The following is my notes from a session presented by Max and Charlotte Wilhite at the TAPED convention.

Ideas for word exposure in the home:

• Word Wall – Post words found in everyday life on the wall using sticky notes.
• Labels – Label everything in the house and/or environment.
• Gift of Language – Decorate a word and wrap it up in a gift for your child to open.
• Fingerspell – Fingerspell words you don’t have signs for, names, etc. Even when child is a baby.
• Reading Corner – Create a warm, cozy environment for the child to curl up with a book.
• Reading Ritual – Have a set time everyday that you read a book together. Ex. Bedtime
• Games – Play games together like Pictionary and Scrabble.
• Experience Books – Create scrapbooks of events the child participated in with language at the child’s level. Ex. Baby pictures with one word phrases or a book about a family vacation.
• Creative Time – Spend time together cooking (recipes), sewing (patterns), scrapbooking (captioning), etc.
• Captioning – Use them on your TV.
• Sidekick – Invest in one for your child.
• Grocery Store – Let the child help with the grocery list, cut out labels of things you purchase and show them to your child and let him help find them at the store.
• Idioms – Don’t remember their specific point other than expose your child to them.
• In This Sign – Read this book and then watch the movie.