Even though Moomin Language School wasn’t created as a speech therapy tool per se, we have anecdotal evidence that it can also be used to support children with language disorders or language delays. The feedback we have received is highly encouraging and heartwarming. Below you can read the testimonial of one speech therapist in Finland who uses the Finnish version of Moomin Language School in their work.
Excellent Tool for Expanding Vocabulary
I work as a speech therapist in the private sector, primarily with children who have language disorders. I meet children in kindergarten, school, and at home once or twice a week on average. Alongside therapy work, I'm constantly searching for new ways to integrate speech therapy into a child's daily routine, since speech therapy is most effective when the people closest to the client are engaged in the process.
Moomin Language School has been a part of my therapy toolkit for a few months now. Eleven children between ages 4 and 10 have been using the application. All these children have language difficulties related to speech production. Their central linguistic challenges involve limited vocabulary, difficulty in forming sentences, and speech sound clarity.
Based on my experience, the best feature of the Moomin Language School application is its user-friendliness. The application is easy to install on the child's own device, the parent's device, or a device at kindergarten or school, whether it's a smartphone or a tablet. The application can be used anywhere with the child's personal user credentials. The child can progress through tasks independently without constant adult support. A core task type involves recognizing words and sentences ("Find the heard item on the screen"), which is easy for a kindergarten-age child to grasp. The difficulty level of the vocabulary tasks increases gradually, preventing the child from getting frustrated with the application.
The application is cleverly divided into different themes, and the vocabulary words within each theme are repeated in various contexts throughout the tasks. This makes the application an excellent tool for expanding the vocabulary of children who learn new words slowly. Limited playtime and daily tasks with diverse imagery keep the child engaged with the application and enable meaningful continuity in their language practice. Speech therapists can monitor their clients' progress using their own user accounts.
Support for Speech Clarity and Early Literacy
Children learning early literacy skills have also not been forgotten. The application includes optional tasks where children trace the alphabet using a finger (or a stylus pen) on the screen. These tasks have been excellent for my preschool-age clients. Words and sentences heard in the application also appear in written form on the screen, allowing for exercises such as "read the word and find the corresponding picture." The icing on the cake is the application’s repetition tasks for words and sentences, where the child's pronunciation can be recorded and listened to. This provides a great tool for those working on speech sound clarity.
Overall, the application offers an easy-to-implement, effective, and visually appealing package. It's particularly suitable for children with very limited vocabulary. In my experience, parents welcome the application enthusiastically because it doesn't take up too much of their time or daily resources. For some children, the application provides more engaging activities than for example traditional workbooks do. Due to its simple user interface, the application is also well-suited for immigrant families. There's no reason why the application couldn't be recommended for use as part of speech therapy.
Jaakko
Speech Therapist
Puhumo Oy
Moomin Language School is a play-based early language learning program for learning organizations. Would you like to try it out for yourself? Apply for a free trial month here:
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