I’m All Ears! SAY WHAT? Fun With Idioms

The I’m All Ears resource makes teaching idioms a piece of cake. Teaching idioms may seem intimidating at first. It doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. There is step by step teaching suggestions for starting simple and how to spend time explaining the figurative language of idioms.

I’m All Ears is a well-loved, humorous listening and language bookmaking activity. Children listen to a given idiom then draw a picture of what they literally heard. Say What? An idiom is a saying that has a meaning that is different from its literal words. To a child, the "laugh out loud" drawings in their book are a source of humor, fun but are brain-building opportunities. The DIY books help children understand and use idioms spontaneously. This activity builds vocabulary, expands high-level language skills of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. Understanding and using all types of figurative language plays an essential role in spoken and written language, pragmatics, and communication competence.

Children with typical hearing, learn idioms through incidental exposure without having to be taught. Whereas, children who are deaf and hard of hearing often require explicit and direct instruction especially with higher-level language like idioms. Idioms are challenging for children that process information literally and have a concrete or limited vocabulary.

This resource has easy to follow step by step suggestions for incorporating idioms into therapy or academic lessons. Included are the following -

TWENTY idiom activity sheets are included to begin the I’m All Ears DIY books.

NO PREP - Print a set for each child, open on an iPad drawing app or share the PDF in teletherapy.

Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) Tips

1. Ensure optimal access to sound with the child's hearing devices which is essential for overhearing. Research indicates that ninety percent of learning takes place incidentally.

2. Idioms are abstract. Teach with real experiences for new vocabulary to stick. 

3. Provide lots of exposure to the targeted idiom in multiple contexts.

4. Say the idiom (In one ear and out the other.) then WAIT. Give the child time to process what they heard. 

5. Use the child’s Auditory Feedback Loop by asking what they heard before repeating the idiom.

6. Teach the idioms in complete sentences. This allows for learning how the idiom relates to other grammatical structures as part of an auditory mental map.

7. Read aloud daily. Books introduce unusual vocabulary like idioms that may not come up every day but are important for the child to have in their repertoire.

8. Laugh at the humor!

Make Little Joke Books To Grow Listening and Spoken Language

One of my LSL auditory verbal families downloaded the June Riddles & Jokes that I sent during a teletherapy session. All month the 5-year-old Little Listener and his parents practiced understanding and telling the jokes. They cut out the individual jokes and added them one by one to a little book once mastered.

The Little Listener was thrilled to share their book and the parents sent these two photos to me. I had to pass along this brilliant and super easy idea! 😀 This family knows that helping their child understand the jokes and why they are funny expands her vocabulary and grows flexible language skills like multiple-meaning words, idioms, puns. Memorizing jokes grow auditory memory skills, encourages clear speech when retelling, and builds perspective-taking and social skills.

For more information check out the post - Encouraging A Sense Of Humor - Joke Of The Week

Did I mention there is a full year of FREE Riddles & Jokes to grow your child’s listening and spoken language skills?

Free Riddles and Jokes To Grow Listening and Language Learning!

Spark Cards - Review

SPARK Innovations sent me Set One of their Spark cards to review longer ago than I care to mention. In the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The time for action is now. It's never too late. I was paid for my opinion.

SPARK stands for Sentence Formation and Predicting, Answering Questions, Retelling Skills, and Knowledge of Basic Concepts. Using their acronym SPARK represents:

S – Sequencing

P – Problem Solving

A – Analyzing situations

R – Reasoning

K – Kool

The cards are of high quality and are beautifully illustrated in a style that is appropriate for a wide range of ages. The cards are recommended for 3+.. The cards are designed with 6 sequencing cards, but the stories can be reduced to 3 or 4 cards for a more simplistic story. SPARK cards are a great tool especially for older kids, ages 10 and up.

The detailed picture scenes make them perfect for sequencing, storytelling, making inferences/predictions, and problem-solving.  Each sequence of cards includes one or two problems that the child can identify, describe, and solve. To guide the conversation, questions are provided on the back of the cards. The scenes provide countless opportunities to expand vocabulary and discuss sentence formulation – nouns, verbs, verb tenses, pronouns, adjectives, and prepositions.

This first edition of these SPARK cards comes with 8 sequencing card sets of the following topics:

1. Going to the library

2. Preparing for a hurricane

3. Setting up a lemonade stand

4. Going to the vet

5. Playing football

6. Setting the table

7. Going to the beach

8. Planting flowers

SPARK cards are engaging in therapy and encourage parents to use them to extend their learning at home.

The Joys Of Raising Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

A Movement to Celebrate the Magic of Raising Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Fostering Joy is a family/professional effort celebrating the joy of raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH).  Fostering Joy provides support and resources for families and professionals to positively help the growth and development of a child who is D/HH. Loving and supportive families provide a strong base for social and emotional health and well-being. Focusing on special moments that bring joy helps families put aside concerns and focus on their natural and loving parent-child connections

Hands and Voices shares that research says…

• Parents who report experiencing high levels of stress tend to have deaf or hard of hearing children who have greater levels of emotional difficulties and reduced socio-emotional development. (Hintermair, 2006). 

• Among families with deaf or hard of hearing children, taking care of the special needs of family members and having insufficient relief from stress were rated as having the greatest negative impact on Family Quality of Life. (Jackson, Wegner & Turnbull, 2010).

• An overview of emotional availability of caregivers toward infants and toddlers has shown that the extent to which caregivers can attend, attune, and foster engagement with their infants and toddlers will influence the child’s social and emotional development. (Bornstein, Suwalsky & Breakstone, 2012).

• Positive mother-child interactions are reinforced by social networks of families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. (Meadow-Orlans, Mertens & Sass-Lehrer, 2003).

• Parent attitudes, parent involvement, social support, expectations, and problem-solving skills are related to academic and social development of children who are deaf. (Calderon & Greenberg, 2011).

Share/download this Family Tip Sheet.

Connect: Parents you are invited  to join a closed Fostering Joy Facebook group and follow Instagram@DHHFosteringJoy and use #DHHFosteringJoy

Growing Language One Adventure At A Time

Adventures are amazing opportunities to grow a child's listening and language skills. Kids are naturally curious about science and nature. Follow your child’s lead and go on a backyard nature hunt. Grab an egg carton for sorting plants and rocks. Rather than telling your child how to sort the found nature items, encourage them to think and tell you about the size, color, textures and shapes.