Happy Pride Month!
As an LGBTQ+ business owner, Pride month is near and dear to my heart. I can remember lots of years growing up in the rural South when I had never heard of Pride, or knew that there was an LGBTQ+ community that I could be a part of. One of the reasons I created Parade is to provide a safe, affirming space for all kids and families on their communication journey, including those in the LGBTQ+ community! I am honored that my business is a member of both the Austin and Houston LGBT Chambers of Commerce. Parade is also a Certified LGBT Enterprise Business with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. It’s great to be a part of the LGBTQ+ professional community and to meet other members and allies.
Children’s books are a great way to help kids reach their communication goals. Here are some children’s books that you can use to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride all year long while working on speech and language skills!
Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
This is such a great book that is simple and repetitive—great for building speech and language skills in younger learners! Since each page starts with the phrase “Love is,” it’s easy for your child to take turns with you. Read a couple of pages so the child understands the routine, and then pause right before you read “Love is…” to see if your child will fill in that phrase! Repetitive books provide lots of structured practice for turn-taking and repeated practice of speech sounds and language during shared book reading.
Mommy, Mama and Me! by Leslea Newman
This book rhymes! When young learners pay attention to rhyming words they are building an important phonological awareness skill that forms the foundation for reading. Phonological awareness means the ability to recognize and work with sounds in a spoken language. When kids hear words that rhyme, this highlights how some words sound the same, and also how the slight difference in one sound in a word, such as the first letter, changes its meaning (ex. up, cup).
Neither by Airlie Anderson
This is a touching story about belonging and acceptance that celebrates a place where all are welcome. In the land of “this” and “that,” one of the animals doesn’t fit into the binary and their peers name them “Neither.” Older kids can answer wh-questions about events in the book, or retell the story with story elements such as characters, setting, problem and solution. This is also a great book for working on the /th/ sound for older kids since the word “Neither,” “this” and “that” repeat throughout the book.
Check out the Human Rights Campaign and Scholastic for lists of children’s books that promote belonging and acceptance for children of all ages!
If your child is having difficulty with speech and language skills, contact me for a free consultation.