Yes, I model...my core words that is
September is all about back-to-school.
It's a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. And it's a perfect chance to rally your AAC team and get a jump on learning for the year ahead.
It isn't news to anyone that AAC is at its best when there is a solid team surrounding the communicator. But back-to-school offers the entire team a chance to huddle up and set the stage for growth.
One commanding way to pull the team together is to engage the entire crew in a modeling project that will strut its stuff with new words every month and lay a foundation for language.
Modeling core words helps learners build vocabulary that is versatile and functional for many situations at home, at school, and beyond. But building that base becomes even more solid when everyone on the team is modeling the SAME words so that the communicator gains an established understanding of those key words.
To help make that happen, experts have compiled lists of important core words and have divided them into the months of the year (find them here: year of core words 1 and year of core words 2 ). Each month presents a set of core words for the communication team to focus on learning during the month. By sharing that list between parents, teachers, therapists, and other supporters the communicator can be propelled forward by a sustained stream of word demonstration.
To make things even easier, CoughDrop has created an additional resource to help in modeling language. Based on the year of core words inventory, CoughDrop has fashioned a matching set of core phrases to support the support team as they work to model essential core words. These simple sentences provide ideas on how each core word might be incorporated into conversation and different ways the words could be used.
Use these links to access core phrases that can inspire you to make learning happen as you model words in everyday situations.
As parents, teachers, therapists, and others provide a pattern for language use and engage communicators in speech, growth will happen -- and it will be beautiful.
Because modeling, it's what we do.
Try it for yourself, sign up for a free trial of AAC.