The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association provides speech and language developmental milestones. Keep in mind that children develop at different rates. When looking at an individual's development, it may be helpful to consider whether his or her communication abilities support age-appropriate interactions, or whether interactions result in frustration.
Communication and Feeding Milestones: Birth to 5 Years
Speech and Language Development in the Elementary Years

Longitudinal studies tell us that being a late talker at 24 months increases a child's risk of having a low vocabulary at 48 months and predicts a later age for school-readiness than typically developing children. A speech language pathologist can help you improve your child's readiness to learn in school and other environments.
Late-Blooming or Language Problem?

Suggestions for Parents of School-Aged Children
Reading Rockets
ADDitude: Inside the ADHD Mind
Understood.org - In It: A Podcast on Raising Kids Who Learn and Think Differently
Through Your Child's Eyes: Simulations of learning differences

They begin their lives fully dependent on their caregivers for food, love, safety, even communication. Quickly, that begins to change. In a blink it seems, they crack the code and begin using language to obtain all of those things and more. Another blink, and they're reading the story on the back of the cereal box and bargaining for a better allowance. It is a great gift to behold.

Children don't come with instruction books. There are times, though, when a few guidelines wouldn't hurt. What would your instruction book say? Here are a few words from my own.

• Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat. You've got this.
• Not every day will be your best day, but every day will be the best you can do that day. This little person already thinks you're pretty great.
• Go with your gut. That nagging feeling that what's working for the others just isn't working for your child? Trust it. Let your intuition guide you to seek solutions when something's just not right.
• It takes a village to raise a child. This African proverb is a reminder that there are others who contribute to the lives of our children. A secure parent-child relationship lays a foundation for a lifetime of growth, but we can not underestimate the value of the rest of the community: Cousins, aunties, fire fighters, teachers, mail carriers, passers-by. Our children can learn from all of them, just as we can.
• Put your phone or tablet in time out. Those precious after school hours are loaded with things to do before we turn in at the end of the day. The outside world has squeezed its way into our homes and even joined many families at the dinner table. Our children look to us to learn the nuances of communication. A responsive parent spends more time looking at his or her children than at electronic or other devices. Children learn about secure attachment and reciprocal communication from caregivers who are actively engaged with them. Children go to bed early. The text messages, emails, and social media can wait.

Perhaps you've seen the signs at your local library: 1,000 books before Kindergarten. That sounds like a lot! Well, is it, really? If you read just one bedtime story a night, in a year you will have read 365 books. Babies will enjoy cuddling in your lap, listening to your voice, and holding board books just as soon as you're ready to start a naptime and bedtime schedule. That bedtime story quickly becomes a cherished part of the daily routine for both children and parents. Eventually children become readers themselves, but that's no time to give up on reading together. Keep up your streak! That shared reading time is pretty powerful. Keep it going and reap the rewards:

5. Children who are read to will develop bigger vocabularies. Stronger listening vocabulary skills make for stronger reading comprehension. Children who are read to become better readers, better writers, stronger students, and are more likely to go on to read on their own.
6. Reading together helps children understand the connection between spoken and written words. As they become ready to learn to read, children who sit with an adult reader regularly begin to see patterns, such as repeated or rhyming words and the left-to-right sweep of your hand across the text. This edges them ever closer to readiness to read their own first words.
7. Reading together helps children learn about emotions. Children's books are filled with funny stories and exciting illustrations. Pair that with fun voices for the characters, and the book becomes a stage. For example, in Dr. Seuss' famous Green Eggs and Ham, Sam chases his poor friend around, offering him some food that he doesn't wish to eat. It is exasperating and exhausting! Our read aloud voices can show the frustration he experiences, and then later the more peaceful delight as he tries it and likes it after all. What a great way to build empathy!

Still not convinced? Here's a graphic about how reading aloud makes a difference.

