Language development resources

When a child has delayed language, it can be overwhelming to figure out what you should do as their parent. Here are some language development resources that may be helpful for your child.

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Parent Resources for Language Development

Many people think that speech and language are the same thing but they’re not. Speech refers to how sounds are produced. Language refers to understanding and using words to communicate. If your child has trouble saying sounds or substitutes one sound for another, they may have a speech delay. However, if your child is not talking as much as other kids their age or seems to have trouble understanding questions or following directions, they may have a language delay. Some children can have both speech and language delays but other children can be delayed in one area but not the other.

If you are concerned whether your child might have a language delay, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) can help. On their website you will find many helpful resources, including developmental charts that can guide your understanding.

If you or your pediatrician suspects a language delay, you may be referred to a speech-language pathologist for an evaluation. If your child does have a language delay or you just want to boost your child’s language skills, here are some quick and easy ideas to help increase a child’s oral language.

Apps/Websites for Language

The best way to foster language development is by talking and reading to children. However, there are some good online resources out there for additional language growth, especially for preschool or school-aged children who need extra support. These websites and apps have been helpful for me in my practice and with my own children.

Khan Academy Kids is great for reading, but it’s also wonderful for language development. It’s a well-designed app that exposes kids to lots of great language concepts.

Mobile Education Store offers a suite of apps for language development. They are expensive as a whole, but I have found them to be useful with students with delayed language. You might want to consider purchasing one or two that fits your child’s needs best.

The British Council has created a website to aid young English Language Learners. This website is well-designed and chock-full of helpful games and activities to boost language, as well as great reading resources as well.

IXL is worth mentioning as a language app. Lots of schools use this as an intervention, but there are vocabulary and grammar activities on this in addition to math and reading practice, so if your child has access through their school account, it may be a useful resource.

Quia Web is a great resource for fun language games and activities that are available for free. Here are some individual links to some helpful activities on the website.

https://www.quia.com/pages/worldowords.html

https://www.quia.com/pages/sequencingfun.html

https://www.quia.com/pages/pbordashome.html

https://www.quia.com/pages/havemorefun.html

Read Write Think is a free collection of educational resources. The website can be a bit overwhelming just due to the sheer volume to materials, but there are resources for all grade levels K-12. Here is one helpful resource from there:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/idioms/

Websites to Support Reading Comprehension

Kids who struggle with language will have more difficulty understanding written language than with understanding oral language. Written language (reading & writing) is a lot more complex and harder to master than conversational language. That’s why a lot of kids with language deficits have a very hard time comprehending texts they read, even if they are good at decoding words. There are several websites that focus on comprehension. Unfortunately, none of them provide a free parent account. However it’s worth finding out if your child has access through their school if you want them to have extra practice to improve reading comprehension, especially over the summer.

CommonLit

ReadWorks

NewsELA

News2You

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