School of Education
Addressing Speech and Language Development
Learn some key differences between speech and language skills!
Enroll NowSample Course
$29.996 LessonsCourse
Overview

A child’s brain develops exponentially in the first few years of life, and communication is critical to that development. Children need interactions, modeled through eye-contact and facial expression, physical touch, laughter, music, gestures, a listening ear, and words. When given the proper interaction, connections in the brain take place, vocabulary is acquired, speech patterns are developed, and learning occurs. On the contrary, when a child does not receive ample engagement, neural connections fail to be created, or worse yet, are lost, and his/her communication is negatively impacted.  

In this Addressing Speech and Language Development, Darcie Hultberg seeks to deepen your understanding of speech and language development as she provides guidelines for identifying typical language skills for children ages birth to eight years old, along with some steps you can take to encourage children's speech and language development. 

This course aims to equip parents, teachers, and community leaders with the skills to recognize patterns of speech and language development in children and establish intervention steps to help children develop these skills. 

At the end of this course, you will be able to: 

  • Understand the meaning of and difference between speech and language skills
  • Gain an appreciation for the development of speech and language skills over the span of ages birth to eight years old
  • Learn some tips, techniques and strategies to help elicit growth in the areas of speech and language

This course is part of the Conversations on Special Needs series. The other courses available in this series are:

  1. Addressing Autism Spectrum Disorders
  2. Addressing ADD and ADHD

What You Earn
Instructor
Darcie Hultberg, M.S.
School of Education

About the Course Author

Darcie Hultberg has twenty years of experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist in both the public-school arena, servicing TK-8th grade students, and in the medical arena, servicing adults with neurological disorders. Across both settings, she has provided evidence-based therapy with the client's needs being at the core of her intervention. She has also valued the importance of educating parents, family members, professionals, para-professionals, and the community. She brings a unifying presence to her teams, appreciating the multi-disciplinary input to provide a comprehensive program across service areas. Additionally, supervision and mentorship have been a passion. She has overseen undergraduate, graduate, and SLP-A internships and clinical fellowship years to students at Biola and other local universities. She has also mentored seminary wives through Directing and Co-Directing the Talbot Women/Talbot Wives Fellowship program for 20 years. Darcie received her B.A. in Communication Disorders from Biola University, prior to attending the University of Redlands to receive her Master's Degree. She has served Biola University as an Assistant and Adjunct Professor and supervised clinicians providing speech therapy in the Biola Clinic. She appreciates opportunities to train the community and upcoming speech therapists in the field of Speech-Language Pathology, impacting one life at a time for the glory of God.

About Biola University's School of Education

The School of Education exists to train up those who desire to make an impact as educators in classrooms, administration buildings, homeschools, the mission field and beyond. Our wide selection of rigorous, biblically centered academic offerings — ranging from undergraduate and graduate programs to teaching credentials and certificates, as well as K–12 as well as homeschool education through our Eight-Week Clinic Courses for grades 1 through 6 — makes the School of Education the premier institution for advancing your knowledge in the field of education. Whether you’re an aspiring teacher, an experienced educator or current teacher looking to advance in your career, our unique blend of academic excellence and thoughtful mentorship will be sure to guide you to your goals. Throughout your studies, you’ll benefit from engaging with our fully doctored, full-time faculty and different learning opportunities available to you through our strong relationships in the field, making your journey at the School of Education one full of meaning, growth and impact.

Learn more about Biola University's School of Education!

Syllabus

Our children and students have been made in the...
Overview
Communication
Video
Special Populations
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
We do not naturally think about the way we form...
Overview
Lesson 1 Answer Key
Resource
What is Speech?
Video
What is Language?
Video
What is Cognition?
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
An enormous amount of growth and learning...
Overview
Typical Development from Birth to Two Years of Age
Video
Identifying "Red Flags" : Ages 0-2
Video
Strategies and Techniques to Support Growth : Ages 0-2
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
These formative years when a child is between...
Overview
Typical Development from Three to Five Years of Age
Video
Identifying "Red Flags" : Ages 3-5
Video
Strategies and Techniques to Support Growth: Ages 3-5
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
When children enter school, they are called...
Overview
Typical Development from Six to Eight Years of Age
Video
Identifying "Red Flags" : Ages 6-8
Video
Strategies and Techniques to Support Growth : Ages 6-8
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
If you, the parent, caregiver, community...
Overview
Review of what we've learned: Speech and Language
Video
Seeking Professional Help
Video
Therapy for Your Child
Video
Reflection Activities
Reflection
Recommended Resources
Resource
Course Evaluation Form
Evaluation

Course FAQ

Each lesson is designed to take approximately 2-4 hours, depending on how deeply you engage the assignments. Since this is a self-paced course, the time it will take you to complete it will depend on the speed with which you want to progress through the course.

Since this course is designed as a self-paced experience, you will not have any interaction with the professor during the course.