Preschool Teacher Assistant

Preschool Teachers - How to Help Your Students Who Have Speech Or Language Problems

As a preschool teacher, you know that every child who comes to your classroom is a unique little being, and the mix of abilities and personalities of the children in each class makes each schoolyear different. Sometimes you have one or more children in your class who seem to be behind the other children in their abilities to communicate.

If you don't have special training or experience working with children who have some speech or language difficulties or needs, you may be wondering if you are the right teacher for such a child. If you have an interest in and knowledge of normal child development, and if you have a caring attitude and a desire to learn new skills, you certainly are the right teacher.

As a speech-language pathologist, I want to support your efforts to help every child in your class have a successful year learning and developing. There are ways of listening to, talking with, and interacting with children that help to facilitate speech and language skills, and these methods can and should be blended right into daily interactions--at home and at school.  Everything I do and say should help promote each child's growth in social, language, pre-literacy, motor, and cognitive skills."

1. First, observe the child to know what his abilities are.  Adults should use my recommended techniques to "filter" the rapid flow of language until what is presented matches the child's ability to grasp what is being said and to respond successfully.

Statements teach.  [Note: Recall a time you took a foreign language class.  4. Present language at or just above a child's level of current ability. 5. Assist the child only as much as needed.  Recently I read the report a school psychologist wrote after observing a young child in his preschool classroom.  The child has speech-language needs, and he has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, though his parents do not agree with that diagnosis.  Of course, what is needed instead is that activities in which children need things (snacks, items to make a craft, items to be used at circle time, musical instruments, and so on) should be treated as rich opportunities to provide models and to elicit language from every child.  One of the major points and benefits of early schooling is to enable children to gain social interaction skills.  Instead of being removed from a conflict situation, a child needs supportive mediation by a caring adult who can guide a verbal interaction that resolves the physical encounter with a peer.

Each chapter is written like a handout on a variety of topics including the array of speech-language disorders and how to help a child understand, use language, and speak more clearly.

As I have mentioned, there are ways of talking that can be used throughout the entire day with young children that can boost their speech, language, and communication skills.  Once learned, with practice, they become an automatic means of helping children learn.  Adults who want to help children need to examine their current interaction styles and really try to embrace these specific, well-designed ways of interacting with children.  Children deserve to have supportive interactions with caring mentors--their parents and teachers. 

Our passionate teachers are dedicated towards the growth from the complete kid and engage in interactive and enjoyable actions with each child to aid service their social, emotional, physical and academic development.

KinderCare Finding out Centers: Since the nation's largest private provider of earlier childhood schooling and care, our child advancement plans, based on 60 decades of educational analysis, are created for infants, toddlers, preschool, prekindergarten, kindergarten and school-age children.

Responsible for your proper care, hygiene, understanding, and developmental routines, specialized plans, and redirection of little ones. Communicates straight with mom and dad. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Gives attention and assistance to young children.

· Understands responsibilities to be a mandated reporter

· Keeps the Director informed of any needed facts relating to the treatment and safety of young children

By observing children in many different preschools, I've noticed that the classes which utilize an abundance of visual supports for children have far more independent and secure students. Many children as well as adults perform much better with additional visual cues throughout the day. By utilizing visual supports for the whole class, you assist students in planning and preparing themselves for a period of time. It also reduces the amount of repeating directions to children.

Visual support strips are especially helpful to preschool classes which include children with special needs. o Use a classroom visual strip for the morning's activities on a wall where students and teachers can easily refer to it. One class uses the following sequence for their preschool class: free play, circle, activity centers, snack, read book, recess, home. Teachers refer to the strip as each transition is about to occur.

o Individual student strip- Some children with high anxiety or limited language skills may benefit from an individual strip. A teacher assistant usually guides the child with this plan until the child can independently follow the strip with the cue "Sam, check your chart."

o Individual task strips are utilized in certain activities such as fine motor center. o A zigger zagger icon (thunderbolt) is introduced to the children as some unexpected event that may change the expected routine of the day or activity. Children need to learn that changes may occur that were not planned for and it's OK.

Additional Visual Strategies

1. A list of classroom rules which may use pictures may assist the students.

3. Classroom helper chart with a picture of each child and their assigned task for the week.

4. A choice board with a variety of activities (pictures) for students to choose when unable to verbally request one.

6. Preschool staff may wear a flexible wristband with a variety of picture icons to reinforce what a child needs to do. Some children with delays may respond more appropriately to the picture than the verbal instruction. Teacher verbally states the direction once in combination with the picture and then presents the picture again to reinforce the instruction.

By incorporating visual supports in the preschool classroom, children learn to independently refer to pictures throughout the day to stay organized, reduce anxiety and prepare for the upcoming activities.