The Speech Garden is excited to offer three small group therapy sessions. Taught by excellent and experienced Speech-Language Pathologists, these classes are fun, exciting and educational!

Class Descriptions:

Communication Lab: Building Social Skills (ages 3-7) Tues 3 – 3:45
This course will follow a specialized, set curriculum that concentrates on building social language skills in the following areas: reading body language and nonverbal cues, listening, giving and receiving praise and criticism, turn taking, tone and rate of speech, observation and initiations, and conversation building strategies.

Learning Language Through Science Exploration (ages 3-6) Thurs 3-3:45
Children will learn receptive, expressive and social language skills while having fun predicting, observing and describing simple science processes. Skills targeted include: vocabulary concepts, answering questions, similarities and differences, turn-taking, describing events/sequences, listening strategies, following multi-step directions and more. In addition, basic literacy and math concepts are incorporated into each lesson.

Preparing for the EOG- Reading Section (grades 3-5) Tues/Thurs 4 – 4:45
This course presents specific strategies for improvement on the NC EOG-Reading Section. Students will learn reading comprehension skills across genres such as: making predictions and drawing conclusions, finding the main idea, comparing and contrasting, summarizing the text, learning new vocabulary words. This class is ideal for students who are in a regular classroom setting preparing for the EOG with or without accommodations.

Who attends?
Children are participating in the NC Standard Course of Study or similar preschool program. Children attend a variety of educational settings including regular education, home schooling or self-contained language or cross-categorical classes. Most children are struggling in one or more of the following areas: writing, reading, math, language development, social skills, following directions, maintaining attention / focus, science, social studies. Children without known speech and language delays are welcome to attend.

Children must be able to participate in group tasks with minimal assistance and need not be fully potty-trained. The Speech Garden reserves the right to exclude children after a trial basis (when a child consistently disturbs group or interferes with learning of others) and refund payments on a prorated amount.

Goals Include (but are not limited to):

Social Language (Pragmatics):
Participating in turn-taking activities
Maintaining topic
Using appropriate eye contact

Expressive Language:
Describing events / objects
Increasing length of sentences
Answering questions
Describing similarities and differences

Academic Skills:
Graphing
Engaging in science exploration -see NC Standard Course of Study- available online at http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/ncscos
Participating in literacy activities
Writing (increasing complexity with age)

Receptive Language:
Following multi-step directions
Using listening strategies

Activities include:
Whole group writing experiences
Performing experiments
Background research on topic
Homework

Strategies Taught:
Verbal / silent rehearsal
Visual imagery
Ask for clarification
Listening strategies

Teaching Speech Pathologists:

Susan E. Hutaff has been a speech/language pathologist for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for 24 years. She received her B.A. in Psychology and her M.S. in Speech/Language Pathology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has co-authored two books: Reading to Read (1990) and For Parents Only - A Parents Guide to Reading (1991). She also co-authored a feature article, "Action Based Therapy: Dynamic Method for Language Remediation," in Advance News magazine for Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists. She has presented at the local, state, and national levels on a variety of topics including strategy-based language therapy, serving children with autism, and using music and movement in therapy. She received the honors of McAlpine Elementary teacher of the year in 1999 and Service Provider of the Year by the Mecklenburg County Autism Society in 2002.

Kelly L. Crouch has been a speech/language pathologist for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools since 2000, where she works with regular education students with various speech and language impairments, students with Autism in self-contained classrooms, and developmentally delayed preschoolers.
Kelly is an active member of NCSHLA (North Carolina Speech Hearing Language Association), ASHA (American Speech Hearing Association), and the Gaston County Autism Society. She has presented at the local, state and national levels on innovative therapy models to other professionals, helping them learn to integrate music and movement into language therapy. Kelly resides in Belmont and enjoys shopping, reading, running, and volunteering for the Gaston County Guardian Ad Litem Program, where she serves as an advocate for abused and neglected children in the court system.

Download a registration form by clicking here.

Details:

Location: Classes meet at Peace Moravian Church at Rea at Colony Roads in South Charlotte. Once on the church campus, follow the white "Speech Garden" signs to the classrooms. Click here for driving directions.

Class Schedule: All classes start the week of April 15 and end the week of May 15.

Class Size: Class is limited to 5 students to each instructor. At least three children must be registered in order to avoid cancellation of the session. Students may be grouped by age and two classes may run simultaneously.

Payment: Payment is due in advance and is not refunded for missed sessions.

Therapy Note: These classes are not intended to be the sole therapy source for speech-language delays / disorders. Each child should continue traditional therapy either through The Speech Garden or other providers. Diagnostic services are not included as part of this class. Copies of evaluations and therapy plans are required to be provided by parents prior to the start of sessions.

Registration: To register for classes, download a registration form. If you have any questions, please contact Ellen Holloway at ellenholloway@speechgarden.com or call 704-609-8255.

Future Sessions: The Speech Garden holds fall, winter, and spring science classes. A half-day speech-language camp is offered during the summer months Monday through Thursday. Each session has different instruction based on seasonal timeliness. Please check back often for updates.

*No class when CMS is not in session. If CMS cancels classes due to weather, we will, too.

What is it?
Many children with language delays have difficulty with academic areas and may be inappropriate for academic “clubs”, limiting experiences to ‘catch-up” academic and language skills. The Speech Garden aims to help by offering weekly group therapy classes focusing on developing social language skills through fun academic experiences with the goal of eventually retuning children to traditional educational experiences. Science, math, and writing goals are loosely based on the NC Standard Course of Study.

Why science?
Science was chosen as the method of language instruction for three reasons. First, science is a subject that encompasses all aspects of learning and is dependent upon language (understanding and expression). Second, it is the most intriguing, fun, hands-on, and the most involved of all subjects, thereby increasing the learner’s attention and interest. What child doesn't enjoy science? And, finally, it is all too often a subject that is neglected in schools due to the heavy (but necessary) emphases on reading, writing, and math. All sessions will be literacy based (involve reading and/or writing), and parents will receive written information and homework suggestions to facilitate carryover of newly learned skills.