a family and talk about your day?” That pediatrician gets it! If parents start modeling communication with their one-year-old on a daily basis, they are more likely to have a teenager who knows how to share her day. Make it a game of thinking of a good and bad, happy and sad, or fun and challenging event that day. By encouraging your young child to talk about a hard thing that happened that day, you can provide emotion words to help her express herself such as, “You must have been disappointed when Sally didn’t let you join the game.” or “I bet you were frustrated when they were out of your favorite dessert at lunch.”
7. Use books as conversation starters. Choose a book about school and see what conversation unfolds. For a laugh out loud, read What a Day it was at School! by Jack Prelutsky. His collection of poems about school–tipping over with a heavy backpack, throwing food in the cafeteria, hopelessly competing with a classmate in gym, or emitting an accidental noise during class–is outrageously silly, getting a child laughing and connecting the stories to her school experience. After reading the book to a second grader, I asked her what happens in her school if someone throws food at lunch? She went on to tell me the rules, and all about Cody and Will when they made a mess in the cafeteria.
8. Take advantage of your child stalling at bedtime. One mother shared with me that if she lingers with her first-grade son after stories are read and the bedtime routine is over, she can count on about 10 minutes of chat about his day. He’s smart–he knows what mom likes and how to stay up longer!
9. Listen, listen, and listen. Once your child gets started talking about her day, hold off more questions and let her go. As parents, we tend to jump in with more questions, but pausing is important. A child gains confidence as she relates her day and you affirm her.

Reading to your child sets the foundation for emergent literacy skills—what children need to know before they actually read and write. With each story read, you are building your child’s vocabulary, phonemic awareness (understanding that words are made up of individual sounds), knowledge of letters and the sounds they represent, and narrative skills or story telling. Reading to your child not only prepares him for academic success but also says I have time for you, strengthening the special bond you have with your child.

These new picture books will spark discussions with your child about feelings, reactions, situations, or predictions. The beautiful, intricate illustrations can encourage your young artist to illustrate their thoughts or reactions to the story. Help your child to relate her experiences to the story and the story line to her world, building language skills in the process.

Trainstop by Barbara Lehman

Climb aboard this train, but be sure to sit next to the little girl rather than her parents who are engrossed in the newspaper and fall asleep, missing the whole adventure. Her face is pressed against the glass of the train car window, anticipating the new world she will enter after passing through a tunnel. Stepping out of the train into a world of tiny people, she is asked to help retrieve a toy airplane and pilot from the apple tree. Friendships develop, but it’s time to hop back on the train to return to the city. The magic comes full circle when upon arriving home, the girl looks up to see her little friends flying by to deliver a tree of thanks.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

How can so many story possibilities be packed into a wordless book? That’s the point. Beautifully illustrated wordless books provide a platform for creative story telling and writing. Encourage your child to examine the drawings and describe characters, contrast them, predict what they will do, describe their emotions and give them dialogue. Look at the parents versus the little girl—engrossed in their paper, falling asleep, indifferent to their surroundings while the child is anticipating adventure.

Your child becomes the author-story teller as she orally illustrates each page and gives words to the drawings. Try collaborating by alternating as the storyteller—you describe the action on a page and let your child add on to the story on the next page. Or each invent your own story, share them and see how they differ. Make this a family activity, assigning one member to write down the story as it unfolds or illustrate it as a group.

Try these strategies to enhance language development with other magical wordless books:

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman

Hogwash by Arthur Geisert

Lights Out by Arthur Geisert

Max’s Dragon by Kate Banks

Max’s earnest search for rhyming words, sends him through a croquet game, rainstorm and adventures with his dragon. Initially an annoyance to his brothers, Max keeps up his lines, “If my dragon isn’t faster, there’ll be a big disaster” until brothers Karl and Ben are contributing too. When the dragon is threatened there is only one thing to do—create another rhyme to save the day.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

What a delightful introduction to poetry and rhyme! Since the understanding of rhyme is a precursor to reading, it is important to play with rhyming words with your child. Read the rhymes to a younger child, emphasizing the changing first sound (the “f” in faster and “d” sound in disaster), and then just repeat the two words: faster, disaster. With a child 4 years old and up, create your own one-liners. Start them off with a phrase such as “I can’t wait or I’ll be (late).” Look at a fun illustration and create rhymes based on the pictures. Throw out a word and see how many rhyming words you and your child can generate. A first or second grader can write his own poem based on a favorite activity, imaginary friend, or object. Sometimes starting with an illustration will help generate the language.

