During lockdown and in the current climate, it can be challenging for children to understand what is going on around them and this can have a significant impact on their social, emotional and mental health.
Here are some suggestions to support your child’s wellbeing at home:
Develop your child’s speech and language by using these pictures as a talking prompt.
Choose someone from the picture and talk about them together. For example, ‘The boy is kicking the ball’ or ‘The girl is eating an apple’.
You could also use these picture prompts to develop your child’s understanding. For example, you could ask: ‘Who is climbing the stairs? Is it a boy or a girl?’
The best way to develop your child’s language and communication skills is to encourage them to talk using single words initially, then short phrases and then build up to talking in sentences.
‘I Spy’ is a great way to develop your child’s language and comprehension skills, as it encourages them to look carefully at an image, think about what they can see and then talk about it too.
For younger children, a great way to play ‘I Spy’ is to describe something from the picture, rather than using the initial sound. For example, ‘I Spy with my little eye…something that is pink and makes an oink! sound’ – ‘A Pig!’
Choose one of the ‘I Spy’ games below and let us know what you think!
One of the main areas in the EYFS curriculum is to support children in their ability to listen and participate in conversations. Listening is a skill that needs to be taught to young children, so that they are able to consider the views of others’, listen to stories and share their own thoughts and ideas too.
The development of listening and attention skills is essential to promote a child’s understanding and use of language. Listening and attention skills also help a child to function properly in society as they aid their social development, Literacy and comprehension skills as well as their communication and language development.
Why not try some of these games to develop your child’s listening and attention skills?
Support your child’s speech and language development by talking about what is wrong in the classroom.
One of the best ways to support young children with their organisation and time management is to create a visual timetable, so that they know exactly what their morning, afternoon or day looks like. We use visual timetables in school to organise the structure of our day and they are particularly useful in supporting children with SEND; as children then now exactly what is expected of them.
Here are some examples of visual timetables. You could also draw pictures of your morning/ afternoon/ evening and then remove each activity as you complete it.
Nursery rhymes provide bite-sized learning opportunities for young children to develop key developmental skills and can often be the trigger for hours of creative and open-ended play. They are a powerful learning source in early literacy and enable children to become interested in the rhythm and patterns of language.
“Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight. -”
Mem Fox, Reading Magic.
Below is a booklet containing some classic Nursery Rhymes that you and your child can enjoy together. You can also put the names of your favourite rhymes into YouTube so you can watch and listen to them. Alternatively, Cbeebies iplayer has some great Rhymes from Mr Tumble.
Let us know your favourite Nursery Rhyme in the comment box below 🙂
Hope you all enjoy the first Bedtime Story of 2021!
Here are some ways to support your child’s speech and language development through play:
Use the picture prompt below to help develop your child’s speech skills and their understanding of language.
Can you recognise and talk about what is wrong in the picture?
