Starfish Updates
Blog: Check out our most recent blog posts!
New Additions: We are thrilled to welcome a speech and language pathologist to our staff! Check out her bio below and look for her addition to our web site soon. Julie Bowen, MS, CCC-SLP
An East Coast native, Julie completed her undergraduate degree at Boston University with a B.S in Communication Disorders. She later received her M.S degree in the field of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, East Bay. Prior to joining Starfish Therapies, Julie has practiced in early intervention, hospital, school, home, and clinic-based locations. She has experience providing therapy in multiple environments including individual, small group, and classroom settings. She has worked with a large range of speech and langauge diagnoses including Autism, Asperger's, Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, William's Syndrome, Angelman's Syndrome, cognitve impairment, cleft lip and palate, language delays, and speech disorders (i.e., stuttering, articulation, etc).
Julie is trained in Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy, and Hannen Program's "It Takes T
Giving Back: This month we are donating to the Buddy Walk to benefit Down Syndrome. We will also be participating in the walk by having a booth. Please come by and check us out.
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Out and About
We are looking to incorporate more group and class opportunities for kids and parents and we would love your input. What would you or your child like to participate in? All ideas are welcome, just hit reply to this newsletter and send in your ideas! Thanks in advance for all of your great ideas. Even if you don't live in the Bay Area send us your ideas too!
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Just For Fun
With the advent of the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and all other electronic readers, good old fashioned books are falling by the wayside (I admit I am guilty of electronic reading)! Well McSweeney's a San Francisco publisher has started republishing out of print kids books and creating a book delivery service for your kids reading pleasure!
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Greetings!
Hello! We hope you and your family have had a happy and healthy summer. Enjoy this months issue which has some great tips for Kindergarten readiness as the school year approaches. Also, see the updates section to help us in welcoming a Speech Therapist to the Starfish team.
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Get Ready for Kindergarten
 Being school ready means to have the capability to learn and be able to cope with one's school environment without unnecessary stress. A child's actual intelligence plays only a small role in their ability to be able to cope with his or her school day. Here are some things that your child will encounter in Kindergarten and that would help to expose them ahead of time:
Academic Skills: Some of the basic academic skills that will be used in Kindergarten are counting to ten or identifying some of the letters. If they're not identifying letters at this time, they should show an eagerness to learn alphabet letters. Sorting is a great activity and can be done at home in various ways and in multiple environments (In the tub with toys, blocks, sand box toys, etc.). Children love stories and using their imaginations and they should be able look at pictures and begin to tell stories using their imagination. Other things that are covered throughout Kindergarten include recognizing common sight words, knowing their name, address and phone number, print awareness (understanding words in a book have meaning), and remembering pictures from a printed page.
Fine Motor: Kids start to explore more with arts and crafts in Kindergarten. They'll begin to cut with scissors, learn how to paste and are picking up crayons and markers often. Hand clapping games become ways to keep the kids involved in activities and also to work on midline/bilateral coordination and rhythm while singing. Building with blocks encourages use of the imagination as well as increases eye-hand coordination, as the block building becomes more complex. Your children should begin exploring with 5 piece or less simple puzzles and learning how to manipulate and move them into place. A lot of Kindergarteners will begin to pick up these skills by just exploring the toys, engaging with other peers, or some may need some encouragement from adults.
Gross Motor: Gross motor activities for recess, gym, classroom, etc. include bouncing a ball and throwing a ball. They should also be able to alternate feet when walking down-stairs, march, run, jump and be able to walk backwards for a small distance. Even if they're not actually completing these gross motor activities, if they're exploring or showing an eagerness to attempt a lot of them, then that's an important factor towards readiness.
Self Care: Self care for school can include buttoning shirts, pants, coats and being able to zip up zippers for dressing. They will also be strongly encouraged to clean up after themselves and be responsible for hanging up coats and jackets upon arrival. It helps to see their peers completing the same tasks and they may want to try and be more independent. Kindergarteners are usually managing bathroom needs at this time as well.
Social Skills: Sharing becomes a key factor in Kindergarten. Children will learn to share with their friends and also work on listening to stories without interrupting. Complete sentences are used for the most part and children also begin to learn that actions have both causes and effects. Schedules and rules are a big part of the classroom and the kids pick up on what comes next fast. The biggest social/regulation piece that should be present is an eagerness to learn and engage in new activities while at school.
If you are not seeing a lot of these skills in your child yet, there's no need to worry. If they're happy and eager to try and learn new things, this is the biggest skill they could have. They'll be exposed to these different activities and be able to learn along with their peers if they have the willingness there. Practicing routines at home can be helpful in prepping a soon-to-be-Kindergartener but are not always necessary. Pre-school is good practice, in that it's different then daycare because it allows for more structured and educational activities. Entering kindergarten is the greatest social and independence boost your child can receive. Have a great year!
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Great Oral Motor Activities and Their Benefits
There are many simple oral motor exercises out there that are both beneficial and fun for your children. They can especially benefit those children with low muscles tone and therefore, either are noted to drool more often or have difficulty moving around food or keeping it in their mouth. Here is a list of great oral motor activities and their benefits.
Blowing Bubbles: Helps to maintain and strengthen lip rounding or pursed lips. Bubbles can also work on activating lung and respiratory muscles. It can help naturally activate breathing. Other benefits that are non-oral motor can be increased eye-hand coordination as well as it being used as a regulation technique for calming.
Peanut Butter on The Lips/Mouth: Placing peanut butter on your child's lips and outer mouth can help with tongue lateralization (side to side movements) in order to lick it off. Encourage them to not use their hands, but to try and get it all off with just their tongue. This is a fun activity but is not an activity for kids with more extreme feeding or swallowing difficulties.
Funny Faces in the Mirror: We've all done this at one point of another. Kids think it's silly but it's also beneficial to have the kids see what their faces are doing as they are trying to do it. Show your child a couple of faces to make and then have them try and imitate them. Puff your cheeks, try and touch your tongue to your nose, make a fish face, etc. This game works on strengthening muscles in the face and also overall motor planning skills.
Vibration, Crunchy Snacks, Brushing: Adding vibration to the outside or inside of the mouth is a good way to wake oral motor muscles up. This can be done with a vibrating toothbrush. Moving the brush to the inside of the cheeks, the roof of the mouth and on the gum line, should encourage the child's tongue to follow. Crunchy snacks can also be a way to prep or alert the mouth.
Other benefiting oral motor activities include drinking from straws, eating chewy foods, blowing whistles and harmonicas, etc. Don't be afraid to get creative with these activities and change up how you are completing them so that you can keep your child's interest up. Have fun with your children and get involved, the more fun they see you having the more they are going to have.
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Thank you for reading this month. We hope you found the information useful. See you in September!
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Sincerely,
Your Friends at
Starfish Therapies
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