Ds5 is currently in speech therapy through our local school. His 20mo old sister is babbling but not talking yet, and I suspect she will need speech therapy soon. When we begin hs this fall, I’m not sure if we will use the school for his speech. I came across a 2CD set called Speechercise by Twin Sisters Productions. Have any of you used it? Do you know anything about it?
We have Speechercise and like it as a supplement. It is fast paced so our children get pretty amped up when we do it (it usually turns into an exercise/dancing session too). One thing I have to do (for our daughter who has autism) is to point to my mouth and annunciate for her as it is difficult to tell the difference between letter sounds set to music on a CD. I’ve written down some of the songs that have sounds she needs more practice on so we can do them on our own without the CD, sometimes the music just gets in the way! Overall we were pleased, but it certainly requires you to be right there so your child can see your mouth.
I hope that gives you a little helpful information!
Karen, I have these. They personally did not work well for us. They were silly, did not seem effective, and my son HATED them. He was at the upper range of the age range when we got them, so this might have had something to do with it. But we got a lot more out of the home speech therapy we did using materials available at NATHHAN.
I have to agree with Michelle. My son is 9 and he was absolutely stunned that I would expect him to do the Speechercise. I’m just sure it was age related, though. However, Michelle, I am interested in NATHHAN. Could you explain a little more? My son is a mumbler and he also ‘rises’ at the end of a sentence instead of ending on the downbeat – if that makes any sense (think Pennsylvania Dutch speech pattern). I’ve been paying very close attention and when he mumbles and we ask him to repeat it, he will, but a second request gets a “never mind.” The rise tends to come when he is explaining something or when he is reading-constant when he is reading, actually. I’ve been doing lots of phonics review with him because I wondered if he is having to think too much while he’s reading, making it not come naturally. Any thoughts?
Karen, on Amazon.com you can listen to samples from the CDs. That’s probably the best way for you to find out if it will be a good fit for you and your son (you can have him listen too and see if he likes it).
I can understand why both Cindy and Michelle (and their sons) did not enjoy these CDs. They are a bit on the “get up and clap to the beat” side of things. My children enjoy a lot of music and movement so it may very well be an age thing (mine are ages 7, 6 and 4). Some children simply do not like silly stuff, period. My son has a friend who is like that, and he has spent many days on end in our home (for family/military reasons) so I understand that temperament is a factor to consider. I guess I’m the kind of mom who puts on face paint and builds surprise dining-chair circus tents for the morning so my children are pretty quick to jump on board for nearly any activity. We certainly don’t suffer the kind of twaddle which leads to foolishness in our house, but we do love to kick off our shoes and be goofy together. To each family their own! 😀
I hope you can hear the samples on Amazon to give you a better idea!
We’ve used the first volume, on mispronunciations, but not the second, on delayed language development. I’m not sure about the voice rise and if either of those would address that. I don’t think there is anything in the first one about that but I’ll check. Sorry I’m not much more help! I’ve had two sons with mispronunciations and one with some stuttering.
Did you find the NATHHAN stuff mildly helpful or really helpful. I have a son with significant speech issues. We’ve taken him to professional therapists and he has made some significant improvements. However, we had to take a break for financial reasons. He is still unable to make “r” sounds. I guess I’m just wondering. . . did you find the book easy to use (as the teacher) and did it make a difference in a way that you would have been unable to do on your own. Hope this makes sense. I’m a little loopy with Easter prep! 🙂
Yes, the books made a significant difference. If used consistently and in a disciplined way, I think it can be as effective as outside therapy. We used them with my two youngest sons. The only problem I’ve had is the difficulty of being really, truly consistent and disciplined with it. My 8yo has corrected almost all his mispronunciations except “r” but that is really my fault as this last year, I have failed to be consistent and have struggled to have the time to devote to it. The Straight Talk book 1 contains diagnostic tests, pages of tips and tricks to teach the basic sounds, then games and exercises to reinforce it, and finally tests to show that the change has been made. My youngest son had 7 usually mispronounced sounds on initial testing, and has corrected all but 1 in two years’ time with the materials. And I think he could have corrected that one if I was really working on it. I keep hoping I’ll get to it soon!
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