Special Needs Language and Books

For the month of March, kids with special needs can make a birthday card for The Cat in the Hat. It is a great way to practice fine motor skills on the computer. Here is how it works.

Special needs kids can be a part of helping other kids learn to read. Random House and First Book are working together so that children from financially-troubled families can receive new books. For every electronic birthday card sent one book will be donated. Here are the details about sending a birthday card to The Cat.

The Seuss books were written by Dr. Seuss, a psychologist who was well aware of language development. The antics of Seuss' characters such as the Cat captivate preschoolers. They want to hear the silly, often rhyming words again and again.

The illustrations are of outrageously interesting characters like the Lorax, a fox, and a fish who talks. The words of the text are carefully chosen to develop language, phonemic awareness, early reading skills, and lots and lots of fun! The predictability of the text builds language and reading confidence.

How can parents of a child with a disability use these classic favorites to build speech and language?

• Build animal vocabulary. In the Dr. Seuss books parents of special needs kids have intriguing material to practice dog, cat, bird, fish, and fox.
• Explore concept words that teach up/down, on/off.
• Practice sight words. The Seuss books offer rhyming pairs that are perfect practice for the emergent reader: fish/dish, fox/socks, cat/hat, hop/pop.

Why do these books foster reading development in children who struggle to read?

The Dr. Seuss books offer recognized, tried-and-true ways to build reading and language skills (as outlined above), but equally important, kids want to read them. And they want to read them again and again. Who wouldn’t want to revisit such fun friends?

Read more about The Cat in the Hat.