May 03,2021

It has been one crazy year!  The last year has been hard on many of us, but particularly hard on parents and low-income families. So what do you do during the summer if you have a child receiving speech therapy in school?  One option is to find a practice that will treat your child using their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals.  This saves time because an evaluation is usually not needed. 

Well, what do you do if you don’t want to find a private therapist?  What if you don’t have time for that?  What if you just want to focus on fun and play for the summer?  Here are some strategies if you choose to take the summer off:

  • First of all, don’t feel guilty for making that decision.  Happy parents make happy children.
  • Have a fresh look at your child’s IEP goals and don’t be afraid to ask the school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) for clarification if you need it. 
  • Once you’re clear on your child’s goals, ask the SLP for some strategies you can incorporate into your summer routine.  They’re busy, but they do like hearing from you and working on your child’s goals together.
  • Try and incorporate any strategies into your daily routines.  You usually don’t need any new toys, games, or fancy supplies.
    • For example, if your child’s goal looks something like “By the end of the school year, Timmy will answer ‘wh’ questions with 80% accuracy with minimal verbal cueing.”
      • If you don’t know what “minimal verbal cueing” means or what “wh questions” are, don’t be afraid to ask.
    • You can ask your child questions at dinner time about a book they’re reading, a game they’re playing, or a movie they’ve watched.  Here is an example:
      • Parent:  Tell me about your Minecraft game again . . . what did you use to build that bed you made?
      • Child:  Blocks.
      • Parent:  What kind of blocks? 
      • Child:  They’re wooden blocks.  But you can use cement blocks too.
      • Parent:  Where did you build that bed? 
      • Child:  In the basement of the house I made.
      • Parent:  You made a house too!  You know so much about Minecraft, maybe you can show me how to make something sometime.
    • Or you can read together and ask questions about the book you’ve read.
      • If they don’t know an answer or the answer isn’t quite right, you can go back through the book and find the answer together.

There are lots of different ways to incorporate work toward your child’s goals into your daily routines, and it works for lots of different types of goals. 

Need help deciphering your child’s IEP goals?  We’re happy to help!  You can schedule a complimentary, no-strings consultation at: 

https://calendly.com/speechandhealth/complimentary-consultation