SPICE 

Talking Together-What Families Can Do at Home

The best way families can do more talking together is to have plenty of experiences to talk about. Why not try some of the following: outings to the local park or playground, go to the beach, visit the zoo or a farm, the bike park or skate park, or just go for a walk in the hills, museums, art galleries or markets. You might even go for a ride on a bus, tram or train. 

Before an outing, talk together about what you are going to do and what you might see and afterwards you can talk about what you did. This helps your child to learn new words and practise telling stories. You might even take some photos and make a book about your outing, or just use the photos as prompts while talking about what you did. 

Handy Hints When Talking

Often we talk to our children rather than with them. To help children build conversation skills, try taking turns. Turn taking helps children expand their ideas.

Try and use descriptive words when talking with your child. The more words your child hears, the more they learn. Having a big vocabulary helps children when they are learning to read as well.

Have a tea party or a picnic with your child. These can be real or pretend. Think about what you need to prepare or pack and then talk together with your guests. This helps children's social skills as well as their language development.

Playgroup Returns

Unfortunately the commencement date of playgroup has been pushed back again due to Covid restrictions. At this stage, we are hoping playgroup will commence next Thursday, at 9:30am on the 12th of August. We thank all participating families for their patience and look forward to seeing you then.