Back-to-School Routines for Speech and Language
The back-to-school season is an exciting time for children! New teachers, classmates, friendships, and daily routines create many natural opportunities to support speech and language development.
Incorporating simple routines into your family's school-year schedule can help strengthen your child's communication skills in fun and meaningful ways. Here are five easy activities to include in your back-to-school routine:
1. Make Breakfast and Lunch Time a Conversation
Mealtimes are a great opportunity to build language skills while preparing or eating food together.
Try asking questions like:
Where are you eating lunch today?
Who do you eat lunch with
Is your yogurt cold or warm?
What does your apple taste like?
Which sandwich would you like today?
What should we pack first?
These conversations help develop:
Receptive language (understanding questions and directions)
Expressive language (using gestures, words, phrases, and sentences to communicate)
2. Talk About the School Day
Instead of asking, "How was school?" encourage more detailed conversations with specific questions.
Try asking:
Who did you play with today?
What was your favorite activity?
What made you laugh today?
What did you learn?
How did you solve a problem today?
Encourage your child to use complete sentences and descriptive words at a level that is appropriate for their age and communication skills.
This supports both receptive and expressive language.
3. Read Together Every Night
Reading together is one of the best ways to support language development.
As you read:
Ask your child "who," "what," "where," "when," and "why" questions.
Have them predict what will happen next.
Talk about the characters and the story.
Introduce and explain new vocabulary.
Reading builds both receptive and expressive language skills while fostering a love of books.
4. Practice Following Directions
Everyday routines provide opportunities to work on listening and following directions.
Try giving simple directions such as:
"Put your backpack by the door."
"Hang up your jacket and then wash your hands."
"Bring me your lunchbox and place it on the counter."
As your child improves, increase the number of steps in the directions.
This helps strengthen receptive language and listening skills.
5. Practice Target Sounds in the Car
Car rides are perfect for quick speech practice.
Play games like "I Spy" using your child's target speech sound. For example:
"I spy something that starts with the /k/ sound."
"Can you think of three words that start with /s/?"
"How many things can you find with the /b/ sound?"
Keeping practice playful and brief helps build confidence and encourages carryover of speech sounds into everyday conversation.
Remember, you don't need long practice sessions to make a difference. Short, meaningful interactions throughout the day can have a big impact on your child's speech and language development. The best learning happens during everyday routines and having fun together makes it even more effective!
Author: Amber Dowell, SLPA
