Letter of the Week: S

August 26-30
Letter of the Week: S
Theme: School

Can you believe it?!?  Back to school season is upon us!  Time to get back into those school bedtime and wake up/morning routines.  To flow with conversations you are probably already having with your young ones, our theme this week is school and our letter, ‘s’.

‘S’ is a consonant.  From a speech perspective, ‘s’ is a Image from the LiPS Program by Lindamood-Bell“skinny air” sound.  Hold your hand in front of your mouth while saying /s/.  The air coming out of your mouth should feel like a skinny or thin stream.  The tongue is doing the heavy work shaping the flow of air being forced out, while the lips are contributing with a smile action (teeth lightly closed).   ‘S’ is a quiet sound (no voice).  Hold your hand to your throat as you say it; no vibration from the vocal cords.

If the /s/ sound is tricky for your child, check out the teaching tips at the end of this post.

In therapy:  We will be reading 's'/school themed books, doing an ‘s’/school themed art project, and exploring the letter name, letter sound and letter symbol for 's'.

Suggestions for home:  Pick out the ones that appeal most to your child (and you!).  Kids learn best through active experiences.  And multi-modal learning helps make stronger and more diverse connections in the brain, which helps with retention and recall.  Sprinkle ‘s’ throughout the week.  Most important, have fun!

BOOKS

• My “s” Book (Sound Box Books) by Jane Belk Moncure
• The Wheels on the School Bus by Mary-Alice Moore
• If You Take A Mouse To School by Laura Numeroff
• Pirates Go To School by Corrine Demas
• The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort
• The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
• Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

No Time For Flashcards curated this list of 31 Books To Read About School. 

FOOD

Eating the Alphabet - S:  Consider adding some “s” foods to your menu this week.

     Salad     Salami     Salmon     Salsa     Sandwich     Sausage     Scones    

     Skittles     Sloppy Joes     S'mores     Soup     Spaghetti     Spinach    

     Squash     Steak     Stew     Strawberries     Snack

Feeling adventurous?  Plan a baking activity with your child and make sugar or snickerdoodle cookies.
 

ACTIVITIES

Scavenger Hunt:  how many ‘s’ things can you find around the house, while shopping at the market, in a magazine or store ad flyers?

Field Trip:  

• Zoo/Aquarium:  can you find any animals with ‘s’ in their name?
• Visit your child’s school
• Park:  swing, slide, play soccer

I Spy:  look for the letter ‘s’ in a variety of texts (books, magazines, newspaper, road signs, license plates).

Sensory Play:

• Sensory Slime!  Let your child experience homemade slime by adding glue to cornstarch and stir well, adjusting the amount of each ingredient to get the right consistency (e.g. too sticky, add more cornstarch). To keep it from getting too sticky, store it in the refrigerator.  Alternatively, you can make less sticky slime with cornstarch and water.
• Fill old squeeze bottles (like condiment bottles) with water and “write” Ss (squirt the water) on the sidewalk

APPS

• Bo’s School Day - a story-game following Bo the Giraffe through a school day
• SmallTalk Phonemes app (FREE) and Speech Sounds on Cue (US Version, $25) provide video clips of individual sounds being produced

What fun back-to-school traditions do you have (or are starting)?  If you think of some other ‘s’ or school-themed activities, please comment.  I’d love to hear!

Is /s/ a tricky sound for your child?  Here are some teaching tips to try:

• Look, listen and feel.  Have your child watch you as you produce /s/ (if both of you are looking in a mirror, it allows your child to compare his production to yours).  Have your child listen; talk about /s/ sounding like a cat hissing or a snake sound.  Play “listen for the sound” as you say single words.  Talk about what /s/ feels like: lips are smiling, tongue is behind the top front teeth, air is blowing out making “skinny air”.
• Have your child repeat the /t/ sound quickly (“t-t-t-t-t-t-”).  On the last /t/, have your child hold it (stretch the /t/) out to make the “ssssssss” sound.  
• Have your child hold the "th" sound (as in "thing" or "thumb"), then gradually have him "paint" (slide up) behind his front top teeth with the tip of the tongue until the tip gets to the bump (alveolar ridge).  This should turn the “th” sound into /s/.
• Have your child hold the quiet "shhhhh" sound. Then have her pull his lips back into a smile while pushing the tip of his tongue forward slightly. This should turn the "shhhhh" to /s/.
• Place a drinking straw down the middle of your child's tongue. Have him close his jaw and bring the sides of his tongue up around the straw until the sides of his tongue are touching the top back teeth. Have him blow air out through the straw. Slowly remove the straw from his mouth while he continues to hold that position. 
• If your child’s tongue is poking out between her teeth, cue to “close your teeth/tongue behind your teeth”.

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