Benefits of 'Assisting Students with Language Delays in the Classroom'

This language programme is designed for teachers to use within the classroom, either with the whole class or with small groups, which can be integrated into the class programme. It caters to the needs of students with a wide range of language abilities, from those with very limited language skills, to the students who find initiating or participating in conversation a challenge. It was created as a result of years spent working with students in the classroom and working closely with their teachers.

The use of Language Charts make it easy to see exactly what skills are required for the development of functional language and the step by step structure of the programme guides teachers to the skill areas appropriate to the language needs of their particular students.

The programme focuses on the three areas of language development, i.e:

·    ‘The Preverbal Skills of Language’, which provide the foundation for the development of language and are essential in order for a student to acquire functional language. These include skills such as; Attending and anticipating; Learning to look and listen; Copying actions and sounds; Waiting and taking turns.

·    ‘The Building Bricks of Language’ are the words and concepts necessary for the development of a student’s practical vocabulary, allowing them to follow instructions, respond to questions and develop their communication skills.

For example; nouns, verbs, prepositions, negatives, sequencing skills.

·    ‘The Skills of Conversation’ are required in order to provide the student with the ability to initiate and maintain an interactive conversation. These are skills such as, Waiting, listening to others and recalling information given; Speaking clearly; Asking and answering conversational questions.

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The programme provides teachers with information as to;

·    What skills are important in order to assist a student’s language development.

·    Why these skills are important, providing clear explanations of the significance of each skill and key points to remember when teaching that skill.

·    How to teach these skills, providing 180 practical activities and fun exercises to assist the development of each skill. These exercises and activities can easily be incorporated into the regular class routine and programme.

The activities in all three areas are purposely ‘Low Tech’ so the majority of resources should be readily available within most classrooms or schools. 

- Francesca Bierens

Speechmark author of Assisting Students with Language Delays in the Classroom

Why Time Matters

Imagine you had no idea what month it is or had no idea how long your lessons are, when school ends or when the holidays are. Imagine trying to figure out a bus timetable when you don't really understand clock time. Imagine feeling cross when your teacher says 'wait a minute' and you keep waiting and waiting and waiting...

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These are some of the real difficulties experienced by young people who have an insecure understanding of time concepts. These difficulties can impact on their behaviour, learning and ability to function independently and may be masked by young people using a range of strategies to 'hide' their lack of knowledge. 

Time Matters contains resources that will help to:

-assess knowledge and functional use of time concepts including calendar time, clock time, estimating time and self-organisational skills

- provide fun and age-appropriate resources to help teach time-related skills to children and young people from the end of primary school through secondary school and beyond

-suggest strategies to support time-related difficulties in a variety of settings

- raise awareness of the impact of difficulties of time-related concepts

- provide case studies based on the author's experiences of working with young people

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Recent case

A young person (aged 17) recently gave a great example of the importance of having secure knowledge of calendar time and in particular the short date. He was working at a Food Bank and was asked to sort out the tins. He had to put the tins with the shortest shelf-life at the front of the shelf so they would get used first. He used his knowledge of time to carefully sequence all the tins by their 'use before' dates. This is impossible to do if you don't know the months in sequence...

It is always interesting to hear other examples of time difficulties so please share some of your stories.

Case Study

A Speech and Language Therapist had assessed a young person (aged 14) and established they found it very difficult to estimate time and would give wild guesses. This information proved important when the young person was questioned in court and without it there may have been questions about the reliability and truthfulness of their answers.

Let us know which resources you have found useful from Time Matters.  We are really interested in hearing the impact of time-related work...

-Clare Doran, Sarah Dutt and Janet Pembery

Speechmark authors of Time Matters

5 tips to help nursery children prepare for school

Help! A child in my nursery is not listening or talking and he is going to school next September.  How will I help him get ready for school?

It is common for practitioners working in nurseries and preschools to be worried about one or two children in the Autumn Term.  The year will fly by and it is hard to imagine these children catching up so that they will cope with the demands of school.  When young children are delayed the most common areas of concern are about speech, language and communication.  Problems in these areas have knock-on effects upon behaviour, play and friendships.  Here are five tips on how to help:

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Talk to the parents.  First off share your concerns with the child’s parents.  Have some concrete examples of what you have observed the child struggle to do.  Parents typically also have concerns so you can start a dialogue about what they have observed in other situations and make suggestions for some simple ways of helping.  Other parents know less about typical child development, so this is your first opportunity to raise their awareness and involve them in your plans to discover more about their child.  As you go through the academic year having the parents on board will be vital to ensuring that they make simple changes to help their child progress.

