LSL Summer Bucket List

Summer is here! With the change in routine, you may be wondering what you can do to make sure you stay consistent with your LSL habits. Summer provides endless opportunities to keep your child on track with listening and ongoing spoken language learning. Whether you’re staying close to home, planning a family camping trip or traveling abroad, you can integrate LSL strategies and techniques in planning, completing and reflecting on your bucket list of summer ideas. Involve your child in the process and make the most out of LSL living during your summer activities and adventures! Download our LSL Bucket List for activity ideas to get you started!

Let’s Make a Plan

Sometimes planning an adventure is as fun as the adventure itself. As you make your plan, involve your child by researching your project or destination online, exploring books from the library, planning your schedule, determining how you’ll get there or what you’ll do and writing out your list for what you plan to bring along. This process allows you and your child to:

• Learn new vocabulary ("We’ll see bear and bison!")
• Increase conversational turn-taking through serve and return
• Ask and answer questions (where, who, what, how)
• Discuss a sequence of planned events
• Practice talking about future events ("We’ll see a shark at the aquarium.")

Putting the Plan into Action

It’s time to pack your bags! Whether you’re going on a trip to an out-of-town attraction, visiting the beach or camping for the week, your LSL learner can be a part of the packing process. You can use this opportunity to:

• Practice thinking aloud and making lists (“I wonder what we’ll need for the beach?”)
• Use category vocabulary (clothing, things at the beach, animals, etc.)
• Practice auditory memory for several items (“We need to pack a sleeping bag and a pillow.”)
• Discuss locations where items are kept ("The fishing rod is in the garage.")
• Understand object/item use (“We need a shovel to dig in the sand.”)

The Adventure

You’re on your way! The sounds, sights, smells and experiences all offer a whole new world of language for your family and child to learn, explore and discuss. You will experience some of the things you had planned for and others that are completely unexpected. On your way, you can engage in Travel Talk and document memorable moments by taking videos and photographs of what you experienced. Remember to write down the things your child says. At the end of the day, talk about what happened. Experiencing the adventure allows you and your child to:

• Hear, learn and say new vocabulary and phrases
• Have conversations about new experiences
• Think aloud about questions
• Talk about the unexpected
• Make predictions about what will happen

Building Memories

When your adventure ends, your LSL learning can live on! The bucket list activity may be over but the memories are a language of their own. On your trip, your child developed a whole new world of language based on the experiences you had together. A great way to keep the language growing is to add to your experience book. You can add photos, tickets, a bag of sand, a funny quote, the list goes on and on! You and your child can also look through the photos or videos on your phone and tell the stories that go with each event. As you watch your videos together, you can pause and ask “do you remember what happened next?” Don’t forget your audio recordings! Listening to recordings can help your child make mental images based on the sounds they hear. Talking about past adventures can help your child to:

• Have conversations about past experiences
• Use new vocabulary for an event
• Tell a story or sequence of events
• Recall details
• Expand and extend what your child says

Ready to start planning your LSL-filled summer? Download our LSL Summer Bucket List for a full page of activities and adventures for you to cross off with your family!

Whatever you have on the books for this summer, remember your adventures can help grow and expand your child’s language while making lasting memories. You can share stories about your LSL bucket list adventures and get new ideas from other members in the Family Support Community. Join today and see what other families have planned for their LSL summer bucket list!