Kinder Screenings

These are conducted to assess a student's acquisition of skills needed to advance to the next grade level. Some of the skills evaluated include expressing personal needs, following 2-step directions, using age-appropriate social skills, and developing speech sounds.

Phonological Awareness Skills such as rhyming, sound/letter pairs, identifying the first sound in a word, and counting syllables are also included, as these are foundational for early reading and writing skills.

We will be launching a phonological-based small group session on Friday mornings in June for kiddos who need a little boost before starting the next school year!

How do we accomplish this?

  • Multi-sensory input

  • Functional, in-home examples

  • Explicit teaching of the sound structure of language

  • Visual cues and models to assist with identifying the beginning and end sounds of words

  • Intertwining two bodies of knowledge (phonological/sound structure & phonics/print context)

FAQs

  • Kids can memorize the letters and sounds, but they need to know how to divide up the sounds and put them back together to make words. The "Just sound it out" tip doesn't work until they have phonological awareness.

    Children who can't read efficiently don't have as many positive work outcomes and also have an increased chance of ending up in the juvenile system.

  • Phonological awareness is looking at the sound structure of language in order to understand its parts, divide it into sounds, and put it back together to create a word.

    This skill begins before print knowledge (i.e. phonics).

  • Yes! Virtual sessions focus on caregivers modeling, provided scaffolding and supportive feedback from the speech therapist.