Super Star Speech

I just discovered a very interesting program on the internet. A home hearing test that uses pure tones generated by your computer! There is a free trial version that tests several frequencies. The tones must be calibrated for each computer, so in order for it to be functional, you need someone with good hearing or someone with a recent audiometric test to set the tones accurately. Once it is calibrated, the subject presses the CTRL key or a joystick whenever he hears a tone and the program automatically produces a graph of hearing levels at different frequencies.

I set the tones to my hearing levels. I have an audiometer, but if you have a young person with good hearing around, you could get reasonably accurate results by calibrating it to 0 db at every frequency. (0 db is average normal hearing for a young adult.)  This took about 5 minutes. I just used my ipod headphones for this experiment. They worked fine, but higher quality, noise blocking headphones are recommended.

The frequencies included in the free trial are 500hz to 2000hz. People with noise-induced hearing losses generally have a loss in the 4000hz range, so the free trial version won’t pick that up. When I do hearing screenings, I test 500hz to 4000hz, which is the range of most speech. The full version of this program produces tones from 125hz to 8000hz.

This could be fun just to play with, or useful for a screening for all your family members. Of course, if you had any concerns, you would need to have full testing done by an audiologist.

I have no connection to this company—Esseraudio.com–I just thought this was cool!

Homeschoolblogger.com is offering  some free online classes over the summer, including one on teaching your baby sign language and another on teaching the love of reading.

Are you in need of inspiration, encouragement, and support in your homeschool journey? Is your time precious, your money tight, and your desire to improve your homeschool on your to-do list? All of us at The Old Schoolhouse^® and HomeschoolBlogger.com are very pleased to announce an inspiring, new opportunity: HomeschoolBlogger.com’s FREE Classes!

We have a vibrant lineup of topics already scheduled for mid-July and August and more are being scheduled each day for this summer and fall—just in time for back-to-school planning and preparation!

Here is the schedule of groundbreaking July FREE Classes:

Level with Me about Math – Can I Really Teach It?
July 13 – 2PM EDT/1PM CDT – Preshow 1PM EDT/12PM CDT

Breathe new life into your math program as John and Carlita Boyles, homeschooling authors of Math on the Level, share practical ways to bring on revitalization while producing enthusiastic learners!

Babies & Sign Language – Give Them Their Words
July 14 – 2PM EDT/1PM CDT – Preshow 1PM EDT/12PM CDT

Learn the benefits of signing and why it works. Why is it important to give babies a language? Find out! You’ll also learn how reading while teaching can be easy and fun.

Homeschooling: Teaching a Love of Reading
July 22 – 4PM EDT/3PM CDT – Preshow 3PM EDT/2PM CDT

Get an overview of the Spalding Method from Spalding for Home Educators with focus on teaching basic language skills, developing a love of reading, and understanding the structure of language.

But wait! We have more . . . because we know how much you love good information, come early to be doubly blessed with a pre-show! One hour before the main presentation start time, settle in for even more great information, encouraging words, and uplifting education for yourself as the homeschool teacher. And the price simply cannot be beat—it is all free!

If you are looking for more information about speech and language development and disorders, you may want to visit speech-language-development.com.  I just spent a good bit of time this afternoon reading through the articles and think this is a resource that many parents will want to visit. Topics, many of which are in question-and-answer format,  include stuttering, articulation, language development, literacy, and more.

Laura, from Outnumbered Mom, interviewed me on her blog, asking about my background, my books, and speech and language disorders. Visit her blog to read the interview and to find lots of encouragement for moms through her other posts.

Thanks, Laura!

Babies don’t talk. You don’t have to worry about speech for the first year or two, right? WRONG!

No, babies aren’t born with any language skills and it will be about a year before the baby actually says his first word, but the language learning process begins at birth. The foundations in speech and language you give your child from his or her first weeks will affect his development for years to come. Babies are constantly listening, watching and learning to interact with others. At three to six months, they begin to experiment with sounds and back-and-forth interaction with their caretakers in preparation for the real language that will be emerging at around a year.

Here are a few things a parent can do to encourage speech and language development:

-Interact with your baby a lot. Talk, coo, and babble at him. Make happy or silly faces at him and watch how he reacts.

-When your baby starts to coo or babble, imitate him. See if you can get a “conversation” going by taking turns making sounds.

-Any talking to your baby or toddler is great, but the best way to encourage language growth is to make your sentences just a little more complicated than his are. If baby points and says, “ball,” you might say, “Yes, big ball,”  That will give him a speech model to grow towards. When you speak in very long, adult sentences, it is just too much for him to take in.

When your child wants something, model the appropriate words to him. “Juice, please.” “Want up?”  If he is able, require him to say the words. Don’t respond to grunts and pointing if your child is capable of more.

Read,  read, read to him! Reading the book as it is written is great, but some of the time, you might just talk about the pictures, or name the pictures and see if he can imitate you.  As he grows older, talk about the story and pictures with him.

Recite nursery rhymes and sing with your child.  You can even make up little rhymes and songs about your daily activities—buckling up in the car, changing a diaper, and so on. The rhyming and repetition is great language stimulation and fun for the child as well.

Play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo games with your child. Again—rhymes, language, and playing all in one!

My children always enjoyed listening to music during naptime or in the car–lullabies, nursery rhymes, and other child-appropriate listening fare.

Most of all, enjoy your child! Spend time with him or her, using language whenever appropriate and your child is likely to reach his full potential!

My Super Star Speech books and homeschool games are currently being reviewed by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. 100 homeschooling moms (and a dad) are busy trying out these items with their own kids and will soon be writing reviews on their blogs. I am anxiously awaiting to see what they will have to say!