Building Language Bridges

This is the principle at the heart of Building Language Bridges.

Children with language difficulties do not need the world made smaller for them. They need the language surrounding learning to be made clearer.

We can pre-teach vocabulary. Break down dense instructions. Make connections explicit. Use visuals. Explain the language hidden inside maths, history, science and comprehension. Give children the scaffolding they need to understand and express what they know.

But the goal remains the same: access to rich, age-appropriate learning.

We simplify the route into the information, not the information itself.

Same learning. A more accessible route.

TEACHERS: This matters for every child with DLD or other language disorders in your classroom.

A child with DLD or any other language disorder should NOT have to spend the school day trying to keep up with language they cannot fully access.

They deserve access to the same learning as everyone else.

We do NOT make the curriculum easier.

We make the ROUTE into it accessible.

Building Language Bridges

Your child is struggling at school.

But you’re not quite sure why.

Is it understanding language?
Working memory?
Processing?
Word finding?
Reading comprehension?
The language of maths?

I can help you start to unpick it.

I’m offering a small number of FREE personalised Building Language Bridges profiles, based on detailed information you provide about your child.

You’ll receive a clear picture of their strengths, where they may be struggling, and practical ways you can support them at home and at school.

Everything you share will be kept completely private.

DM me the word PROFILE if you would like one.

If your child is in 5th or 6th class, there’s a good chance a class novel is starting around now.

For children with language difficulties, a little support at home can make a HUGE difference to what they understand and remember.

But you don’t need to teach the novel yourself.

1. ASK THE TEACHER FIRST
Find out what they’re reading, and how quickly the class will move through it.

2. DON’T RACE AHEAD
Work on chapters already covered in school. The aim is to help your child make sense of what they’ve read or heard, not get ahead.

3. START WITH “WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?”
Before opening the book, ask them to tell you what they remember. This shows you what they actually took from the chapter.

4. FIND THE MAIN IDEA
Ask: “If I hadn’t read this chapter, what are the 2 or 3 most important things I’d need to know?”

The details still matter. We’re simply teaching children how to choose the information they need for different purposes.

5. FIND THE EVIDENCE
Ask them to find the part of the text that proves an answer.

“What words gave you that clue?”

6. USE THE NOVEL FOR LANGUAGE WORK
Choose a few useful words. Discuss meanings, categories, synonyms and opposites, then use them in new sentences.

Practise joining ideas using because, although, so, before and after.

7. ASK QUESTIONS THAT MAKE THEM THINK
“Why do you think they did that?”
“How do you know?”
“What might happen next?”
“What does this tell us about the character?”

8. FINISH BY SHRINKING IT
Ask your child to explain the chapter in just 2 or 3 sentences.

This works on comprehension, memory, sequencing, identifying important information and organising language.

The goal isn’t to make the class novel more work.

It’s to help your child understand it well enough to take part when they walk back into the classroom.

HEAR YEEEEEEEEE

Language difficulty is NOT the same thing as lower ability.

A child can understand a concept perfectly well but struggle with the language needed to explain what they know.

A slow response doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know the answer.

Difficulty explaining doesn’t mean difficulty thinking.

And struggling with a language-heavy task doesn’t tell us how intelligent a child is.

This is so important for children with DLD.

Sometimes we need to ask:

Is the concept difficult, or is language getting in the way?