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Let’s try something together that will help your speech therapy at home journey. Grab 168 M&Ms and a bowl. What’s that? You don’t have 168 M&Ms lying around? Ok – maybe you can close your eyes for a sec and picture this then: You have a big bowl filled to the brim with 167 blue M&Ms. Now, drop just one red M&M in – “tink!”
Why are we filling imaginary bowls with M&Ms? That one little red M&M represents the approximately one hour that your child might spend practicing their speech with their therapist in a given week. And the blue M&Ms? Those are all of the rest of the hours in your child’s week! Hours spent with you or other caregivers, with friends, or maybe at school or daycare. While that red M&M makes up just a tiny portion of your child’s time, each of those blue hours is an opportunity to keep practicing speech and language skills. (*This M&M metaphor is not my original idea, but an effective one that I’ve learned somewhere along the way. If you’re the therapist I should credit for this great image, thank you!!)
Read more: 6 Autism Language Development Activities Ideas + FREE Printable
The Importance of Speech Therapy Carryover
Speech therapy is an amazing tool, and I strongly encourage parents who have concerns about their child’s communication to seek it out as early as possible! BUT, even once speech therapy is underway, the therapy session is just the first step.
This is why speech therapists love to talk about carryover – the concept that speech therapy is not just completed in the “speech room”, or when the speech therapist is present, but by gradually carrying over skills into all parts of a child’s life. If we SLPs stopped in the speech room, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs well. Instead our goal is to show you what skills are appropriate to practice, use our expertise to help you design a plan that makes sense for your child’s and your family’s needs, and ultimately give you all the tools you need to continue supporting your child’s speech and language development through all the hours of their day.
Read more: How to Choose an AAC Speech Device for Your Child
The Research on Parent-Led Language Intervention
Need more convincing? SLPs want you to know that parents are actually the best therapists! Children tend to learn best, especially with new skills, when they are in a comfortable environment and with familiar people. The research on language development shows us that starting intervention earlier leads to better outcomes, and that those early language skills are not just critical to communication, but also predict later academic skills in school. So, starting and continuing speech and language practice in a home environment just makes the most sense.
Even more? When parents understand and can use specific, research-based strategies at home, studies show greater improvements in language development for their children. And, the more often a parent engages with their child, the better developmental outcomes we see.
How to Improve your Child’s Speech at Home
Speech Therapy at Home: Building Skills Through Practice
When it comes to helping your child master speech and language skills, practicing at home plays a crucial role. Whether they are working on correct pronunciation, expanding vocabulary, following directions, or utilizing AAC devices, consistent practice is key to their progress.
To support your child’s speech and language development at home, here are a few effective strategies:
- Model and Repeat: Be a positive role model by using clear and correct speech. Encourage your child to imitate and repeat words or sounds.
- Create Language-Rich Environments: Surround your child with books, songs, and engaging activities that promote language learning and encourage communication.
- Make It Fun: Incorporate speech and language practice into everyday activities through games, storytelling, or playful exercises. Keep it enjoyable to maintain your child’s interest and engagement.
- Use Visual Supports: Visual aids, such as flashcards or visual schedules, can enhance understanding and assist with communication. They provide additional cues and support for your child.
- Collaborate with the Therapist: Stay in touch with your child’s speech therapist, seeking guidance and sharing progress updates. They can provide specific strategies tailored to your child’s needs.
""We used it to bridge the gap our son was having with language. This summer and early fall, we worked really hard on that gap and have almost eliminated the that gap with the use of the Goally! " —Joni B. Learn more →
By implementing these strategies, you can create a supportive and enriching environment at home that fosters speech and language development. Remember, consistent practice and patience are key to helping your child thrive.
So, here are 5 steps to doing speech therapy at home:
1. Set Expectations
When practicing skills at home, it’s important to understand what would be reasonable to expect your child to learn at their current stage. If you try pushing them into a skill that’s too advanced for them, your practice might just end in frustration for everyone! If your child currently sees a speech therapist, talk to them to get a sense of what skills your child is working on in therapy, in order to set appropriate goals at home. Or, check out what receptive (understanding) and expressive (using) language skills to expect at different ages.
2. Use Routines
Repetition of a skill is one of the most important ways to help your child learn. By integrating practice of sounds or words into home routines like mealtime, bath time, bedtime, or playtime using a visual schedule planner, you will make sure that the same words come up again and again, day after day, and will help your child become more familiar with them. Repetitive books are also a great tool for the same reason.
Read more: Understanding Echolalia
3. Set a Daily Practice Goal
Just like an exercise routine or a new diet, good habits take time to form, and goal setting can help. For speech and language skills, frequency of practice is more important than length. Just 5 or 10 minutes of focused practice per day will help your child advance their speech and language skills!
4. Practice in Different Places
Once your child has started to get more consistent with a new skill, you can help them generalize that skill by practicing in different environments and with new people. Try practicing in different rooms of your house, outside, in the car, with a sibling or even on a video chat with a friend or relative.
5. Use Goally to Teach Kids AAC & Core words
The Word Lab and AAC Talker apps provide a simple, engaging platform for your child to learn core words and become a functional communicator right from the start. Customize the experience with a voice that suits them, and watch as their confidence grows in expressing their thoughts and needs!
But we don’t stop there. Our Balloon App helps build the skills needed to use AAC by engaging your child with fun, interactive “pop the balloons” exercises. It’s a game-changer for kids who need that extra boost in communication.
Check out Word Lab 👉
Now that you understand how important your parent-therapist role is to your child’s development, you can use these techniques to really make a difference.
This post was originally published on 12/27/2021. It was updated on 05/31/2023
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By Kyla Ettinger, SLP and Founder of SpeakEasy: Home Speech Therapy
Goally
We help parents teach their kids life skills, like doing bedtime and morning independently. Backed by science, we incorporate evidence-based practices and expert-informed designs in all of our apps and content.
