June 28

Speech Therapy – Activities for Early Speech

Speech Therapy

Months back, I shared my experience of meeting moms who are worried over their kids’ delayed milestone achievements. I firmly believe in the fact that every child is different, however, if a child doesn’t start speaking at 2 years of age, it might be a reason to worry. In that scenario, you might want to opt for Speech Therapy for your child.

 Speech therapy helps with using the voice properly and using the muscles to make the right sounds. It helps people understand language and express themselves.

https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/ear-nose-throat/treatment-and-detection-methods/speech-therapy/

I am not a speech therapy expert, yet would like to share some basic fun activities, which I tried with Kreesha. Kreesha started speaking only after 2nd birthday. She used to say words earlier like Ma, Pa, dada, dadi, ice, rice, dudu, juice, and a few more. So, I playfully involved her in these activities and she started speaking phrases and now she is 2.5 years old and is able to speak long sentences with 10-12 words also.

Activities till 2 years:

  • Kreesha started her eye contact with us at an early age of 3 months. So, I started talking to her. She would respond with her eyes and expressions. For example, if she was happy, she would move her legs and if she is sad then she would simply ignore the situation.
  • Sharing small details of her daily routine with her like, “now its time to take bath, we are going to sit in bathtub and enjoy the bath”. Verbally explaining your child about their daily routine helps them build vocabulary but develop good habbit also.
  • Talk about things baby see in their room, house. Explain what is it and why is it in the house.
  • Talk about family and family members.
  • Talk about body parts and help them point their body parts.
  • Read them stories, rhymes sing them fun songs.
  • Show them colours and various objects, wait for them to respond.

Activities after 2 years:

  • Speak clearly to your child. Make them aware of the importance of clear speech.
  • Do not speak in their language, even if you do, do repeat the correct pronunciation or word also.
  • Repeat what they say, so that they are assured you understand what they want to say.
  • Show them pictures of various objects found in house, classroom, playground and get them talking about it.
  • Play yes or no game. Ask your kids simple questions like, “Do crow fly? Are you hungry?” Let kids respond to your question in a yes or no. Play vice versa – get your child ask questions to you.
  • Have a conversation where a child has to make choice like, “Do you want juice or milk?” or “Do you want to go out or play in the house?”
  • Talk about various body parts and what it does
  • Place some toys in a box and ask your child to pick one-by-one and tell what is it

Exercises to Try:

Paper Blowing is one of the Exercises to boost your kids’ Oral Motor Skills

  • Blow a balloon – Blowing a balloon helps the child develop facial muscles, which enable the child to speak easily.
  • Paper Blowing – A fun activity that will enhance your kid’s oral motor skills and concentration.

PS: I will soon be sharing a video on my youtube channel with other fun activities to help your kids develop their oral motor skills and enhance their speech.

Love,

Wonder Mom

Category: Abstract, Experiences, Fun Activities | LEAVE A COMMENT
June 23

W-sitting in Kids

W-Sitting

‘W’- Sitting:

The moment your child sits on the floor with bent knees, feet outside their hips and bottoms touching the floor. While sitting in this position the legs of the child are similar to the formation of alphabet ‘W’ and thus is termed as W-sitting.  

Why kids prefer W-sitting?

Kids often playfully sit in W position, however, for some sitting this position is a way out to make up for their hips and trunk muscular weaknesses. This position provides the kid with extra stability and firmness to play around with toys while sitting upright. You do not have to worry for your kid, is s/he frequently changes sitting position, yet if you notice your child sitting in W-position for a longer period, try and correct their position.

There are also chances of kid having an anatomical difference in their hip joints making their thigh bones twisting inwardly. This condition needs medical supervision and is known as femoral anteversion.*

Why ‘W’- sitting is bad?

  • While sitting in w-position, kids tend to use less of core muscles. This might result in the weak shoulder and wrist movement affecting their fine motor development.
  • The w-position restricts the body movement and prevents the side-side weight shifting
  • Since there is reduced torso movement, the kid might develop limited coordination between their left and right body sides. The minimal coordination may also affect child’s bilateral coordination (using both body sides simultaneously)
  • The W-sitting positing lay huge stress on the hips and knees joints resulting in the postural problems and frequent lower back pains among kids

How to rectify W-sitting

W-Sitting Alternative Positions
W-Sitting Alternative Positions

Noticing your child sitting in ‘W’- position, you might want to encourage them to sit in other forms.

  • Small chair – Offer your child with a comfortable low height chair to sit on. This will help them move their torso and strengthen their bottoms
  • Cross legged – This position is also referred to as ‘Criss-Cross Applesauce’ and is common sitting position while Pranayam. This helps them straighten their backs and keeps lower body muscles comfortable
  • Legs in front – Toddlers do prefer sitting this way. This sitting position helps the child relax their leg muscles while correcting their ‘W’ position
  • Legs sideways – In this position the kid’s legs would be on one side of the body while sitting in knee bent and sitting on their bottoms
  • Kneel down – While kneeling down might sound similar to W – position, however, in this on the kid sits on the hips and both legs are intact with feet underneath hips.
  • Encourage a movement based floor activity to let your child change her/his sitting position frequently.
  • For further advice and supervision reach out to your pediatrician or contact occupational therapist

Love,

Wonder Mom

  • *https://www.cdchk.org/parent-tips/truth-about-w-sitting/
Category: Abstract, Experiences | LEAVE A COMMENT
June 21

E-Education is the new trend

E-Education

Everything has changed a lot since Covid-19 has affected the whole world. Education has also witnessed a lot of changes with the onset of Pandemic. E-Education has become the new trend for education of all ages. Being a mom of a toddler, I sometimes worry about vision related issues. E-Education has increased the screen time for kids with a significant reduction in their concentration. 

This new trend of E-Education has its own pros and cons for kids and families at large. Speaking of personal experience, I have witnessed various changes in my daughter Kreesha after her schooling started, oopsy doopsy! E-Schooling started. 

Positive changes:

  • Ability to understand and comprehend various Accents
  • Competitive feeling of doing best 
  • Operating Basic Laptop 

Increased curiosity to learn new things (though she has been very inquisitive since early age, but now she does not spare even a single moment of learning)

Negative changes:

  • Increased aggression
  • Increased screen time

I do not promote online learning for young kids, however, I do believe that they need a push and guidance to keep their learning at par. For the same, I started Kreesha’s e-learning and trust me, it has helped me a lot. I teach her at home with all basics and skills, however with teachers and peers around she does her best and is motivated to learn. 

I hear from my friends that their kids spend 4-6 hours sitting idle in front of cartoons. Then, I believe if you can divert your child’s 2 hours from cartoons to learning then, it is not bad at all isn’t it?

For me that was the reason to start Kreesha’s pre-schooling online. Coz, how much you say kids will find their way to watch their shows and skip learning. She sometimes asks me if this is what school is? And I try to convince her no, it is not. I don’t know when the normal schooling will be back with no restrictions and masking for kids, but I do wish it comes soon. Because nothing matches the classroom learning. 

Love,

Wonder Mom

Category: Experiences | LEAVE A COMMENT