SYDNEY SPEECH THERAPY
Building strong literacy foundations
Struggling with reading, writing, or spelling can make school life feel overwhelming, and it can quietly chip away at a child's self-esteem over time. If your child finds it hard to sound out new words, spell familiar ones correctly, or keep up with what is happening in class, literacy-focused speech therapy can help.
Vocabulary & Concepts
Understanding words, phrases, and
concepts such as time, location and size (e.g., before, next to, behind, smaller)
Question Types
Understanding wh questions (e.g., who, what, where), inferencing questions, predicting questions & abstract language
Grammar & Sentences
Understanding grammatical structures (e.g., past tense, plurals, pronouns) and sentences
Following Directions
Understanding and recalling single and multi-step directions. These are used in conversation at home and school
What is Literacy?
Speech, language, and literacy are closely connected. To read and spell with confidence, children need a solid grasp of how letters and sounds relate to each other, alongside strong vocabulary, comprehension, and oral language skills.
Literacy and Writing areas we can support
Phonological Awareness
Helping children hear and manipulate the sounds in words, including rhyming, segmenting, and blending.
Spelling
Building and understanding spelling rules, sound patterns and morphology to spell words accurately and with confidence.
Writing
Planning, organising and communicating ideas effectively through written language.
Reading Fluency
Reading smoothly, with expression, and at an expected pace. This allows children to focus on meaning rather than decoding each word.
Reading Accuracy
Decoding words correctly by accurately forming connections between letters to sounds and recognising familiar word patterns.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding what has been read, including summarising key information, making connections and creating predictions.
Phonological Awareness
Helping children hear and manipulate the sounds in words, including rhyming, segmenting, and blending.
Spelling
Building and understanding spelling rules, sound patterns and morphology to spell words accurately and with confidence.
Reading Accuracy
Decoding words correctly by accurately forming connections between letters to sounds and recognising familiar word patterns.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding and retaining what has been read, including summarising key information, making connections, and creating predictions.
Writing
Planning, organising and communicating ideas effectively through written language.
Reading Fluency
Reading smoothly, with expression, and at an expected pace. This allows children to focus on meaning rather than decoding each word.
Signs to look out for:
Does your child:
Have difficulty sounding out words?
Often guess words instead of reading them accurately?
Read more slowly than their peers?
Struggle to remember common spelling patterns and rules?
Frequently misspell sight words and familiar words?
Have difficulty understanding or remembering what they have read?
Struggle to answer questions about a text?
Find it difficult to come up with ideas for writing?
Struggle to organise their thoughts into sentences, paragraphs or stories?
Write very short responses or provide limited detail?
Become frustrated or lose confidence during reading and writing tasks?
Not sure where to start?
If you have concerns about your child’s understanding of language, we’re here to help!