Getting Help for Delayed Speech
Motivation and Preschoolers
Where Should Children Study?

By Peggy Gisler and Marge Eberts

Getting Help for Delayed Speech
Question: We have a great deal of concern about our son's speech. At his third birthday party, compared to the other 3-year-old children, his vocabulary was very limited. He only says about 10 words and uses "mom" for everything he needs. And he calls everyone in our family "mom." We do not know how many words he should know by this age. Would you please point us in the right direction? – Delayed Speech

Answer: Between the ages of 2 and 3, most children will acquire a vocabulary of about 450 words. Your son has not reached this milestone in normal speech development. Have you addressed your concerns with his pediatrician? You can contact your local school district's director of Special Education for a diagnostic screening at no cost to you through the IDEA process called Child Find. This will help you see whether a delay exists.

You need to find out about the federal special-education program for children age 3-5. Section 619 of Part B of IDEA defines the preschool program, which guarantees a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities age 3-5. Under this program, your son might be eligible to receive services that will help him improve his speech before he enters kindergarten. Your local director of special education will have information on this program. You may also wish to contact your state's 619 coordinator to learn about your rights and the local programs and services available to you. You can find contact information for this person at www.NECTAC.org.

Visiting the following Web sites will provide you with more information about opportunities for helping children from 3 to 5 who have disabilities: www.ld.org/ideaguide, www.ideadata.org and www.naeyc.org.

NECTAC, National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, supported by the U.S. Department of Education also serves infants and toddlers with special needs and their families. Each infant or toddler with a disability will be assessed and a written individualized family plan will be developed.

 

Motivation and Preschoolers
Question: How can I motivate my 2-year-old daughter so that she will be ready to enter school? –Anxious

Answer: Relax; you don't have to do anything to motivate young children to learn how to do things. They are born eager to acquire new skills, from rolling over to walking and talking. Of course, even if 2-year-olds want to put on their shoes, chances are they won't be successful. However, you can kill their desire to learn this task and other developmental tasks if you take full responsibility for getting every job done and won't even let them help.

As babies grow into toddlers and then preschoolers, parents need to pull back a bit so children remain motivated to keep learning to do more and more for themselves. And parents need to encourage their young children's efforts when they begin learning how to fasten buttons and pull up zippers so they will remain self-motivated to keep learning to do more and more for themselves. At the same time, you have to be careful with your daughter's desire to learn to read, write and work with numbers, to be sure that these activities remain fun for her and don't become academic ventures. Most 2- and 3-year-olds are quite satisfied to "pretend read" books; it is not likely that they need or would enjoy formal phonics instructions.

Besides learning to do things, your daughter has intense curiosity about her world. She has an inner drive to explore, interact with and make sense of her environment. Build on this drive by giving her numerous opportunities – using magnifying glasses, studying ants, watching the tide come in and observing the sunset. Turning on the TV or computer is a very poor substitute for real-life experiences. It can lead to boredom.

 

Where Should Children Study?
Question: Even though my children who are in the second, fifth and sixth grades have desks in their rooms, they all like to study at the kitchen table as I am cooking dinner. They seem to get a lot done; however, I think that this is too distracting and they should be studying in their rooms. What is your opinion? – Busy in the Kitchen

Answer: Every child has his or her own learning style. Some children can concentrate even though the radio or television is on and family members are talking, while others need total silence if they are to do any homework. Most study-skills experts suggest that students study in a quiet area off the beaten traffic pattern; however, this doesn't work for everyone.

If your children enjoy studying together and are getting good grades, then it is a good choice for them. Besides, you can clearly see that your children are actually working and can easily answer any appropriate questions that they might have about their assignments. Plus, they do have a set routine for studying the same time every day, which is a part of having good study skills.

We'd love to hear from our readers about the successful homework routines their families have. We'll put them in a future column.

Parents should send questions to dearteacher@dearteacher.com or ask them on the columnists’ Web site at www.dearteacher.com

©Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2009 Distributed by King Features Syndicate

 

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