I CAN is the children’s communication charity. They are experts in helping children develop the speech, language and communication skills they need to thrive in a 21st century world. I Can’s vision is a world where all children have the communication skills they need to fulfil their potential. Their mission is that no child should be left out or left behind because of a difficulty speaking or understanding.
Speech, language and communication underpin everything we do – making our needs known, expressing our likes and dislikes, interacting with others and building relationships.
We often take these skills for granted, but many children struggle to communicate. They have speech, language and communication needs or SLCN.
A child with speech, language and communication needs:
Might have speech that is difficult to understand
They might struggle to say words or sentences
They may not understand words that are being used, or the instructions they hear
They may have difficulties knowing how to talk and listen to others in a conversation.
I CAN helps parents and practitioners providing information and resources by phone or email through the I CAN Help Enquiry Service, online via the Talking Point website and in person through their multi-disciplinary speech and language assessments for children.
I CAN have a selection of resources in their online shop to assist parents and children with speech and communication. I have been sent over some things to get an idea of what they do and also to encourage communication with my own children at home.
This is the Early Talkers Boxset. It is a 3 pack set, each containing 30 illustrated activity cards. Each of the packs has a different age level.
•Babbling babies – helps to build early communication skills from birth to 18 months. These come with many handy tips and early activities.
•Toddler Talk – 18mths to 3 years. Many of the activities on these cards encourage play and enhance toddler communication skills. Encourages more words and sentences.
• Chatting with Children – 3-5 years, to help with young childrens communication. Encourages play, speech, sentences.
Izebella is now a little old for the Babbling baby cards but at the perfect age for the Toddler talk pack and this is the one we are currently using.
The 30 cards are organised into 5 sections. Each section comes with a fun animal friend. Monkey, Elephant, Bear, Canary, Butterfly and each animal relates to certain activity such as “Building sentences”, “Talking socially” “listening etc”,
Very little is needs to use the cards, sometimes it just involves talking or pointing to parts of the body. Sometimes basic household objects may be required or a little paint or paper but nothing that costs the Earth or is hard to find.
It’s good to do an activity a day. Most of them only take up a few minutes of time and encourage communication between parent and child.
This pack costs £19.99.
I was also sent a
“Moving on Activity Pack “ too which is just great for Ryan and any child about to start high school this year.
This is designed for year 6 students which Ryan is now. It helps to support the (sometimes scary) transition from primary to secondary school and covers many issues such as school travel, lessons and most importantly bullying.
This pack comes in a fun Filofax type design with images and activity sheets. It also comes with passport reminder cards and a wallet. It costs £7.99 per pack. I think this is the sort of thing that primary schools should invest in and give out to all year 6 students towards the end of the school year just to help them get prepared.
COMPETITION
I CAN are giving away some resource packs as above. There will be two winners and each winner will receive both the Moving On and the Early Talkers box set as above.
The competition will end on the 6th March 2015 and is open to residents of the UK.
Please enter by clicking the link below to be taken to the entry page.
I CAN can help
If you need help or advice for a child please visit the ICAN help page to find relevant contact details.
Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com – See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/ican-learning-resources#sthash.dSvMN4Ic.dpuf
Start reading from a very young age, play games such as wheres your nose, eyes, ears.
This sounds like a wonderful charity! You never realize simple things you talk for granted like the ability to communicate easily. Great post!
If your knees allow, it is always a good idea to get down to a child’s level in order to listen to them or speak to them. Also, listen carefully and politely and don’t interrupt your child when they are trying to tell you something. Be as courteous to your child as you would be to your best friend and they will also learn to not interrupt you either 🙂
always best to ask a open question rather then a close question (where a yes/no answer is required.)
Reading and nursery rhymes from birth
speak clearly and in a normal voice, also read with them from an early age
Have your child`s friend stop over so they learn to interact with others not just in school.
Lots of reading from when they are very little!
Make sure you stimulate by talking all the time about the things you see as you go places x
spend time talking to your children away from television and tech
start reading to them from a young age i started at birth onwards with mine
start reading to them from a young age i started at birth onwards with mine 🙂
reading and talking to them from a young age.
I play word games with my daughter
we always play describing games in the car on the way back from school
We drop pebbles from the drive and sing and count. When we get to ten we have a little dance.
Read to them from the word go and talk to them as much as you possibly can.
Read to/ with your child from birth. Play and sing lots of songs. And talk with them.
we always play i spy..which the kids love
Reading, reading and more reading!
I play word games with my daughter
I get my grandchildren to help find items in the supermarket from my shopping list and ask them to find certain sizes, flavours etc. We also check dates on products.
Talk to them constantly even if it’s just describing you washing up, if possible get down on their level so they can see you mouth. My son has hearing problems and speech delay every new word is an achievement and all children learn at their own pace.
Talk to you child all the time even when out walking, point things out so they get a good understanding of the world around them. Read to your child, sing songs and join clubs so they can interact with other children x
when they are just learning to talk I always parrot them but saying the right words and praising them when they try x
Involving them in conversations is really important, I have found getting people to talk to him on the telephone makes him laugh and try and talk back, I have very patient relatives!
I talk constantly to my little girl and point out different objects to her so she can learnt he names.
Reading to your child from early on, and songs and games with numbers ect. Fab prize X
always communicate with your child. the younger the better. its good for them to mimmick sounds even when they newborn
sorry my name didnt go on. stephanie campbell
talk to your child all the time
Talk to them all the time – read to them – name things as you do them e.g. lets put your socks on your feet so it gives them a frame of reference for words
Chat to your baby/child as much as you can about everything around them!