Book Review: Let's Talk Together

I recently picked up this copy of "Let's Talk Together" (affiliate link) by Cory Poland and Amy Chouinard from my local library. The cover boasts that the book includes "home activities for early speech & language development" - which I thought would be perfect since I have primarily been working with Early Intervention patients for the last couple years. Some of my activities are feeling a bit stale, so I was excited to add some new stuff to my toolbox. 

Overall, I thought this book was great. It is written in parent friendly language, as it was intended to be used by SLPs and parents. The beginning of the book gives rationale for the targets and activities chosen, which I think is perfect for parents who may be wondering why they are doing some of these things. I feel that by explaining the foundational skills needed to communicate (such as oral motor skills or imitation skills), the authors have got some "buy in" from parents. 

Pros: 

- Wide variety of activity types - crafts, sensory activities, physical activities, music-based activities, etc. There is something to cater to every child's strengths and interests. 

- The pages are reproducible! Perfect for giving to parents. And each activity has it's own page - perfect for parent handouts!

- Each activity lists target words in three different levels. The target word choices were excellent in my opinion. The included a wide variety of nouns, verbs, environmental sounds, prepositions, power words, etc. This wasn't just labeling items! 

- This is a great resource for parents who need help playing with their kids. I have had several parents over the course of my career say that they don't know how to play with their kids. Even if they aren't doing the activities perfectly, or hitting the target words, they are at least interacting. 

- Each activity has ideas on how to grade it up or down for a child's skill level. Plus, they explain how to promote independence for the child. 

- Each activity has the targets listed clearly at the top, so it's easy to flip through and find activities that apply to that particular child's goals. 

- There are other great resources for parents, such as the tips at the beginning and the word lists at the end. 

Cons: 

- There was a couple activities that incorporated computers. The APA recommends no screen time for children under 2, which are the children that I would consider to be the target audience of this book. Of course, you can choose not to share those activities with the parents!

- I felt that some of the activities required more skills than the typical "early developer" would have. For example, the "Indoor Winter Wonderland" activity requires a lot of advanced play skills/imagination skills. Once again though, you can choose the activities that are appropriate to your child. 

If you do a lot of play based therapy with little ones, this book is a must have!