Modeling is a powerful set of tools to boost learning. Use it to help children learn speech and language skills, polite behaviors, even successful completion of household chores. At its core, modeling is living by example. Our children see and hear us and they begin to incorporate our speech sounds, our grammar, our vocabulary, our gestures, even our coping techniques, and make them their own.

Here is a modeling technique called recasting that you can use to draw attention to something you want your child to learn to do. Here's how it works.

Suppose your child mispronounces the TH sound, and says, Mine is bigger ven yours. You can recast his statement to help him notice your correct model.

Here's another example. Suppose your child is learning to use pronouns, and she says, Him going out. You can recast his statement like this:

Notice how there was no correction. Children learn so much more when they feel relaxed and secure. Giving them positive reinforcement by acknowledging their message and then recasting it with a slightly higher model gives them just the leg up they need to get to the next step. With lots of repetition, the child achieves the learning without discouragement and has positive feelings about successfully using her words to communicate.

Physical, Occupational, and Art Therapy
PsychoEducational Testing and Child Psychology
Make Room for Music
Find a Story Time at your local library
Events and Programs for children and families at Frying Pan Farm Park
Walker Nature Center

Every summer, when the stores stock up on back-to-school supplies, I get that song stuck in my head again. "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" What does a holiday song have to do with back-to-school shopping? Many years ago, an office supply store launched a tv ad for school supplies in July. The ad featured a dad dancing with glee as he tossed staplers and pencil sharpeners into his cart while his children sulked. This left quite an impression!

The back-to-school season brings on happy anticipation for many families. We get the new, bigger clothes, the fresh box of crayons, the new lunch bag and backpack, sometimes even a new hairstyle. And then they hop on the bus, and soon meet a new teacher in a new room. There's a new way for the desks to be arranged, a new set of classroom procedures, a new group of kids to sit with during lunchtime, and a chance to make a new impression with friends and teachers.

Some of my readers just got a giddy, tingly feeling all over, and others just cringed. Ask me how I know. If you are one of the readers who cringed and felt a quickening of your heart rate, please know that you are not alone. In fact, you're in really good company.

If you've been getting the feeling that your child's speech, language, and learning needs are under-served where he does his learning, there are several avenues to pursue. A first step is to conference with your child's teachers and work out an informal plan to team up in support of your child. You can request an evaluation and seek support services at your neighborhood public school, even if your child does not attend public school. You can seek private evaluations and supplement school services with therapy or tutoring. You can consider your family's resources and examine private school and home school options.

Ultimately, each family has its own journey. Lots of people will have opinions, but parents are uniquely empowered to figure out what's best for their families.

How to start homeschooling in Virginia
An introduction to private school education
What is an Individualized Education Plan?

Moms do alot! It's not just moms, though, is it? In most families, there's someone who takes on the lion's share of the caregiving. Sometimes it's a mom or a dad, sometimes it's a grandparent or even a hired caregiver. Always, it's a person who is putting their all into the family effort, juggling more than they imagined, and tucking the children in with hopes for a bright tomorrow.

It's a really hard job! When our children learn differently, there's a whole extra layer of challenge. It can be confusing when a child doesn't seem to develop the way that others do. Maybe she doesn't respond when spoken to, or has trouble learning routines at home. Maybe everything seemed fine until he started school. When something is different, that caregiver often goes into overdrive to support the struggling child. We find ourselves working harder to set them up for academic and social successes. We race them to therapies and tutors and entertain their siblings in waiting rooms. We want our children to participate like all of the other kids and we want to see them succeed.

Caregiving parents, this page is dedicated to you.

We may not see your cape, but you're working like a superhero to support your family's needs. This extra big job is not a sprint. It is the marathon of a lifetime. It takes intention to take care of ourselves so that we can sustain the effort and make magic within our families. It's so worthwhile! What do you need to get the job done?

Language Strides LLC proudly serves the communities of Reston and Herndon, Virginia and the surrounding area.