Whether it’s your preschooler’s first time in a school setting or they are moving into a new class, transitions can be hard! When a child has a speech and/or language delay, it can make the situation even more difficult. Not being able to communicate is frustrating and can lead to temper tantrums and meltdowns. It’s helpful if your child’s teacher understands how their speech/language delay impacts them in the classroom. It’s important that everyone is on the same team, so they can best help your child!
Here is a sample letter to introduce your child. You can send it in their backpack or copy and paste into an e-mail.
Dear (Teacher’s name):
We are so excited that {child’s name} will be in your class this year! Early childhood educators make such a difference in a child’s life and we are excited to start this journey with you!
There are a few things I wanted to share that may help as you are getting to know {child’s name}. {Child’s name} is a {happy, sweet, active} little girl/guy. He/she loves {favorite activity} and {favorite thing}. {Child’s name} also has a speech/language delay. This causes him/her to have difficulty {putting his/her thoughts into words, pronouncing certain sounds, following directions, communicating with others.} He/she is currently working with a Speech Pathologist and we are doing all we can to support him/her at home.
There are a few strategies that are helpful at home. We wanted to share these with you to help you as you are getting to know {child’s name}. Here are a few suggestions that may help:
{choose all that apply}
- Giving him/her extra time to respond: Sometimes just giving {child’s name} a few extra seconds helps him/her a lot!
- Giving him/her a choice: Open-ended questions are more difficult for {child’s name}. Giving him/her a choice helps to make the question more concrete and easier to understand.
- Let him/her know what’s coming: Because {child’s name} has difficulty communicating, he/she sometimes gets upset when he/she doesn’t know what’s coming. Letting him/her know a change is coming can be very helpful.
- Giving one direction at a time: {child’s name} has difficulty following when there are a lot of directions at once. Giving him/her one step at a time really helps with this.
- Showing him what to say: Because {child’s name} can’t always think of the words he wants to use, modelling what he/she can say is helpful
- Adding a visual: Pictures are very helpful for {child’s name}, especially when he/she is having difficulty understanding.
- Using signs: {child’s name} uses some signs at home such as “more” and “eat.” They help him/her communicate while he/she is working on using more words.
Thank you in advance for your kindness and patience with {child’s name}. We are looking forward to a great school year! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us via phone (phone number) or e-mail (e-mail address).
Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
(Parent’s Name)
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Brooke Andrews, M.A. CCC-SLP is owner of The Speech Dynamic and offers speech therapy in homes and schools across Houston. Brooke specializes in speech and language development to toddlers and preschoolers and provides in-home speech therapy to families in Houston.