The Rubber-Legged Ducky by John G. Keller

Watch out what you eat when you are expecting! Mama duck nibbled a rubber band along with a clump of grass before giving birth. When she hatched her brood, the fifth duckling bounced rather than waddled, and cried, “Bing-boing” instead of the typical “Quack, quack.” This delightful tale is all about being different, or special with true potential, as only a mother could declare. Five’s rubbery legs were good for strumming accompaniments to sing-alongs and lassoing bullies but his greatest act of bravery was to stand against the fox, using his special talents to protect his family.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

Take the opportunity to discuss with your child how friends are different, what special talents we all have—maybe a good listener, helper or storyteller–and celebrate the differences.

The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli

Take the challenge to write the best story and win the first prize ride on a roller coaster. This little girl sought her family’s advice and one by one wrote a draft according to their suggestions. First she packed her story with action—pirates, sharks, and tornados—to please her little brother, Tim. When Dad said good stories had plenty of humor, she put the pirates in pajamas and revised her draft. Aunt Jane countered that the best stories have to make you cry. The little girl’s revisions to cause tears didn’t seem right either. Finally, Mom, the source of all wisdom, said, “I think the best story comes from the heart. Your own heart.” The little girl began pulling her story out of her own heart and it was a winner, contest or not.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

Summer is a great time for your child to keep a journal and write from her heart. Write about the best thing that happened that day, a new word learned and explain it, a favorite storybook, or all about a beloved relative. If your child is too young to write her thoughts, you be the scribe and take down her words. Draw an illustration with special markers and make it into a book.

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

Being grumpy is a lot of work. Mr. Fish can’t seem to be cheered up by his convincing pals, Ms Clam, Mr. Jelly (Fish), Mrs. Squid or Mr. Eight (legged octopus). In spite of the efforts by his best-intended buddies, this dreary, sulking fish is convinced he is doomed to a life of mope. An unexpected visitor appears to plant a kiss on our prince to get this grump out of his slump. This charming tale is filled with strong vocabulary, rhythm and rhyme with stanzas to be sung with your little one.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

Model putting words to your emotions throughout your daily experiences. “I’m frustrated, I can’t get this lid open” or “I’m tired and grumpy. I need a nap.” “Please be patient, I can’t help you right now.” Identify and name emotions in stories that you read aloud to your child. “The little girl is selfish—always wanting her own way” or “Grandma is disappointed in her behavior.” Brainstorm words that describe the main character and see how many you can list. After reading a story to a first grade class, I collected fourteen words to describe the “bossy, impolite, ungrateful” little girl. Our little pout pout fish is “glum,” “mopey,” “dreary,” with an “unattractive trait.”

Point out repeated words that are isolated in the text, “Blub, Bluuuub, and Bluuuuub!” Your child will begin to associate the sound with the letter as you stretch out the word and even “read” the word next time you encounter that page.

• Be positive. Don’t approach the school as the enemy. So many times I’ve seen parents anticipate a negative response from the school team when in fact the professionals are there to hear the facts and formulate the best educational plan for your child. School personnel can’t and won’t promise a program until it is agreed upon at a meeting with you. It has been my experience that school personnel want the best for your child, just as you do. Go in with a positive attitude and you will likely get a better result.

• Be your child’s advocate. You know your child better than anyone. Don’t be intimidated by a team of professionals around the table. You are part of the team and your input is vital. If you come to a meeting prepared and with some goals in mind, be strong in your commitment to seeing them implemented.

• Be prepared. Write down your observations to share with the team. This is invaluable. It’s one thing to say your child’s attitude has changed about school. It is more helpful to be specific such as, “He cries every morning and doesn’t want to go to school.” Or “He’s being teased by his peers for being slow to answer.” Or “She’s frustrated because she misses directions when she leaves the room for special help.” As a professional on a team, I find specific information from home a crucial piece of the puzzle. Often children can keep it together at school but will let out their feelings at home. Have a list of possible solutions to present to the team such as “increase his reading instruction” or “decrease his pull-out therapy and have it delivered in the classroom.”

• Be educated on your options. As a parent new to the world of special education, you can be overwhelmed by all the programs available—speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy or behavior plans—and all the variations within each discipline such as pull out and push in programs. Make an appointment with the director of your program or principal and take the time to understand all the services available to your child. Often parents address the most obvious area of need whether it is speech, motor or cognitive difficulties, while behavior issues arise related to their child’s frustration and delay.

• Be open. Now that I am working in private practice, I have had a number of parents that don’t want me to communicate with the school, partly so their child won’t be labeled and also parents think if they don’t say anything, no one will notice. Honestly, good teachers pick up on problems right away. They benefit from all the information to best serve your child. You aren’t helping your child by holding back information. If your child is having attention difficulties and medication is not an option for you, then be honest and tell the team that. Now they will go forward and look for other strategies to help you child.

