Adding an extra boost of awesome into this oh-so-important developmental area (in an easily actionable way), we’re delighted that Rachael is now able to offer additional speech, language and communication support at The POD.

Working either as a stand-alone intervention or alongside a speech and language therapist, the technique is all based around play. Sound familiar? That’s because everything we do at POD is based around child-led play and why WellComm’s method fits so neatly into our family.

Here's 3 more reasons we’re loving the WellComm approach and why we’re sure you will too!

 

The Early Years are Key for Speech and Language

From learning to wave ‘bye-bye’ to understanding complicated communication concepts, we know that a strong grasp of speech and language is an important part of every child’s development. It underpins all aspects of the Early Years Curriculum and it’s vital that all childcare settings from nurseries to preschools support and nurture these skills from the start.

WellComm is a way to enhance what we do already at the POD but it also helps us to quickly identify and support any little ones who might be experiencing any speech, language or communication difficulties or delays. Using our WellComm training and toolkit we can gently encourage and expand communication in a play-based, fun, immersive way that is perfectly tailored to an individual child’s needs.

 

WellComm’s Assessment Framework Helps Identify Children that Need Extra Support

Adding WellComm training to our playbook means we’re more equipped than ever to offer speech and language support if it’s needed. Our POD has always been a language rich environment full of stories, rhymes and imaginative play but by adding the WellComm assessment framework into the mix, we can easily identify if a child needs extra support - either as a stand-alone intervention or alongside a speech and language therapist.

It allows us to provide children with an additional range of linguistic tools and communication skills to boost their development. The WellComm toolkit is totally play-based and can be tailored to children with a range of abilities. It can aid overall progress for every child (language delay or not) and most importantly, if needed, can start straight-away.

 

150 Play-Based Activities Seamlessly Built into our Fun, Immersive Games.

There are many things that children need to grasp before they start communicating - like listening to sounds, paying attention to what they see and hear around them and hearing words before they try them out themselves. From fluency of speech to understanding the meaning of words or grasping more complex sentence structures, the WellComm toolkit is a fantastic resource of 150 activities to help those that might be struggling.

Through simple play-based activities with step-by-step instructions, the WellComm toolkit uses a clever variety of visual aids, simple gestures and familiar activities guaranteed to keep children engaged.  Whether it is using role play to encourage communication in a way that is observable and non-intrusive, simple picture book activities that delve into cognition or play activities that explore understanding e.g., playing with a teddy and a variety of objects such as a toothbrush or a hairbrush. A child might then be asked to brush the teddy’s teeth or hair with the correct object. All the WellComm activities are devised in such a way that the children are unaware that they are working on their language skills. The activities are simple, effective and can be seamlessly built into our fun, immersive games.

 

We are super excited to add WellComm to our brilliant bag of resources at The POD. Making sure your little one thrives in our care is what Practically Family is all about. We know that all children develop at their own pace, but sometimes having a little bit of extra support along the way can make a big difference. If your little one is struggling with speech, language or communication and does need extra support, please don’t worry! The next steps will be explained fully and the WellComm toolkit is easily adapted to be used both at the POD and at home. Alternatively, if you feel that your child could benefit from some extra support then please get in touch with Rachael for more information.