Sookie & Finn

Thank you all for downloading and reviewing our brand new App. Those who didn't review the app in the App store or didn't download it, please do so quickly. Time is running out.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/11527799/Communicating-in-the-classroom-building-confidence.html

Communicating in the classroom: building confidence Unclear speech can have an impact on a child's self esteem and confidence; Fiona Barry explores the ways that parents and teachers can help if a child is having difficulties

http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/apr/15/how-technology-is-changing-speech-and-language-therapy

How technology is changing speech and language therapy From robots that play peekaboo, to speech recognition software that analyses TV shows, tech is being used to aid human communication

Latest review from Amazon, thank you all for all these wonderful reviews! "I wish I could give it 6 stars! My son is 3.5 and has speech delay. He understands and "speaks" 3 languages but cannot make sentences. Since watching this DVD his speech has improved, he now repeats the words used on the DVD and applies them into normal life i.e. it's raining, glass of milk. Every time his meal is hot he would say "it's hot", blow". He now understands "under, in, on", words that are "explained" in the story. I've just received the "At school" DVD, he has watched twice in a row and he is already telling me the words he heard for the first time (bushes, behind, hide and seek - he didn't know this game, he just counted 1 to 10 and went hiding behind the sofa!). As I am typing this review my son played the DVD for the third time! I now am going to order the "Going to school" DVD. Shame they didn't make more stories :-("

Merry Christmas to everyone. May all your children talk non-stop.

Playing is a very important way of learning for children. Starting school later is better for kids.

School starting age: the evidence Earlier this month the "Too Much, Too Soon" campaign made headlines with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, from the Faculty of Education, explains why children may need more time to deve…

Recent review from Amazon US. I find it very entertaining but the customer seems to be upset somewhat. "First impression: I wish the description said the voices have a thick English, as in Brit, accent! I wonder if my American children will be asking to eat porridge for breakfast and then go to the bloody park in their trousers or knickers. The names Sookie and Finn are spoken like "Sucky and Phil." I give it 3 stars because in 15 miserable minutes my child was glued to it and already could say "milk" and "rain" with an entertaining English accent. All should be well, especially after he learns to call his mother Mummy. Jolly-oh!"

Important article about toddler TV watching.

TV-watching guidelines for toddlers Find out how much time your toddler should spend watching TV and how to turn the television into a learning tool for your child.

30 million word gap.

Reading and talking are important for child development When Stevie Benkendorf sits down to read and visit with her grandson, Jack, she is continuing a tradition she first experienced at the side of her father.

If reading together focus on starting up conversations. If he is on his own it is better to have an interactive app with teaching qualities.

Is e-reading to your toddler story time, or simply screen time? - Livemint For years, experts have advised parents to read to their children early and often, but there isn’t much research on the effect of using electronic readers for toddlers

From gaga to water - amazing talk about the birth of a word
http://www.ted.com/talks/deb_roy_the_birth_of_a_word.html

Deb Roy: The birth of a word | Video on TED.com MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research w...

Happy Halloween! Language of Halloween baking. http://blog.asha.org/2013/10/31/how-to-use-the-language-of-baking/