Home Practice for the Cycles Approach for Phonological Disorders: To Send or Not to Send!
Do You Send Homework Home when Using the Cycles Approach in Speech Therapy?
Cycles Approach Homework for Phonological Disorders in Speech Therapy
This is a question that is often asked of me (do you notice a lot of my blog ideas come from questions I get often? lol). Other SLPs always want to know if I send home Cycles Approach homework..and if I do send Cycles home practice, what exactly is it?
Well, my homework for the Cycles Approach varies child by child. I will break down for you when and if I send homework when using the Cycles Approach with my preschoolers with phonological disorders!
(P.S. The Cycles Approach was created by Barbara Hodson to treat moderate-severe phonological disorders in young children!)
When Do You Send Homework Home with the Cycles Approach?
My answer to this question is…ALWAYS! But the type of homework I send will be different depending on a few factors. What do I consider when sending home Cycles homework?
Is this going to be a battle to get the child to do the homework?
What does it seem like the family and/or caregivers can handle?
How easy (or difficult) is it for the child to produce the practice words?
Can the child complete a phonological awareness activity?
The answers to these questions help me decide what type of homework to send home to my clients using the Cycles Approach. Later, I’ll tell you more about how I decide what exactly to send home.
What Type of Homework Do You Send to Children Who Are Doing Cycles?
I have options when it comes to the type of speech therapy homework I can send home with my children who I am using the Cycles Approach with.
I can send:
a listening list/auditory bombardment word list
Cycles Approach practice words
a phonological awareness activity (that goes along with the pattern and phoneme they are practicing)
a combination of all 3 aforementioned activities!
My goal is to always be able to send home all 3 activities for the child to complete for Cycles homework. But we all know that that is not always possible.
How Do You Decide What Cycles Homework to Send?
I choose what Cycles homework I am going to send based on how the child is performing in our speech therapy sessions. Ideally, I would want to send home all 3 activities: an auditory bombardment listening list, practice words, and a phonological awareness activity. But, I can’t always do that.
At the bare minimum, I can ALWAYS send home the auditory bombardment word list for the Cycles Approach pattern and phoneme that the child is working on. A grown up can simply read the word list to the child 1-2x per day. And there is not demand on the child, so this is pretty simple for families to do!
If a child is doing great with practice words in our session, and does not need a TON of cueing to make accurate productions, I will send home a few words to practice! But I will only assign the words that I KNOW he/she will practice correctly! We do NOT want a child practicing incorrectly at home. And of course, I will send home the auditory bombardment word list as well. I may or may not send the phonological awareness activity. This depends on how the child does with this task within our sessions.
If a child is having a harder time with the practice words - and I don’t want them engaging in negative practice at home (e.g. practicing incorrectly), then I will send home only a listening list/auditory bombardment word list for the pattern they are working on. Or, I will send home a phonological awareness activity…also related to the pattern/phoneme they are working on. Or, I might send both the auditory bombardment list and the phonological awareness activity!
So, What’s the Bottom Line About the Cycles Approach and Homework?
Bottom line is, I always want to send at least SOMETHING home for families to do. And I would LOVE to get some quick production practice with their Cycles target words if I can. But I only want them to practice these words if I know they are going to practice them correctly. Also, I don’t want homework that is going to take a family a ton of time to do. But, home practice is super important for carryover in speech therapy. We want that distributed practice (hi, principles of motor learning) to help with retention and generalization!
Want Some EASY Cycles Approach Homework that Won’t Take Forever to Complete?
Cycles Approach for Speech Therapy Homework
I created these one page Cycles Approach Homework sheets to send home to families and caregivers to increase carryover when using the Cycles Approach. The idea behind these worksheets is that they consist of all the main components of the Cycles Approach: (1) an auditory bombardment listening list, (2) practice words for the primary patterns and phonemes used in the Cycles Approach, and (3) a phonological awareness activity related to the primary patterns and phonemes used in the Cycles Approach!
I also included a space to write in cues that are specific to your client to help them make the correct sounds!
You can simply print off the pattern/phoneme you need your client to work on. I included a letter to send home to families, so they understand why they are doing the activities that are included on these sheets. If the practice words are too difficult for your client at this time, just cross off that section. Or don’t check off any of the Cycles practice words (but I might write a quick note and let families know this was not a mistake/oversight)!
These Cycles homework sheets are really so simple and easy for families to work on carryover, and they should be able to complete them in FIVE minutes! I wanted to create something that would be simple to do at home and EASY for speech therapists to use. Because we all know no one has a ton of extra time!
Click HERE to see the sheets in my shop!
