In this newsletter:

• Building Skills all Summer

• SLP Spotlight: Bridget Maloney

• Practice to Progress: Build Background Knowledge!

• Overheard at CA

• Have a great summer!

July 2025

Building Skills all Summer

Another successful summer session is (almost) in the books! We welcomed some new faces in lower school and kept the momentum going for our middle and upper school! Our students settled into new routines with lots of built-in opportunities for fun and functional activities. Looking forward to another great year ahead!

Newsletter Updates and SURVEY

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This project is ever-evolving, so keep an eye out for new sections and features! Our new section, “Practice to Progress” is a combination of last year’s “Topics in Speech-Language Pathology.” and “Do it at Home.” The idea is to provide slightly more digestible information while still including the same type of content. As the year continues, please don’t hesitate to reach out with feedback or suggestions.

SLP Spotlight: Bridget Maloney

Practice to Progress: Build Background Knowledge!

To understand why this text has been read in classrooms across the country for decades, you have to know more about the Roaring Twenties, class divides, and prohibition. With that background knowledge, you’d soon realize that Gatsby is no longer just a lovesick man who throws a good party. He’s a critique of materialism, the emptiness of wealth, and the futility of chasing the so-called American Dream.

But enough about my English minor! Even if our students are not planning to read The Great Gatsby anytime soon, we know that their comprehension of any text is dependent on their ability to make connections and inferences based on their knowledge of the topic at hand. It’s important that our students are able to make a mental model of whatever it is they are reading about, in order to fully grasp its meaning.

So… how can parents support this at home?

• Gauge their background knowledge by making connections and associations. Using categories is always a helpful way in.

  • Example: When listening to a song about jungle animals, make comments such as: “The jungle is so cool — I wonder what other habitats you know,” or “That bird is so colorful! Let’s find some more birds.”

• Think about breadth vs. depth. A student’s breadth of knowledge refers to the range of topics they know, while their depth of knowledge is the focused, more nuanced knowledge of one particular topic.

  • Expand their breadth. Many of our students have special interests about which they possess a depth of knowledge. In that case, parents can build on that by introducing additional (perhaps related) topics.

    • Example: A child’s special interest is sharks, but you realize they don’t know much about whales. Make connections between the two animals and see if your child is able to catch on. (There’s plenty of content dedicated to that, btw).

  • Facilitate depth. When you get a sense that your child has some surface level knowledge on a topic, think of ways to deepen it.

    • Think multimedia. Picture books, comics, videos, and songs can all be helpful in forming a thorough concept in your child’s mind.

      • Example: While reading a passage about ancient Egypt, you may realize your child does not have a full mental image of the pyramids and how they were built. Thankfully, there’s a video for that.

• Create new experiences! We happen to be in a great spot to learn widely and deeply about so many topics — from public transportation to art and history. But it could be something simple, like a walk in the park or ordering a meal at a restaurant where your child is able to gain valuable background knowledge. Creating meaningful (IRL) experiences will add to your child’s ever-evolving concept of the world and ultimately, their understanding of it!

Overheard at CA

Have a great summer!

Please note: there will be no August issue of the CA Voice. See you in September!