Follow your child's lead and have fun while enhancing language development! In this fun and user-friendly course for parents, teachers, and caregivers, you will discover how children learn to process language and how they become proficient speakers and thinkers. This course will help you enrich your child's life by stimulating his or her continued speech, brain, and language development in an enjoyable, age-appropriate, and natural way.

To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

How do children learn language? Play! And not with flash cards, or anything else that you can buy. Children are born with a complete package of language-learning tools. The only accessory they need is you, helping them unlock their natural instincts for language. After reading this first section, you'll be using play and instinct to communicate soundlessly with a newborn, to help him fill his language-building toolbox, and to create a stimulating environment for language development.

Friday - Lesson 02

Imagine a database of sounds in your child’s brain. Where do these sounds come from? How does she file, sort, and choose to use these sounds to communicate? In today's lesson, we'll look at why her mind is made for these remarkable tasks, and you'll learn straightforward ways you can lend a hand (even in the form of sign language!). This lesson also includes a fascinating overview of brain and mouth anatomy.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

You say, “Shelly just said, ‘ball’!” But your friend says, “Nah, that was just babbling.” Who's right? Does something count as a real word if it isn’t pronounced perfectly? In this lesson, we'll explore what makes a word real and how to interpret your child’s patterns of simplifying early language. You'll also start using a journal to uncover the rich potential in your child’s one- and two-word phrases.

Friday - Lesson 04

Once you understand the mechanics of hearing and understanding, your role in encouraging language can be powerful, simple, and fun! Many caregivers ask at this stage when they should start to worry about language delays. In today's lesson, we'll soothe your concerns by discussing what to watch for, when to seek assistance (and from which type of specialist), and when to stop worrying and keep playing! We'll look through a list of typical first words that you can use to trace your child’s communication explosion.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Can you guess when a baby’s brain grows the most? How do you facilitate this growth? Again, the answer is play! In this lesson, we'll match favorite infant-caregiver games to the neurological functions they stimulate. You'll also learn how language affects the development of thinking skills, just as the function of thinking affects language development. Today we'll explore how to keep this circle of growth cycling.

Friday - Lesson 06

Your kiddo is talking, but you’re not done yet! Although two-word phrases, such as “get ball” certainly communicate an idea, your child will keep refining his sentences as he grows. Today you'll find out how to help him progress to past tense, contractions, pronouns, and conjunctions. You'll also learn about the fascinating thought processes behind questions. Don’t forget your journal!

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Wow–now we have listening, speaking, sounds, words, and sentences. What more is there? Lots! Is it still fun? Does she still need you? Of course! In today's lesson, we'll continue with a few more do's and don'ts for caregivers, emphasizing our favorite learning tool: games!

Friday - Lesson 08

Expanding on our earlier anatomy lesson, today you'll learn how sounds depend on strong, agile mouth muscles. Before you start thinking about tongue push-ups, remember we always focus on maximizing the opportunities within natural interactions. A discussion of feeding—including your choices of bottles, cups, and straws—is key. We'll answer complex and controversial questions about pacifiers, sippy cups, and thumb sucking, and I'll provide some great tips for easing necessary transitions.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Some sounds sound fun (like boing!), and some sounds feel fun (like zzzzzz). What does this kind of fun teach if it doesn't use precise words? In today's lesson, you'll find out what you're teaching when you encourage your little one to play with sounds. You'll also learn which speech games will help you make the connection from speech to reading.

Friday - Lesson 10

Now you know that speech, language, and communication are different, but related, topics. Using your knowledge of how sounds make language, in this lesson, you'll learn how language is used to communicate and connect with others. We call this social use of language. Today you'll learn how to help your talker become a conversationalist!

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Although children follow similar development processes, no two walk the same path. As more is discovered about learning, the lines between different, delayed, and disability grow foggier. Demystifying these terms is easier when you learn about different learning styles, and when you understand the styles used by you and your child. While you can’t eavesdrop on your child’s thoughts, what you learn in today's lesson will help you help her connect her learning style and her use of language.

Friday - Lesson 12

Teaching a child the alphabet tends to be our first step toward reading, but is it where literacy begins? While this skill can be gratifying for adults to see, literacy begins in the brain and is nurtured with fun and games. As you've learned about language skills, literacy doesn’t come in a box from the store. When you understand instincts and use them in fun and play, they come from you.

To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Kt Paxton.

After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development with high honors, Kt Paxton completed a fifth year of study and holds a California Teaching Credential. She managed a pre-school and has more than a decade of experience teaching elementary schoolchildren. Kt is also the published author of the book "More Adventures With Kids in San Diego."

To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:

Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:

Student Reviews:

"A good course. I loved how the instructor kept emphasizing that we do not need paper and pencil activities to create language enhancing opportunities with young children."

"An invaluable course. More Helping Professionals should be made aware of it."

