Speech Therapy Comes With Homework, Too??

I like to call it home practice, but we all know what that means.

Yes! Speech therapy also comes with homework, or as I and others like to call it, home practice. I have my own thoughts about homework from school because, well, kids are already working all day (or most of it, at least) five days a week. Having even MORE work on top of that seems like a lot to ask, and that is coming from someone who currently works in a school. It’s also coming from someone who hated pointless or unnecessarily difficult homework in school herself. But this isn’t about that, it’s about speech homework and why it is actually so important for your child’s progress.

1. Most children receive speech therapy at much a lower frequency and duration than other activities they participate in, like school, sports, or simply spending time with family. Generally it is once a week with times ranging from 30 to 60 minutes. In more severe or extreme cases, a child might receive speech therapy twice or even three times a week. All of these conditions have the child spending more time outside of therapy than inside, which means in order to maximize progress, we have to practice at home!

2. Not only does practice outside of therapy increase progress IN therapy, it also supports generalization of skills across environments.

3. Part of an SLP’s role is to educate parents and caregivers about how to empower them to support their child in practicing at home. Therapy is not a short process, but it can be drawn out when home practice is neglected. 

4. When you practice at home, you are more likely to notice changes, whether positive or negative, and this helps guide treatment. Your child’s SLP is there to help them reach their goals and support you and any concerns you may have as their parent about their progress.

5. As they say, “practice makes perfect” and simply put, the more practice that happens, inside AND outside of therapy, the more progress will be seen across environments (aka not just with the therapist who has a depth of expertise in providing very specific feedback or progressions for the skills in question).

What's your take on homework?

• pro homework
• anti homework (but I'll do my speech homework :D)

P.S. Yes, that is a young me attempting to get my homework done as my cat ran an impressive interference.

Feel free to comment your thoughts below or email me at kknowsley@cradletotable.com!