This post contains affiliate links via the ITunes affiliate program.
If you have been looking for some good speech/language apps to do with your child, here are 4 that I use regularly with my clients. I own all of these apps and so I am recommending them to you today based on my 19 years as a pediatric SLP and a mother of children with speech/language needs.
To explain them to you today, I have asked my fellow Speech Language Pathologist, Kristin Cummings, M.S., SLP-CCC who works as a pediatric speech language pathologist in Florida and has a great speech blog, “Simply Speech” to guest post.
While I am a huge proponent of a screen free childhood, I do feel there are times, when used in moderation, learning apps can help a child by allowing for mobile instruction (waiting rooms, etc), increasing interest, and improving skills. And as a pediatric SLP myself, I find that using certain speech/language apps in moderation allow parents homeschooling children with speech/language needs another way to help their children at home. Please note that Articulation Station, discussed below, is my GO-TO articulation app to work with both my clients and my own children on their speech sound errors.
Enjoy! Pin! Share!~~Katie Sullivan, M.S., SLP-CCC
FOUR GREAT SPEECH/LANGUAGE APPS
I am so excited to be doing a guest post for My Sweet Homeschool! Let me start by introducing myself. First and foremost I am a mommy to precious little girl named Kenzie Lee, but I sign my name Kristin Cummings, M.S., CCC/SLP. I am a speech language pathologist in an elementary school setting as well as a private therapist. I am also the author of the [simply speech.] blog at kcummingsslp.blogspot.com. Most of my experience has been working with preschool and school age students, which I love!Over the past few years, technology has really found a place in the therapy room. iPads are filling every classroom and therapy room in our county. I was a little hesitant to jump right in and fully embrace the technology in therapy. I was used to using articulation cards, Candy land, and other tried and true therapy materials that were yet to let me down. However, knowing that 3 year olds are now working their parents’ iPhones I figured the old saying is true, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Boy I am so glad I did! There are so many great apps out there, and I wanted to share a few favorites with you! (Note: None of these app companies have paid me to share these apps, the opinions are 100% mine!)
Favorite articulation app: Articulation Station
This app is a favorite with my articulation students (they even request it by name!) This app includes flash cards, stories, and games separated by specific sounds in the initial, medial, and final position. This way you can target specifically what your child needs. The flash cards include a word and a real life picture of the target. If you touch the picture, the word is read out loud (perfect for little ones who aren’t reading yet). There is also a concentration (memory) type game for each sound.
This app is great for kids to play with by themselves or with a sibling or friend while they practice their good speech sounds and are exposed to new vocabulary words. Articulation Station Pro (which includes all the sounds) sells for $49.99. However, if your little one only needs to work on specific sounds (like /k/ or /g/), you can download each one for $2.99-5.99. You can download a free sample version of Articulation Station to try it out in the iTunes store.
Favorite language app: Preposition Builder
The mobile education store has some really great apps to target language concepts. One of my favorites and frequently used app is Preposition Builder. This app has engaging, child friendly pictures that illustrate a target concept. One of my favorite things about this app, is that if the child incorrectly answers the question, the picture changes to show why it is not correct. Here is an example of a screen shot. The prompt was “The boy put the cereal ___ the bowl.” The correct answer is “in” but the student chose “on.”
The Mobile Education Store has many other great apps such as: Sentence Builder, Sentence Builder Teen, Story Builder, Language Builder, Rainbow Sentences, and Speech Journal. Preposition Builder sells for $7.99 in the iTunes store.
Favorite story app: Toy Story Showtime!
I am a huge fan of the Toy Story movies, so when I found this, I was beyond excited! This app is an interactive story of the Toy Story gang planning a talent show. It targets early reading concepts and vocabulary. Vocabulary words are repeated throughout the story. This is great since kids learn best through multiple exposures.
The app reads the story out loud and highlights each word as it is read (great for learning sight words!) In each scene, there are yellow “glow” buttons that highlight interactive components. For example, you can make Buzz dance, move and slide across the screen. There are also extension activities where kids can practice literacy skills. You can also target story prediction, comprehension, sequencing, and story retelling with this app. Ask for child questions and have them tell you about their favorite part of the story. Toy Story Show time sells for $4.99 in the iTunes store.
Favorite FREE app: Make a Scene- Farmyard
I have found that with most of the free apps, my students get bored quickly. They are usually a “lite” version of another app or don’t include much variety. This app is an exception to that rule! I love using this app during my “On the Farm” theme week in therapy. This app gives you an option of blank farm scenes (barn, pasture, etc) and the free choice of animals, farm tools, vegetables, and people to customize your own farm!
This app can target vocabulary, prepositions, characteristics, and conversation skills. They even include a variety of each animal to work on descriptive words (muddy pig, spotted horse). This app would be perfect to keep your little one busy while on errands or in the waiting room… and it’s FREE! I hope you all have found this post helpful, and hopefully will add a few more apps to your bag of tricks.
Kristin Cummings is a pediatric Speech language pathologist serving both elementary school children and private clients.
She received her Masters Degree from Univ. of South Florida.
She can be found on the facebook page Simply Speech or
writing for her Simply Speech blog.
I have lots of great speech/language posts in store for you. Be sure to sign up for email delivery or follow us on blog lovin so you don’t miss a thing!
Thanks for the recommendations! It is hard to determine which apps are high quality for speech practice! I appreciate this post. (Can’t wait to try “Articulation Station!”)
-Kristen Fourman
Articulation Station is great. I’ve bought a few others as a pediatric SLP, but I always go back time and time again to Articulation Station for my own kids and for my clients. Look for more app recommendations to address speech/language issues in the new year!
These look cool, I’ll have to check them out. My 4 and 6 year olds both need a little help here. 🙂
Not very many speech sounds are considered late at 6 and very few at 4. In other words, just because they can’t say particular sounds at those ages, doesn’t mean it is a problem per say, but regardless these apps are awesome to address speech sounds and some basic language areas at any age and the best part is the kids think they are playing!
Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome! Look for more speech/language app recommendations here on the blog in the new year.