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Allocate a key worker.  Most nurseries and preschools have a key worker system where one practitioner is allocated to a child.  This arrangement is often loose as all staff on duty interact spontaneously with any children nearby.  But when there is concern about a child’s speech, language and communication it is vital that the key worker system is rigorously applied.  This has two major benefits.  First it gives the child the opportunity to form a strong attachment to one person.  This is a secure base for a vulnerable little person.  If the child has difficulty forming social bonds then this will become apparent if the relationship with the key worker does not emerge.  Second the key worker will be well placed to make detailed observations about how the child manages interactions with others and can learn what helps the child to communicate successfully with others.  This type of support has to be delivered ‘in the moment’ to be effective and of the right ‘dosage’.  Too little support and the child can become emotionally unregulated (e.g. passively despondent or stimulation seeking).  Too much support and the child can become dependent on the adult, lack self agency and stop interacting with children.  

So what is the ‘just right’ amount of support? Here are some examples:

It is when the key worker spots when the child has not understood a spoken instruction and so will repeat the words simply, showing or demonstrating to the child.  The result is successful comprehension in the moment.  

It is when the key worker spots when the child is asking for a toy but can only point or grab, and so she models the word they child needs to say.  The child then experiences how using the right words can lead to a peaceful toy exchange with another child.

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Plot the child’s progress.  Create a baseline profile of the child (e.g. using the Early Years Foundation Stage tools) and repeat it six weeks later to monitor progress.  Keeping good records means you have concrete evidence to show parents.  This can demonstrate and justify your management decisions; for example to show how your support is helping the child to develop or to show why you have decided to ask for additional support from the Speech and Language Therapy Service.  If you do get professional support your records will help answer the therapist’s questions about the child and your intervention.

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Get Informed.  Speech, language and communication difficulties maybe an unfamiliar area to you but there is plenty of help on the internet from organisations such as I Can and The Communication Trust.  Your local authority and speech and language department will have training that you can access.  Link up with local nurseries and preschools to discover how other early years settings support speech, language and communication.  Sharing resources and experiences of the support that is available locally can save time and money.

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Plan and Deliver Intervention.  Be realistic about what intervention you can provide.  Consider the physical layout of your setting, the knowledge and skills of the staff, funding for additional resources and your ability to commit to the form of intervention that you decide to deliver.  For example, if you are in a pack-away Church Hall with a small group of children then you will need to support language through play with all of the children.  Whereas a preschool setting with a separate quiet room could set up a language group that plays the language game at a set time each day without distractions. Your local speech and language therapist can make suggestions about published interventions that you could deliver.  The best programmes will include a form of monitoring so that you can detect the child that fails to make progress, even with your support.  In this way you will know when it is appropriate to refer the child to speech and language therapy.  However, it is highly likely that you will the child (and others in your setting) flourish with your language and communication games.

Handout:  Universal Skills for Practitioners Talking with Young Children in Pre-School Start Sessions

Have Fun!

Speak….	Do….	Be….
add-on repeat model pause chunk	show gesture wait listen follow	warm alert involved creative available

Speak….
Add-on expand what the child says with an extra word or two: “yes, ball, blue ball” Repeat repeat the phrase exactly to give extra opportunity for understanding: “a blue ball, a blue ball” Model Say the phrase or word you want the child to say, but don’t force them to repeat you Pause Break you phrases up with pauses; this slows down your speech and gives children time Chunk Break your words up into short chunks; simplify your language Do…. Show Show the child what you mean: “here is the Gorilla” Gesture Point, use exaggerated hand movements and facial expression Wait Give the child time to process what you said and create a reply or action in response Listen Listen to what the child actually says and acknowledge this first (rather than what you expected them to say) Follow Follow the child’s interest to map your words onto their actions and words Be…. Warm A kindly tone of voice and patience helps learning Alert Observe all the children and watch for indications they are ready to interact, like looking at your face Involved Reduce distractions so you can devote yourself to the children during the activity you lead Creative Use your playful to side to make the activity motivating for all Available Use your body to show you are ready to listen to the children -Catherine de La Bedoyere Speechmark author of Pre-School Start