"As a parent of a child with a speech delay and a child care provider I thought the course was terrific! The instructor provided excellent material to use for all levels of speech development. She provided the development "basics" as well as information to enhance speech from infancy on."

"As a preschool teacher, I found this course to be very informative and educational. I know that it will help me in my everyday interactions with my students."

"Excellent course! Please try to advertise more specifically to parents concerned with speech & language development. As one of those parents, I wish I had found this course sooner. Many thanks!"

"Extremely rewarding information and on-line ease. My knowledge has expanded and my family life did not suffer. Thank You."

"Great class! Ms. Paxton is very knowledgeable and I learned a lot!"

"Great class! This is the 2nd one I have taken with Kt. I enjoy her a lot!"

"Great course! This was my first online course. Positive experience!"

"Hello Kt, This course & your Ready, Set, Read! course are fantastic. I cannot say enough good words about you & how you are teaching us. Each lesson builds & enhances what we are learning. I am going to recommend these classes to other teachers & providers! Very worthwhile. Thank you so much!"

"I am a Home Visitor who works with 2-3 yr. olds. Some parents have voiced concerns about their child's speech and language. I would usually comment that the baby babble is normal, but after taking this course I have more knowledge and some information to back it up. Thank you very much for a very enjoyable course."

"I could tell the professor really cared about what she was teaching and her personal experiences helped create a deeper understanding. Excellent course - all new mothers/teachers should take this."

"I enjoyed the class and had a good first online class experience. I learned a lot. Thank you!"

"I enjoyed this class. I learned so much!!! Thanks."

"I enjoyed this course and feel that I learned a lot! I work with children, ages 1-3 years and some with speech delays. It will be very helpful! Thank You, Barbara"

"I enjoyed this course immensely, the fact that I was able to work at home on my time helped a great deal. I learned quite a lot of information about enhancing language development and constantly noticed myself observing the children in my classroom more closely. I was able to point out some things to my coworker concerning some of the children's language development. The instructor was very helpful and answered any questions I had quickly."

"I enjoyed this course very much. I am a special educator and a mother of a one year old. The information provided along with the web sites have already been beneficial to me."

"I enjoyed this course very much. It directly applied to my teaching, but will also help me personally as I interact with children outside of the school setting. The course provided very practical, useful information. The lessons were very interesting and well explained. I enjoyed the real-life situations the instructor presented. The discussion board added personal interactions which made the course more meaningful."

"I found this class full of useful information that I have and will use in my classroom. I work with teen moms and there is so much great information here to share with them."

"I have a 3 year old that has a speech delay and has been seeing a speech therapist for almost 6 months now. I wasn't seeing a lot of improvement but since taking this course I have been able to improve my communications skills with her. She has improved tremendously in the last month. I would highly recommend this course. Thank you so much."

"I have been a special ed teacher for 15 years and I got so much out of this course!!"

"I have recommended this course and this instructor to a friend. I really enjoyed the class."

"I learned a lot from this course, and feel it will help me to be a better teacher and parent. I have already recommended this course to someone, and am sharing some of the information with friends of mine who have children with speech problems. I am currently attending a Motheread program, and it has been nice to see how the information has overlapped and reinforced each other. I am glad that I took this course, and to be honest it is one of the few teacher recertification courses I have taken that I feel is really practical and applicable to my day-to-day life. I think it would be helpful for all parents to take this course, if for nothing else than to emphasize the importance of spending time with your children and reading to them from infancy on. I look forward to the reading course that is being developed by this same instructor. Thanks for an enjoyable learning experience."

"Information in this course will be extremely useful to me in my job as I work with families and assisting them with learning opportunities for their children."

"I really enjoyed taking the class. I have and will use it as a mother, director and educator. Thank you very much for the wealth of information."

"I really enjoyed this class and I feel that I have learned a great deal. I enjoyed Kt Paxton and have enrolled in another of her classes. I enjoyed her style of writing and especially her humor!! I am sorry that I could not meet her in person and have the benefit of her in the classroom setting. This was my first online course and I was scared to death. Ms. Paxton helped me to get beyond my fears and get me on the right track for completing the course. Thank you!"

"I really enjoyed this class and learned a lot about speech development! Thank you!"

"I really enjoyed this class! I thought the writing, as well as your humor throughout each lesson kept me interested and eager to find out whats next. I learned a lot of new information that I was able to apply immediately. I nanny for two preschool children, 22months & 4 years. They are also reaping the benefits of this course!"

"I really enjoyed this course. I have 4 daughters, from age 16 mos. to 9yrs. I saw so many things first hand as I was reading about them in your lessons. Sometimes my 16 mo. old even "helped" with my lessons. Very enjoyable!!"

