Interest + Engagement = Future Success

While this article isn’t specifically about speech pathology, it does talk about an important key to success – engagement.

Whether a child is learning in the classroom, or receiving intervention, his or her motivation to learn, to improve, and to develop is the key.

“If students can be engaged by curriculum, through the mode of delivery, through a rich variety of learning experiences and through the way teachers relate with students, then this is going to pave the way for achievement in adulthood,” she said.

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

During the week of 20^th – 26^th August, 2017, Speech Pathology Australia sought to promote the speech pathology profession and acknowledge the work done by speech pathologists across Australia. The theme for 2017 was “Communication access: everyone gets the message!”

Because…..Communication is a basic human right.

If you’re interested in finding out more, check out the SPA website at www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au.

If you saw the read the word “egress”, would you think it is:

1. A type of bird;
2. A headdress worn by a princess in Ancient Egypt; or,
3. The action of going out or leaving a place?

Would it help you more if you saw the word in a sentence?

Egress from this carpark is to be via the access lane in the rear.

Comprehending the meaning of a word is different to decoding the letters and sounds in a word to know how to say it aloud. But these skills do rely on one another.

Today’s Comprehension Tips

• Written by Misty Adoniou (Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra), via theconversation.com:

Tip 1: teach phonics through words already in the children’s vocabulary;

Tip 2: build your children’s vocabulary by talking and reading to them so that they encounter words in all their many and varied guises. Seeing a word in many different contexts is more important than just seeing the word flashed at you many times;

Tip 3: teach reading through real books with real language so that children learn the rhythm and patterns of English grammar;

Tip 4: give children lots of real life experiences and talk to them about what they see. Trips out and about, and chats about things beyond their everyday environment are important.

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

Vocabulary building is vitally important for developing reading and comprehension skills in children, as well as in adults.

The evidence suggests that teaching and learning 10 new words per week can make a huge contribution to a child’s, an adolescent’s (or even an adult’s) language and literacy abilities (Beck, McKeown & Kucan, 2013).  While the classroom is the obvious place for such learning to take place, parents can also make a significant contribution to their child’s vocabulary bank.

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

New evidence is emerging that young children who spend time on smartphone screens may be susceptible to expressive language delay.

And for adults, it can have a negative effect on sleep. Experts say, if you want a good night’s sleep, keep the phone out of reach and out of the bedroom.

Pick up a book instead!!

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

Many moons ago, phonics was used to teach spelling and reading decoding skills in schools. Not comprehension – that is a different skill. Decoding is sound-letter (phoneme-grapheme, to be more accurate) knowledge. It precedes comprehension.

Then it went out of fashion. Dropped like a lead balloon. Boring, apparently. Not exciting enough. Goodness. Don’t get me started on that one.

The ‘whole language approach’ became the new black.

Australian literacy standards fell. Below those of even Kazakhstan, apparently.

Now, like a pair of culottes that seem to be all the rage this winter fashion season (I’m not fond of them, myself…just saying…), phonics is back with a vengeance!

Yay! Or, more accurately….Phew!

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.