Yesterday I blogged about taking speech therapy outside at this time of year and expanding a child’s vocabulary and experience using language. I always give parents homework, since that will ultimately increase progress since they are with their child a lot more than I am. Well, tonight I witnessed a dad doing his homework!
I was driving past Benjamin and his dad who had stopped at the pond near their home. First of all when I rolled down my window, Benjamin waved and said, “Hi” for the first time! Then I saw a little blue bucket hung on the fence. Dad said that that was their rock bucket that they brought down to the pond so they could throw rocks in the water, after I had gotten them started on throwing them down the sewer grate:) The best was, as I grabbed my phone to record this wonderful event, Dad held up a rock, said, “Rock,” paused, and withheld it for a second until Benjamin imitated him. Then Dad gave the rock to him and he tossed it, kerplunk into the pond. Dad was not only helping his son with this little homework assignment, but his son was learning that he had to talk to get something from Dad. Communication does have a purpose!