• Be flexible. A good team will come up with different recommendations. Be open to trying the strategies that they recommend. If something works for your child, such as preferential seating, or having directions written down as a reminder, then that is great. Maybe it will take trying a few strategies before the best results are seen.

• Be patient. It can take some time. Children are dynamic human beings, always changing and surprising us. Each year is a new challenge academically as they progress through the grades. It might take some time to accurately assess your child and get the best plan in place. You can be patient as long as you see professionals implementing the plan for your child.

• Be persistent. Follow up. Even with the best of intentions, some pieces of the educational plan might fall through the cracks. Since you are your child’s strongest advocate, you need to follow up and make sure that the recommendations are being implemented. If an occupational therapy consultation was recommended and two months have passed, check and see that it occurs in a timely fashion.

• Be connected. Seek out a local group of parents of children with special needs. Many districts have a PTA just to serve you, offering educational programs and the opportunity to learn from other parents who might just be a step ahead of you, in processing your child’s diagnosis or understanding the programs available.

• Be a communicator. Set up a method with the team to insure communication between the professionals working with your child, parents and any outside therapists. Weekly e-mail, phone calls or written communication—whatever is most efficient and helpful to disseminate information–should be part of the plan. Knowing the classroom themes for the week or science or social studies curriculum, helps a parent or therapist carry over concepts, vocabulary and reinforce goals. Parents reporting on the weekend such as “He went to a birthday party and was able to transition without tears” or “She had a fight with her friend and was able to tell me what happened” provide valuable feedback to therapists and teachers working on these skills.

There is a huge push to read to your baby as soon as she is born–and even before since her auditory system is mature after the second trimester. Research shows that the amount of talking to your baby positively influences her language development. The more words your baby hears, the better it is for her language growth. Babies are hard-wired to learn language but the quantity of words you feed your baby is important. In the same way that it’s critical to narrate your day to your infant, filling her day with words, reading to your baby offers many of the same advantages. Your infant is hearing the “rhythm of language”, distinguishing her primary language from other languages based on timing, pitch and sounds. An article in a recent parenting magazine suggests that if you have an infant to 3 month old it is best to choose books that have one word on a page.

Not so for language development! The first three months are an opportunity to bathe your child in all kinds of language, through conversation as well as reading books. Try nursery rhymes, poems, stories or picture books. You have a little window when your infant will happily listen to anything. Around 3 months, she will be more attentive to a shorter text with all the rhyme and rhythm of Brown Bear Brown Bear or Moo Baa La La La ,

When visiting new Mom, Dad, and 2 week-old Caroline, I noticed Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose, Classic Fairy Tales and Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-me Book of Poems in. the nursery. Mom had researched these beautiful anthologies, bought them and was reading them to her daughter. Caroline was hearing the bouncy beat and rhyme of “Jack and Jill went up the hill,” the flowing language of classic fairy tales like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and the shorter rhyming phrases of poems by endearing authors. Another mom read the Madeleine series to her newborn daughter who happened to be named Madeleine.

As your infant gets older and more discerning for a bright, simple, shorter rhythmic rhyming tale, she might not have the patience for a longer story. This can happen around 3 months but don’t hesitate to keep reading longer, more complex stories to your child as long as she is interested.

The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens. Check out my review. Kids love this book for the zany antics of the prairie dogs with their fuzz and the wild vocabulary and comical alliteration.

Clancy the Courageous Cow by Lachie Hume. This is a new book with a clever story about being different, discrimination, and grace. There is lots to talk about as you encourage your child to predict what will happen, talk about feelings, solutions, and how to react to someone who is different.

Amos and Boris by William Steig. This is a clever book about adventure, rescue, friendship, and sacrifice. It is packed with good vocabulary. Try other books by this author.

Picnic at Mudsock Meadow by Patricia Polacco. This isn’t just another Halloween book, but a clever story of competition, courage and finally friendship. The illustrations are magnificent with their detail and action. Lots of predictions can be made based on these beautiful drawings.

Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andrede and Russel Ayto. This is every little boy’s dream, to uncover a pirate captain in a closet and set sail with him. Of course they encounter the ferocious pirate dinosaurs and a battle ensues. The illustrator has created beasts with “tonsils wobbling ferociously at the back of his throat” who have a whimsy about them who draw us in to a tale created in a little boy’s mind. Talk about what you would do if you met a pirate in the closet?

