Phonemic/phonological awareness and speech issues

[LadyAberlin]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a fun program that works on phonological awareness for prek kids? My ds3 knows his letter sounds and their names, but has a really hard time hearing the sounds in words. His brother could identify beginning word sounds at this point. My ds 3 wants to do school, but I can't move on with Phonics because he has no phonological awareness. I think it may affect his speech as well. We all have an extremely hard time understanding him and sometimes we can't figure out what he is saying. I'm also looking for something to help me to work on his speech. We don't have the money for a Speech Therapist and I'm not yet desperate enough to go through the school district. I'd like to try working with him at home first. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Renaissance Mom]

Good question! I'd like to watch this thread, too. I have an internationally adopted 5 yo who is quite bright overall but has speech issues.

 

We try and sing a lot of phonics songs -- Veritas Press has a nice song in their Phonics Museum program ("a, a, apple, m, m, mummy ...") with flashcards. I bought the program used for my older kids and the 5 yo sang along when she was younger.

 

Starfall.com is also fun and has activities appropriate for preschoolers.

 

3 is still quite young to worry too much about this. Our pediatrician has repeatedly said that as our phonics instruction really takes hold over this year, we should see an improvement.

[rhrice3]

My middle daughter had/has phonemic issues as well as delayed speech. We were able to afford private therapy so we had weekly speech therapy lessons when she was about 6-7. She picked up on it very quickly, and I continued at home after 6 months.

 

The therapist recommended a CD-rom called Earobics Step 1 Home Version, and someone else on this board way back then agreed. It is a very deliberate phonemic program full of games and animals, etc. As I remember there was also a game or two that promoted some auditory processing/memory. It is expensive for a CD-rom, but I was able to sell mine for a good price on this board - someone was looking for it. You might put out a WTB ad for it.

 

One thing that I would have done differently with her (she is a freshman now), I would have worked on MORE vocabulary and MORE phonics earlier. We tried to work on it again during middle school to help improve her reading comprehension, but it was a struggle to get her to do more than the Wordly wise, etc that everyone else was doing. Just my 2 cents.

 

 

Good luck

ReneeR

[LadyAberlin]

I had seen earobics and wondered about it. If it weren't for his speech delays I wouldn't be worried about the phonemic awareness. I'm just thinking that working on Phonemic awareness might help his speech too. He is starting to get frustrated when we don't understand him and is trying to use his hands to explain. I'm thinking I'm going to check the Signing time videos out at the library so he can use some sign language for now while we work on his speech.

[siloam]

LiPS has worked well for my ds, but it isn't cheap.

 

Heather

[Katrina J]

I just finished a two day course today on teaching literacy to children with learning disabilities and difficulties. I'm no expert but will try to relay a few points from my new file.

 

The section on developing phonemic and phonological awareness recommends the Earobics CD, lots of language listening and manipulation games you can make up yourself and some books on the topic. I have Earobics and my dd4 likes it, but if the budget is tight I wouldn't worry about buying it. A cheaper option would be to find some quality educational websites (information type, not commercial programs) and look for simple games and activities you can do with your son yourself.

 

When my son was 3, we were concerned about the clarity of his speech and took him to see a speech therapist. I thought the initial assessment was very helpful because she went through the speech sounds with him and worked out all the ones he was having trouble with and those that were age appropriate and more likely to develop with time. I sat in on the sessions, and for my son it was just a matter of having him look at you, repeat the sound, repeat the sound in a word and give little rewards and good feedback to encourage persistence and improvement. Once I knew which sounds to work on, we could sit opposite each other with a sticker book to practise. I would prepare a list of words containing the target sound and each time he repeated the sound or word, he would get another sticker to put in the book for example. You could do this with counters, puzzle pieces, board games, blocks, whatever interests him.

 

I also had his hearing checked and it came back fine, but if you have concerns about his speech and haven't already done so, then I recommend having his hearing checked.

 

My view is that the money I spent on the hearing check and speech assessment was well spent, whereas Earobics was helpful but by no means essential.

[Crimson Wife]

I also had his hearing checked and it came back fine, but if you have concerns about his speech and haven't already done so, then I recommend having his hearing checked.

 

My view is that the money I spent on the hearing check and speech assessment was well spent, whereas Earobics was helpful but by no means essential.

 

My 2nd has delayed speech and spent a year in private speech therapy (2x/wk at first and then 1x/wk). We switched our health insurance and had to discontinue therapy until we can get the new insurer to approve it (big pain :glare:).

 

His therapist believes my DS may have central auditory processing disorder. Kids who have CAPD will pass a regular hearing test but their brains have difficulty putting together the sounds in a way that makes sense. Unfortunately, CAPD cannot be accurately diagnosed until the child is 5 at the earliest, and often not until age 7.

 

So even if your child passes a regular hearing screening, it may be worth it to have him/her tested for CAPD if he/she still is having speech/language difficulties at 7ish.

[LadyAberlin]

LiPS has worked well for my ds, but it isn't cheap.

 

Heather

 

That is expensive although it probably costs as much as a speech evaluation. Did you buy the whole kit or just the manual?

[LadyAberlin]

I

 

I also had his hearing checked and it came back fine, but if you have concerns about his speech and haven't already done so, then I recommend having his hearing checked.

 

 

 

 

They checked his hearing at birth does that count? They said he could hear really well.

[Sara R]

"Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" has simple phonemic awareness activities in the beginning that worked with my kids. You could try those out. They go like this, as I recall:

You say: motor (pause) boat. Say it fast. (Kid says "motorboat." If not, demonstrate.)

