The Little Joe’s preschool class at St. Joseph the Protector School in Jenkintown, PA is filled with noise. Children are chatting about which animals they are coloring and singing enthusiastically along to a holiday-themed song. To some, it may seem like free time for the students, but they are actually learning important speech and communication skills through play.
Each week, the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) of Salus University holds communication classes aimed to improve and develop the preschoolers’ speech and language skills. The project was originally initiated to assist certain students who were identified with communication disorders or at risk for developing one. As the program grew in popularity, it was expanded to all Little Joe’s preschoolers.
SLI clinical educator and program leader Jacquelyn Catalini strives to provide the students with a variety of exercises to learn and grow their speech and language skills, but also ensures there is plenty of fun included.
“Kids learn best through play so we try to make it a fun, interactive experience for them,” she said. “The biggest goal for the classes is to help develop the children’s communication skills whether it’s speech, language or vocabulary.”
Each class, Catalini is joined by a group of Salus University Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students who learn how to exercise valuable clinical skills in a real-world scenario.
“The students are learning how to recognize when a child is at risk for a communication disorder and which strategies and activities they can use to help the child,” Catalini said. “They’re experiencing what it’s like dealing with a pediatric group. They also learn how to interact socially with the children and learn what’s expected of them in that sort of interaction.”
First-year SLP student Amber Lewis explains that many times they review numbers, letters, shapes and colors with the children and incorporate them into various activities throughout the classes.
“The goal is to incorporate these four categories (numbers, letters, shapes, colors) into everyday activities with the children to enhance their awareness and understanding skills, which then later enhances their receptive and expressive language skills,” she said.
In just a few short months, Catalini has appreciated strong improvements in the students’ language abilities.
“I see the children's vocabulary growing and their sentences are becoming more sophisticated,” she said. “They’re using words in sentences rather than just pointing at things. If their coat is unzipped, they’ll say, ‘Ms. Jacquelyn can you zip my coat?’ rather than just pointing at the zipper. This age group sometimes has trouble sharing too so we’re showing them how to use their words rather than their hands to express how they're feeling and communicate with their peers. Their language skills are expanding as well as their social interactions.”
Liz Gullotti, early childhood director at St. Joseph the Protector School, is thrilled to see how the students’ communication skills have grown.
”It’s been such a great experience for our children,” she said. “Rather than just doing a project and sticking it in their schoolbags, they’re standing up and saying, ‘I did this.’ Speaking to the parents, they have such great things to say about their child’s communication and language skills. Even if the child doesn’t have a speech or communication problem, they’re still benefitting from this class.”
Catalini hopes the children will continue to use the skills they are learning in her class so they can communicate to the best of their abilities.
“I hope that their confidence continues to build because of the presentation exercises we’ve been doing so they can confidently tell their friends, moms, dads, doctors and teachers what’s going on,” she said.