I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe is a lovely tale about self-esteem, listening to criticism, acceptance While the little cricket was wishing he was a butterfly, after the frog at the edge of the pond told him he was ugly, the ladybug wisely replies, “…you must learn to be content with what you are and not mind what a silly old frog tells you.” Friendship finally brings acceptance. There are many themes to talk about with your child after reading this story that relate to her life—teasing, feelings, self-worth, friendship and acceptance.

The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen. In this playful tale, a featherless chicken is trying to part of the gang of artfully adorned chickens. Finally when he acquires a costume of leaves, silverware and a fish can, he looks good enough to join the others. This is another story about fitting in, being transparent and having a roaring good time!After reading this book, it would be fun to make a collage costume for your own featherless chicken.

Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She was Extinct by Mo Willems. Loveable Edwina meets her match with the incorrigible Reginald who is trying to convince her she is extinct. This story is about winning over a bully with kindness. Talk about ways to show kindness to those who are nice and not nice to us.

Chuck Lends a Paw and Funny Bunnies on the Run by Robert Quakenbush are full of laugh-aloud consequences for the antics of bunnies and mice. You can use these books to ask questions like “Why did that happen?” since there is a reason for all the catastrophes in the stories! These are early readers but can also be used as read-alouds.

Your three-year-old is a delightful conversational companion, asking about their world and telling you about their experiences. Here are some strategies to encourage language development in your three-year-old:

1. Be a daily play partner with your child. It will give her an opportunity to practice her conversational skills (taking turns), discussing her daily activities, and asking questions to gather more information. This undivided attention with pauses for her to continue the conversation, boost her emotional well being also.

2. Make time to play one-on-one. If a new baby arrives, the time alone with your toddler can “fill her emotional tank” and alleviate some of the feelings she might have of competing for Mommy’s time.

3. Keep the play times fun, enriching  and natural. Don’t turn them into teaching sessions. Many children this age are starting to name colors, shapes and numbers. If you drill these concepts they will be uninteresting to your child, or he will only know them by rote, and will be unable to understand them in the context of play and language. Remember, language is learned through experience. For example, talk about the tall blue tower and the red boat going under 2 bridges!

4. Follow her conversations that arise naturally.  As with play, follow your child’s lead in play and conversation. Don’t force her to “finish” a play scheme if she has moved on to another idea.

5. Have conversations with your child about what she has been doing, but now, in addition to the details, talk about “why” things happened, and her feelings about the event.  This is an opportunity to use lots of new words and explain them in the context of an event such as “disappointed”, “grumpy”, “mad” or “sad”. 

6. Continue to use new, longer, more complex words in many contexts. “The hermit crab is leaving his shell. The hermit crab grew too big for his home. The hermit crab eats off the floor of the ocean.” 

7. Sometimes her words get jumbled when she is trying to explain something complicated for her . Affirm her with “yes” and then re-order her sentence correctly. For example, a little girl was playing with a car and play figures and she said, “The car sit and go” when she meant, “The Daddy sits and the car goes!” As your child’s language progresses, sometimes their mind thinks faster than they can talk! 

8. Expand on her conversations. If she says, “I rode the airplane” you could add, “Yes, you rode the airplane with Daddy at Rye Playland last night!” Often this will encourage her to add some details too.

9. Take advantage of book time.  In Jim Treslease’s well known book, The Read- Aloud Handbook, he says that a 3-year-old hears three times the rare words in books as she hears in conversation. This is a rich area for learning language and expanding vocabulary, grammar, and learning about new subjects. Emphasize rhyming words and select books that emphasize them such as Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw. Repeat the rhyming words and let your child hear that they have the same endings. Hearing that words are made up of different sounds, is a precursor to reading. Select some books that repeat a word in larger print and point out the word as you read it. Squeaky Clean by Simon Puttock repeats NO, PLOP, and EEK. Continue to choose books with rich stories such as Swimmy by Leo Lionni or Sheila Rae, The Brave by Kevin Henkes. Talk about feelings, why? and what might come next.

Always use grammatically correct sentences. Confused by mixed messages in child guidance books, parents ask me whether to use short phrases like, “Put shoe on” versus “Put Will’s shoe on.” If your child’s language is developing normally, you would talk to him in grammatically correct sentences like the latter example, including all pertinent parts of speech. Your child benefits from hearing all parts of the sentence.

If it materializes that your child is delayed, you can try a shorter version, sometimes called “telegraphic speech.” “Put shoe on,” for a child who is delayed in speech, reduces language and makes it easier to learn. Children developing normally are hard-wired to learn language from adults speaking correctly. No baby talk!