Speech and language in the garden

I have a beautiful climbing rose in the garden that my brother bought for me a few years ago. Over the last few weeks, I have been watching (from my kitchen window) the new growth that has been taking place and thinking about how plants and gardening are such fantastic opportunities to develop children’s speech and language skills.  

There’s so much vocabulary to talk about, for example, compost, potting, growth, secateurs, trowel and fork. We could also talk about sequencing vocabulary such as:  first I chopped the rose back for the winter and then I gave it some food, now it’s starting to grow some leaves and next we will get some roses. 

Most schools now have a community garden, you could take the class out on an adventure to the garden and discuss the new growth and new plants that are beginning to develop. There is so much to talk about, changes in colours, changes in size and it is something that children can really feel, they can see it happening, they can touch it and they can talk about it. 

Building vocabulary and sequencing skills whilst in your community garden is a great way to support speech and language in your school. There is always an opportunity to support SLCN.

Have you heard about Infant Language Link and Junior Language Link?

Infant, Junior and Secondary Language Link have been developed to identify and support speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in your school.

The standardised, online assessments identify pupils with language difficulties and targeted intervention groups, focusing on specific areas of language such as vocabulary and language development, are provided for those identified with SLCN.

All intervention resources are included in the programme along with training for school staff and unlimited support from our friendly Speech and Language Help Desk.

See for yourself how Language Link can help your pupils with language difficulties by taking a free, 2-week trial: https://speechandlanguage.info/trial