I will use a soundfield sytem, the pull-up stand with 6 AV techniques at the front and I will ask parents to sit on the floor if possible and have the child seated in front of them. If we use FM, if we can get them onto the same frequency band, I will plug a transmitter into the soundfield. If not, I will ask for the microphones to be OFF.
Music is an important aspect of the session – Carol Flexer discusses the value of singing – the melody stimulates one hemisphere of the brain and the words the other and so where there is both, it is a ‘whole brain workout’. We will use specific AVT techniques.
Incorporated throughout will be the vital aspect of developing Theory of Mind.
AGE 2 – 6 - moving on to develop more listening and language skills and increasing listening stamina
Introduce my ‘friend’ who is hiding in my bag. Who is my friend? (it will be a different one each time). I will give 3 or 4 clues – they have to listen to the clues and guess who my ‘friend’ is this week.
Sing approx. 8 songs together. At each session, I will do some of the same songs for continuity and some new ones.
1st two songs will always be ‘hello ______’ (to my friend) and then ‘when the _____ hears the music he plays peekaboo’. Depending on the children, we will move to the song having 6 things to develop auditory memory to 6. Suggest the AV way of doing this and ask parents not to immediately give the answers.
3rd song will always be using my LING box and I will introduce each LING sound with a song. Sometimes I will make it very quiet or from a distance.
Then we will do the other songs before the story.
At the end of each group session, the parents will have their ‘challenges’ to try before the next group session. We will discuss at each how everyone has got on.
SESSION 1 –
Story: Monkey Puzzle
Numeracy ideas: counting up to 5 and backwards to 0 by audition only; up and down.
Activity: play skittles - keep a score on the board with the names of each child - see who has scored more, who has scored the same…. Talk about how the person is feeling… what do we say to that person?
Depending on the children, we could possibly give them a Peppa Pig game of snakes and ladders to play at home??
SESSION 2 –
Story: Peace at Last (depending on the children, this could be a hard book)
Ideas: talk about nocturnal animals – animals that sleep at night and
are up during the day.
Activity: make a ‘hands’ tree and put an owl in the tree
Parents might like to find in a library ‘It was a cold dark night’ by Tim Hopwood
SESSION 3 –
Story: The Smartest Giant in town
Numeracy ideas: before and after
Activity: Dressing a teddy – what comes first. Then if time, we will put the clothes that the giant had in order and decide which one comes before and which comes after.
SESSION 4 –
Story: Mr. Tickle
Provide children with Mr. Tickle copy colouring book.
Numeracy ideas: long and short; longer and shorter, longest and shortest; tall and short; tallest and shortest, taller and shorter.
Activity: everyone is measured on a large piece of paper and discuss using the numeracy vocab.
SESSION 5 –
Theme – CHRISTMAS
Story: is it Christmas? By John Prater
Activity: make Rudolf out of empty toilet rolls
Contact details:
Mobile: +44 (0) 7534 246 244
Home number: +44 (0) 28 4062 7407; Email:
Home address: 17 Barrack Hill, Banbridge, Co. Down, BT324HE