Building Vocabulary At Home

 I recently started providing services to the 0-3 age range through the Early Intervention program in my state. The Early Intervention program focuses on family involvement and caregiver coaching. This is quite a bit different for me, coming from a school setting. When working in the schools, I spoke with most of my parents only a few times a year. I did send monthly handouts home, but I never followed up with parents to see if they were utilizing them. As I adjusted to this change, I realized that many of my parents needed a concrete resource that they could refer to when I wasn't around. Parents are often bombarded with information during the therapy session, making it difficult to remember all the suggestions given to them. I found that my parents reported more follow through with activities (and my patients were showing more progress) when I provided them with written instructions and ideas. Over the last year, I have slowly been turning these informal scribbles and emails into formal parent handouts. If this is something you can use, check it out on my TPT Store!

Word of the Week: At Home Activities

This resource includes handouts for 52 different core words. Each handout has 5+ activities to target that word. It includes an explanation about why the word is important and how it can positively impact the child's life as they learn how to use it. I found that I got better parent "buy in" when they realized that life could get easier if their child could use these core words independently. 

Vocabulary of the Month: At Home Activities

This resource includes 28 handouts that target different areas of common childhood vocabulary words. Each handout has 5+ ideas for targeting these vocabulary categories. Rather than focus on specific words, this resource gives parents ideas for teaching multiple words at the same time.

What are some strategies you've used to help parents "be the therapist" when you aren't there?