Ideas for practicing language skills at home:

*Have your child pick a book and listen to the story. Ask your child questions to check his/her understanding of the story.

*Have your child summarize their favorite cartoon or tv show.

* Have your child label items within different rooms in the house. If your child is able to label these items, have your child describe the items- stating what do you do with the item, category, and size/shape/color.

*Have your child make comparisons for common items in the home or toys? How are a ball and a frisbee the same? How are they different? or How are a couch and a chair the same, how are they different?

*Play games like Simon Says, Mother May I, and I-Spy to encourage language.

*Have your child describe simple, everyday routines- How do you brush your teeth, How do you make your bed?

Here are a few activities you can do with your child to practice articulation skills at home:

*Find words in a book with targeted speech sound. Record themselves saying each word three times.

*Identify and say sight words with their sound.

*Play a game with your child. Before each turn, have them say a word with the speech sound.

*Have them write 10 words with their speech sound. Record them saying it 3 times.

*Have them report to you about a television show or an electronic game they played using their speech sound.

Ideas for practicing language skills at home for students who are nonverbal or have limited language skills: 

*Play

Play is important for all children, including those who are nonverbal.  Create opportunities for tactile experiences, such as playing with play dough; use a variety of colors and review the color names as your child plays.  When engaging in play time, stay close to your child (about 2 to 4 feet away) to help him stay focused.  Use balls as a means of playing with others, and encourage sharing and tossing the balls to each other. 

*Cause and Effect

Use rattles or maracas to teach cause-and-effect (the sound is the effect of shaking the instrument).

*Imitation

Encourage imitation, which is a type of social play that is less socially complicated.  You begin by imitating your child, how they sound and play, to encourage them to do more of both. Imitation games are as simple as it sounds: If your child stacks a lego on their tower, you stack a lego on yours. If your child knocks the tower over, you knock yours over too.