Please be advised that applicable Covid 19 protocols will be followed; Adults and children over age two (2) must wear a mask, maintain social distance of 6 feet/2m and wash hands. All participants attending the sessions will be required to sign in with their name and telephone number for purpose of contact tracing. Hand sanitizer will be on site.

All participants must pre- register. If after you register you are unable to attend, please let us know. Be mindful that in some instances the speech assistant is driving long distances to offer these programs so prior notice would be appreciated.

Please bring your own blanket to sit on and snacks for your child.

There will be no access to washrooms at the school-based playgrounds.

Sessions will be cancelled in the event of rain. Please check your local weather forecasts.

Posted: June 14, 2021

Posted: June 8, 2021

Pointing is one of the most important preverbal skills that children need to acquire before saying their first words.  

Pointing is so important for speech and language development for many reasons:

  1. When I child points to something, it makes us look at what they are pointing to.  When you and your child are looking at the same thing, you are engaged in joint attention.    Joint attention is a very important communication and social skill.
  2. It makes us label what they are pointing at.  When a child points to something, we typically label the item of interest. For example, if your child points to a bird in the sky, you probably will say something like “Look! It’s a bird!”  Children learn the meaning of words by hearing the label of what they are interested in.
  3. It makes us describe what they are pointing at.  After you have labeled the bird in the example above, you may find yourself describing it. You might say, “It’s a bird.  The bird is flying up in the sky!” Now your child is learning more words like “flying, up, and sky”.
  4. It makes us ask them questions about what they are pointing at.  In addition to labeling and describing, you may also ask your child questions about the object.  For example, you may say “Do you hear the bird chirping? It’s going chirp, chirp, chirp!” Or when the bird flies away, you might say “Where did the bird go?  Bye bird!"
  5. Research also shows that the more children point early in their development, the better their language abilities are later on because of the association between pointing and social communication. 

New words are best learned in context when the child is actively engaged.  Simply put, children learn best by DOING!

For example, a child is much more likely to learn a new word like “mud” when he is given the opportunity to play with the “mud”, to make mud pies and feel the mud squishing between his fingers.  By experiencing the mud, the child will activate many different parts of the brain - the parts responsible for touch, smell, sight, taste, and language/hearing.  By activating many parts of the brain, the child will develop a better understanding of a word and will be better able to find the word and use it when he needs it again.