You say: aaaaaa-mmmmmmm. Say it fast. "Am."

You say: mmmmm-aaaaa-nnnnn. Say it fast. "Man."

 

And so on. This works best with consonant sounds that you can stretch out, like m, s, n, l.

 

You could also use the first pages of Phonics Pathways as a phonemic awareness and speech activities, more than a reading activity. "Ba be bi bo bu" helps them practice the sounds in isolation.

 

If I recall correctly, Reading Reflex also contains phonemic awareness activities.

 

Also, at age 3, it's pretty normal to not have phonemic awareness. My very bright 9 year old had the same issues at age 4 (couldn't even say the /k/ sound at that point). These kinds of activities are what we did with him. He started Phonics Pathways in earnest around age 5, and could read about anything by the time he was 6. I would address this problem at home at this point, but I wouldn't consider expensive programs directed at special needs kids unless you could easily afford it.

[siloam]

That is expensive although it probably costs as much as a speech evaluation. Did you buy the whole kit or just the manual?

 

I have the whole kit, and was lucky enough to get it used, though a first edition.

 

My ds ran a lot of ear infections as a baby/toddler, so we figure that during specific developmental stages he couldn't hear well. By the time he was 5 he was obviously speaking in full sentences, but he would speak so quickly and incorrectly that we couldn't understand him. He was using the wrong sounds and droped most end sounds, so plug would be pu. Put a whole sentence of that together, and that is what we were dealing with. We probably should have done something earlier, but my 3rd dd also had speech issues (her's was probably dyslexic transposing of syllables) that resolved themselves at 5.

 

At 5 I started out with Straight Talk, which is a good program, but I had a hard time really getting it (right brained learner and it is all text). Though I still use the evaluation sheets. It also doesn't cover vowels, just consonants that I remember.

 

Then I found LiPS. LiPS begins with listening exercises, then moves on to a discovery process to figure out how the mouth moves to make different sounds, then compare and categorize them based on how they are the same and different (first consonants and then vowels). This helped in two ways. First it taught him how to say the sounds correctly, and second it gave us a set of labels to use when he isn't pronouncing something correctly. I like the labels because now instead of just giving him the answer I can use the labels, which make him think about how the sound is made. In addition it includes cards for games, and Bingo sheets, which also use the labels, so everything is tied together. After that it progresses to phonological awareness exercises. First based on sounds alone, then using their letter symbols. It also has spelling and learning to read portions, but I haven't really paid any attention to those. They don't look to be as detailed as the rest, so I think it is more big picture stuff.

 

It has worked so well that I have started my 3rd dd on it. She is dyslexic and still struggles with hearing the difference between sounds. The labels will give me a way to give her clues as to the right answer while also making her think instead of giving her the answer. She really struggles with the difference between /i/ and /e/ (long) and doesn't hear /n/ or /m/ in words like bank and lamp.

 

Heather

 

Edited October 20, 2009 by siloam

[Stacy in NJ]

I used this with my youngest when he was in pre-k. It certainly did the trick.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Phonemic-Awareness-Activities-Reading-Success/dp/0590372319/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256075468&sr=8-3

[JudoMom]

I like Super Star Speech for ST at home. My ds5 is making improvements with this program. There's a website, you can order on Amazon, or I bought on CurrClick.com and downloaded/printed it.

[LadyAberlin]

I like Super Star Speech for ST at home. My ds5 is making improvements with this program. There's a website, you can order on Amazon, or I bought on CurrClick.com and downloaded/printed it.

 

Can you tell me what a lesson is like when you use it? Are there games and stuff?

[LadyAberlin]

I used this with my youngest when he was in pre-k. It certainly did the trick.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Phonemic-Awareness-Activities-Reading-Success/dp/0590372319/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256075468&sr=8-3

 

 

This is more what I had in mind for phonemic awareness at this point. I wanted something fun to do with him and thought this would help his speech. I'm keeping a list of the more expensive programs though for if he still needs help in the future.

[Katrina J]

They checked his hearing at birth does that count? They said he could hear really well.

 

Not really. A hearing test now would rule out things like glue ear that develop later on. My friend's daughter needed grommets (not sure of spelling) put in her ears. It is a process of elimination.

 

If there are no hearing problems then it may be a CAPD.

 

Kids who have CAPD will pass a regular hearing test but their brains have difficulty putting together the sounds in a way that makes sense. Unfortunately, CAPD cannot be accurately diagnosed until the child is 5 at the earliest, and often not until age 7.

 

:iagree:

 

Sorry, I must learn how to quote properly and include the poster's name.

[ElizabethB]

This thread may be helpful:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127043&highlight=alexander+bell

[LittleIzumi]

They checked his hearing at birth does that count? They said he could hear really well.

 

Nope. Dd passed her newborn test, and then flunked the mandatory hearing screen at her Early Intervention evaluation at 17 months. She had some wax buildup (mild) but when they cleared that out, the pedi found that the wax had been hiding a symptomless double ear infection (!!) and who knows how many she has had previously, as she had no symptoms at all. (Well, besides her speech/communication/receptive delays.) Dd has really benefited from Starfall.com, and she likes the Leapfrog DVDs. I was thinking about Earobics but she also has sensory issues and so it's not all about her hearing, for us. Right now she knows all of her letter sounds, but she can't pronounce most of the consonants. She's actually up for another speech eval in a few months if she doesn't improve enough. Sigh.