Did you know that good speech and language skills support academic skills, such as listening, speaking, reading fluency, and reading comprehension? Here are a few ideas for activities you can do at home.

You can help your child learn language skills by…

• Talking, reading, and playing with your child.
• Listening and responding to what your child says.
• Talking with your child in the language that you are most comfortable using.
• Teaching your child to speak another language, if you speak one.
• Talking about what you do and what your child does during the day.
• Using a lot of different words with your child.
• Using longer sentences, as your child gets older.

You can help your child learn Social skills by…

• Having your child play with other children.
• Demonstrating pretend play while playing with your child. (For example, having a pretend tea party with stuffed animals, or pretending to put out a fire with stuffed animals as firefighters.)
• Play turn-taking games with your child, such as rolling a ball back and forth, taking turns during hide and seek, or taking turns adding blocks to build a tower.

You can help your child learn articulation skills by…

• Saying sounds the right way when you talk. Your child needs good speech models.
• Not correcting speech sounds. It is okay if your child says some sounds the wrong way.

You can help your child learn fluency skills by…

• Giving your child time to talk.
• Not interrupting or stopping your child while he speaks.
• Noticing if your child gets upset when stuttering. Pay attention to how she speaks. Children who stutter may close their eyes or move their face or body when talking.