TALK

• Talk about what your child is doing, what your child is looking at, or what your child is interested in. 
  • Table topics 
  • A great time to practice is in the car!
• Ask specific questions about school, not just “how was your day?”.
  • “Who did you sit with at lunch?” “Tell me about them…”
  • “What did you do at recess, who did you play with?”
  • “Tell me about something you learned today?”
  • “What made you feel (happy, sad, excited, nervous, curious) today?”
• Add words or questions to what your child says or does and model new language.
  • If your child says “Clifford book”, you can respond using a full phrase/sentence such as, “OH, you want to read the Clifford book, ok let’s read!”. 
• Give your child enough time to respond
  • Repeating questions, requests, statements can be cognitively overwhelming & interrupt processing

PLAY

• People games
• Board games
• Bubbles
• Hide and seek
• Scavenger hunt
• I spy - outdoors, indoors, GREAT to practice in the car
• Rhyming games 
• Building
• Dress up
• Crafts
• Tag
• Sing songs
• Play dough
• Make a sensory bin
• Dancing
• Bike/scooter riding
• Skipping, jumping, running
• People games

READ

• Read to your preschooler often, make up stories using books without words: i.e., Goodnight Gorilla
• Books for preschoolers
• Alphabet, shape, size and counting books.
• Books that tell simple stories, especially ones with rhythm and repetition.
• Books about families, friends and going to school.
• Books with characters who are about the same age as your child and characters who have quirky traits.
• Ask your child questions about the books you are reading together (who, what, where, when, why and how questions).
  • What color is _____ ?
  • What is _____ doing? 
  • Why is the character _____ ?
  • Who is _____ ?
  • Where is the _____ ?
  • When are they going _____ ?
  • How does the character feel _____ ?