The New Language of Toys: Teaching Communication Skills to Children with Special Needs, a Guide for Parents and Teachers / Edition 3

by Sue Schwartz

Overview

New edition of the perennial favorite of parents and therapists, shows how to use toys to encourage and build communication skills in children with special needs who experience language delays. Many young children with special needs experience language delays and need additional help to build language skills. What better way to encourage communication development than through play? The completely updated third edition of "The New Language of Toys", a perennial favourite of parents, speech-language pathologists, and early interventionists, offers a plan for doing just that. The new edition presents sixty-five new toys and accompanying toy dialogues to use with children with a wide range of special needs from birth through age six. These sample toy dialogues show parents how to play purposefully with their child — using store-bought and home-made toys — to provide language learning opportunities and stimulate language development. The exercises are fun and educational, too, as parents help their child build receptive language skills (understanding), expressive language skills (communicating), and speech. The book is organised by language developmental ages and each section includes: toy dialogues; numerous photographs; a toy list; a list of suggested vocabulary and communication concepts; children's book bibliography; checklist to track progress. In addition, this book provides important background information about language, its sequential development, the causes of language delays, and how play can enhance language development. It also explains the use of videos, DVDs, television, and the computer as language enhancers. The resource lists are extensive, offering toy manufacturers and catalogues, support organisations, children's book information, and suggested materials for home-made toys. With this book, parents can help their children make gains in their language development and have an enjoyable and rewarding experience while do

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781890627485
Publisher:	Woodbine House
Publication date:	01/28/2004
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.94(w) x 9.92(h) x 0.61(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	Foreword	ix
	Introduction	xi
Chapter 1	Language: An Introduction	1
Chapter 2	Language Development in Children	5
Chapter 3	Playing and Learning	25
Chapter 4	Toy Dialogs	33
Chapter 5	Toy Dialogs for the First Year	43
	Birth to Three Months
	Three to Six Months
	Six to Nine Months
	Nine to Twelve Months
Chapter 6	Toy Dialogs for the Second Year	77
	Twelve to Fifteen Months
	Fifteen to Eightenn Months
	Eighteen to Twenty-Four Months
Chapter 7	Toy Dialogs for the Third Year (Twenty-Four to Thirty-Six Months)	101
Chapter 8	Toy Dialogs for the Fourth Year (Thirty-Six to Forty-Eight Months)	121
Chapter 9	Toy Dialogs for the Fifth Year (Forty-Eight to Sixty Months)	147
Chapter 10	Toy Dialogs for the Sixth Year (Sixty to Seventy-Two Months)	171
Chapter 11	Teaching Language Throughout the Day	193
Chapter 12	Computer Technology and Language Learning	199
Chapter 13	Videotapes, DVDs, and Television	209
Chapter 14	Toy Safety	213
Appendix A	Alternate Sources of Toys	217
Appendix B	Materials List	219
Appendix C	Sources for Information about Children's Books	221
Appendix D	Resource Guide	223
Appendix E	Toy Manufacturers Cited in This Book	231
Appendix F	Other Sources of Toys	235
Appendix G	References	239
	Index	245

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Catherine Baer Coleman, M.S.(George Washington University)
Description: This third edition of this book is updated to include newer toys and their uses in facilitating effective play techniques. It is mainly designed for parents/caregivers as they are the child's first teachers, according to the author. However, the book has been widely used by speech-language pathologists, early interventionists, special educators and students in any of those fields.
Purpose: The purpose is to educate parents on the variety of functional useful toys and how each can stimulate language in many ways. This edition includes new toys and has expanded the technology chapters to meet the changes and growth in the use of technology to further language development. The book clearly meets its objectives as did the first and second editions. It is a long-standing reference for families and practitioners.
Audience: The book is written mainly for families as a way to understand the framework of language development and how play is the best early stimulating experience for children with and without communicative handicaps. The book is also a superb reference tool for graduate students who are just beginning to understand and implement the fine art of structured play therapy.
Features: The three parts cover language development, recommended toys and their use, and how toys can be used for learning. This will assist parents in making wise toy purchases or in using current toys in varied ways. The book is clearly written for parents with colorful pictures and language dialogue to aid the parents' interactions with their child. The seven appendixes, which include a materials list and toy manufacturers, are a helpful addition for parents and practitioners. The toy sections are clearly delineated and easy to read.
Assessment: The book is different than other materials which are generally geared toward the practitioners in the field. It is useful that this book is written mainly for parents and is a nice tool to offer to parents to aid the therapeutic process and relationship. Parents can not only observe the practitioner implementing play therapy but can have an informative book to further educate themselves on language development and intervention techniques.

Doody's Review Service

5 Stars! from Doody