"I really enjoyed this course. I like this format and appreciate Kt's humor sprinkled throughout her lessons. Speech and Language has always been fascinating to me and I certainly walked away with a lot of new knowledge on the subject. Kt was quick to respond to my posts. Thank you, Kt!"

"I thought that this was one of the best continuing education classes that I have taken in a long time. I felt like all that I was exposed to was useful to me as an educator, as well as a mother. The instructor has a very thorough knowledge of her subject and a great sense of humor that makes her lessons enjoyable to read. I hope that I come across lessons by this same instructor in the future. I thank the school for offering such worthwhile courses!"

"I truly enjoyed taking this course, it was very informative. Mrs. Paxton is a great instructor."

"I would thoroughly enjoy being a colleague of Kt Paxton; I wish she could work in our school district. She is both knowledgeable and bright from experience; and her passion and care shines through in her written course work and the Discussion Area. I learned a great deal and enjoyed my very first online course. Thank you for being a great facilitator!!"

"Kt made the lessons very interesting by using her real life experiences. That helped me learn better. She's funny too!"

"Kt was a great instructor. She was very responsive. The lessons were very informative and easy to read. You can tell that Kt really loves what she does."

"Kt wrote/spoke in "everyday people" terms with professional resources to support her explanations. The supplemental resources and websites were a good mix of high to low tech information. I believe that she did an excellent job of teaching toward every learner."

"Learned a great deal. Thanks."

"Thanks for the course -- I learned a lot of cool "stuff" that really makes sense as I watch my baby grow!"

"Thanks for this course. It has been helpful in my professional development. This is my third ed2go course with my local community college and I was not disappointed."

"Thank you for the class. I have learned so much to help my daughter and I am able to communicate with her speech therapist better. We have seen amazing improvements with my daughter and only have to go to therapy once a month now. I contribute a great deal of her success to the activities I have learned. I cannot say thanks enough for the course. I hope to see more courses offered by you Kt."

"Thank you so much. I am a stay at home mom of 3 kids under 3 and need renewal credit for teaching, so I can return to the school system one day. I enjoyed the class and learning as my kids are growing in speech and language."

"The course is very interesting and I learned a lot. The instructor was very helpful and resourceful."

"This class was informative to me. I took it for teacher credit - but mainly was interested in language development in our adopted 3 year old from the Ukraine. We have had her for 2 years now and I wanted to see if I could pick up on some delays. Usually these children need speech therapy. I have been pleased and amazed with her development. I do not see any delays but I do plan on having a speech therapist see her this summer to give an evaluation. Thank you for your course. It would also be great for first time moms!"

"This course exceeded my expectations...I have told everyone how wonderful it was. I have even shared the insights I have learned at my son's play group. KT is awesome. I have learned so much!!! Thank you!!"

"This course is just packed full of helpful and useful information!! I will truly be able to use this information throughout the rest of my teaching ...and just as knowledge for myself. It answered so many questions I had about ‘why can't we catch some of these problems earlier than second grade?’ in a child’s educational process. Now I know that we can search for various things. I know what to look for, maybe how to help find the missing pieces, and ask help from a qualified professional, and then expect some kind of resource!!! Thank you so much."

"This course is relevant, informative, and upbeat. I like the fact that she suggests activities that do not require the reader to "go out and buy a program". Rather, the activities involve readily available supplies."

"This course is so informational. Kt presents it in such an user-friendly way. She is so helpful and understanding. She genuinely cares about her students!!!"

"This course was extremely interesting and FUN! I loved the instructor's style and humor. She was obviously so knowledgeable in this subject area."

"This course was the second course I took with this instructor. Outstanding!"

"This is an excellent course and a wonderful resource for anyone working with young children ages 0-5yrs. I will be sharing this with others working in early childhood -- there definitely will be the Back Fence Phenomenon happening."

"This is a wonderful and useful course for parents, teachers and other caregivers! It is amazing how much children are learning and developing!! The information will be very useful to me!"

"This is the second course [I have taken] from this instructor and I would recommend anyone to take a class from her. I really enjoyed it and the lessons were easy to understand and I was able to relate this to things with the children in my center. I have already suggested to several co-workers to take both of the classes that I took. I enjoyed being able to take them online too, it fit in my schedule well."

"This was a super class! I learned a lot not only for teaching but also with my own children!"

"This was a wonderful class with a wonderful instructor."

"This was a wonderful course. I learned a lot. I really enjoyed the sense of humor. Thank you for all of the useful information."

"This was my second online course with ed2go and I was once again thoroughly impressed. I appreciated so much the resources section. Great class! Great educator who wrote and conducted the class! I have already recommended this class to friends."

"Very informative class and useful to me as a preschool teacher."

"You've been a wealth of information, along with the additional websites, and I plan on referring back to this class material in my preschool classes to come. Thank you for taking the time to respond to all our discussion comments, and for making this course interesting and interactive. I have thoroughly enjoyed it."

To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below: